History Characters / CiaphasCain

!! Governors and other aristocrats

[[folder:Grice]]
The Governor of Gravalax, [[spoiler:and a secret head of a Genestealer cult.]]

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Amberly shoots him in the neck with a poison dart concealed in a signet ring that causes his neck to swell up and suffocate him.
* DirtyOldMan: He makes unwelcome advances on the much younger Kasteen and has the look and air of a decadent aristocrat whose position brings him a supply of women despite his unattractive appearence.
* HandCannon: He uses a bolt pistol concealed in his robes.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: It occurred to absolutely no one how dangerous he actually was, most dismissing him as an inbred imbecile of a noble man.
* ShoutOut: "Governor Grice" is a much more pleasant character in Creator/DorisLessing 's "The Sentimental Agents in the Volyen Empire."
* {{Slimeball}}: Before the reveal of his true loyalties, he comes across as a cowardly, bribe-taking, ArmchairMilitary UpperClassTwit. Afterwards he's an AxCrazy SmugSnake.

[[folder:Alaric [=DuPanya=]]]

The governor of Viridia, and Mira's father.

* EmbarrassingNickname: His enemies spread false claims that he intends to levy an unreasonable tax against the churches, causing [=DuPanya=] to be nicknamed "Alaric the Heretic". The nickname sticks (albeit in jest) for decades, if not centuries after the allegations are disproven.
* GoodParents: Even though Mira isn't his heiress, he shows her a lot of respect and attention without being a DotingParent.
* HiddenDepths: Cain initially dismisses him as an overweight, over-dressed aristocrat, but Alaric soon sheds his opulent robe to reveal a military uniform beneath it and comments that he hates having to wear the robe in public.
* KneelBeforeFrodo: He's quick to kneel respectfully in the presence of Space Marines and listens to their orders and ideas rather than try to boss them around.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Merkin W. Pismire The Younger]]
The incompetent Governor of Periemunda. Definitely not a walking parody of a certain former world leader.
----

[[folder:Septimus Fulcher]]
The Governor of the Forge World Ironfound. [[spoiler:He's secretly the head of a cult worshipping Slaanesh.]]

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: [[spoiler:He summons an entity of Slaanesh and quickly comes to regret it once it turns on him.]]
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: He and his followers get their souls devoured and their bodies torn apart and reshaped to form a new host body for [[spoiler:the returned Emeli]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerker: He is a partier who initially overlooks Amberly and dislikes being told what he can't do, but up he seems impressively level-headed and helpful, even showing more concern with the danger to his servants than his property when his countryside estates were attacked by the Eldar, only to be exposed [[spoiler:as a murderous Chaos cultist with no real loyalty to his people.]]
* KingIncognito: He sneaks onto his estate disguised as a soldier in one scene.
* ThePowerOfLegacy: He was a respected governor, so rather than reveal that he was part of [[spoiler:a Slaanesh cult]], his involvement is covered up after his death.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: In life he was a seemingly effective and competent governor, even while [[spoiler:acting as the head of a cult of Slaanesh]]. After his death, his treachery is covered up and he's posthumously made out as a hero of the battle.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Landen Hoy]]
Governor of the Deepwater System, who appears in the short story ''Traitor's Gambit''.
----

[[folder:Umbart Segundo]]
A Chaos cultist on Adumbria and one of the many contenders to be the new governor.

* DefiantToTheEnd: When he is captured and facing execution he says Cain hasn't won, and that Slaanesh will return.
* TheMole: A chaos cultist with status in the system leadership.
* StrangerBehindTheMask: It's noted early on Slaanesh probably has cultists in high places on Adumbria but Umbart was never named, described or given any dialogue before being captured and recognized as one of the many anonymous background characters on the council of governor claimants. Cain doesnt even know the man's name (although one of Amberly's footnotes supplies it).

[[folder:Kerin]]
The governor of an out-of-the-way planet called Traego.

* ClashingCousins: Shortly before the short story featuring her begins, her greedy cousin makes a bungled attempt to overthrow her, and she has no qualms about having him executed.
* GodzillaThreshold: She is prepared to wipe out herself and thousands of citizens with plasma torpedoes if it will also take out a Tyranid that is threatening the whole planet. Fortunately, Cain makes this unnecessary.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Her office comes across as more of a genuine workplace than a room to relax or impress people with. She also immediately and personally responds to the scene of an apparent natural disaster.
* TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard: According to Cain, she has over two dozen names and honorifics, few of which she prefers to be addressed by in private.

!!Local militia and law enforcement personnel

[[folder:Sergeant Alaric Tayber]]
A PDF sergeant on Perlia and the brother of Felicia who hooks up with Cain and earns his respect, more or less.

* BigBrotherInstinct: He convinces Cain to liberate a bunch of military and civilian prisoners largely because his sister is one of them.
* AFatherToHisMen: A caring and skilled squad leader.
* GuileHero: He falls back on the exact wording of Cain's orders to justify saving his imprisoned sister during a raid.
* TheRemnant: At the beginning of the story his planets military has collapsed and he's leading an isolated band of soldiers resisting.
* SergeantRock: A tough sergeant who braves a lot of danger.

[[folder:Luskins]]
A member of Tayber's squad.

* BloodKnight: Cain notes how much he relishes shooting the invaders of his home world.
* MercyKill: He views blowing up an important Ork base as a good plan despite the presence of prisoners, arguing that killing them would be merciful due to the abuse they suffer and how unlikely they are to ever escape. However, once rescuing them becomes a viable option, he is fine with that.
* ThoseTwoGuys: He's often seen with Jodril (a FlatCharacter member of the group who carries the ammo for Luskins' rocket launcher).
* TunnelKing: He used to work in underground hydro station tunnels and uses this expertise against the invaders.

[[folder:Grenbow]]
Tayber's vox operator.

* CommunicationsOfficer: A soldier who mans the local PDF's communications.
* NewMeat: Cain describes him as barely out of his teens.
* RankUp: Cain gives him command of his own sub unit as they take in more people.
* UncertainDoom: A unit he's commanding is swarmed and butchered (presumably but not explicitly to the last man) by the orks but Grenbow himself isn't specifically shown being killed, unlike other named characters who were with him.

[[folder:Lieutenant Piers]]
Commander of a unit of Perlian Defense Force stragglers recruited by Cain. He reminds Cain of Divas.

* DueToTheDead: He's mentioned as organizing a burial detail in one scene.
* EnsignNewbie: Repeatedly described as a "young lieutenant."
* LeeroyJenkins: While he does have some sense of tactical caution, Cain notes "the notion of taking on the bulk of the green-skin army almost single-handed seemed to appeal to him."
* RankUp: He receives a field promotion to Captain during the retreat.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sergeant Wynetha Phu]]
A peacekeeper on Keffia.
----

[[folder:Goran Barloe]]
The watch commander at the void station of Kappa Septum, which appears in the short story "Rotten to the Core."

* BitchInSheepsClothing: He comes across as a polite official (albeit one convinced he doesn't need any help) who leads his troops into combat. He turns out to be an AxCrazy Khorne worshipper who rants about wanting to kill "lackeys of the corpse god."
* StoutStrength: He is a tough combatant, whose physique mixes fat and muscle.
* UpThroughTheRanks: There is little soft about his appearance, and Cain pegs him as a man who started out in a low-ranking position and rose to a higher one.

[[folder:Gonzaliz]]
The driver of the Kappa Septum Watch's troop carrier.

* AnArmAndALeg: She loses one of her arms while fighting Chaos cultists.
* DrivesLikeCrazy: She compliments ''Jurgen'' on his driving skills and keeps pace with his erratic driving and fast stops in a way that she clearly enjoys and her passengers hate.
* NiceGirl: She is one of the only people in the series to compliment Jurgen and she thanks Cain for saving her life.
* SpitefulSpit: After the end of the battle where her superior officer reveals himself to be a Chaos cultist and then gets killed, Gonzaliz spits at his corpse. Cain is impressed by her accuracy, given how she just lost an arm and is being injected with painkillers.

!!Diplomats

[[folder:Erasmus Donali]]
An Imperial envoy involved in multiple of Cain's adventures; he first appears in the Gravalax incident alongside El'hassai, and later reappears alongside the t'au diplomat in The Greater Good.

* ConsummateProfessional: Cain repeatedly references Donali's "calm deliberation."
* GoingNative: Cain (and perhaps others) fear that Erasmus' regular exposure to the T'au as a diplomat has led to him going a little bit native.
* SharpDressedMan: During his second appearance Cain watches him smooth "a non-existent crease from the front of his immaculate robe."
* TheStoic: Donali is often guarded and reserved with his comments and facial expressions.

!!Naval Personnel

[[folder:Commodore Hubert Visiter]]
Commodore of the naval cadets at Perlia

* CardGames: Often gambles with his fellow instructors, paticuallry Cain and Rorkins.
* CrazyPrepared: He has his cadets do theoretical training exercises which can be used to defend Perlia and assigns Cain a very good pilot.
* FatherNeptune: He's a visibly aged naval tactician who imparts his lessons to the next generation and plays a major role in the defense of Perlia.
* HumbleHero: He is a LivingLegend who never writes his own memoirs and, when someone else writes a biography of his career, is willing to acknowledge when a triumph depended more on luck than skill.
* NiceGuy: He's fairly warm and open towards both Cain and the cadets.
* {{Workaholic}}: He goes a while without sleep working for Perlia's defense.

[[folder:Captain Paraji]]
Captain of a transport ship in the first book.

* ItsPersonal: He is insistent on demanding action against Kelp, Trebek, Sorel, Velade and Holebi for a bar fight which gets three people killed (including two provosts from his ship). Cain correctly suspects this was because Paraji was sleeping with one of the dead provosts.

[[folder:Captain Nansi Blakit]]
Commander of a vessel in Battlefleet Damocles.

* ForcedToWatch: She had to watch and listen to via vox as another ship get swarmed and wiped out by Hormagaunts.
* IgnoredExpert: She advised her commodore to keep the ships closer together in order to provide support but was ignored.
* MilitaryBrat: She refers to a superior, the head of the inquiry she's reporting to as "Uncle Jym" at one point.

[[folder:Sprie]]
A Naval cadet at Perlia assigned to pilot Cain.

* AcePilot: He comes out well of several near scrapes and Cain is repeatedly thankful toward Visiter for assigning Sprie to him.
* ChickMagnet: The teenaged female militia members are pretty aroused by him.
* DissonantSerenity: A battle raging on around them isn't enough to keep him from giving Cain a cheerful greeting.

[[folder:Karrie Straun]]
A Naval Comissiar and a lover to a young Cain shortly before the First Siege of Perlia.
----
* MilitaryBrat: She's third generation Navy (at least) with the last two generations of her family having also served on the ship she's commissar for.
* NavelDeepNeckline: Cain notes that her jacket has several buttons undone, showing off much of her chest.
* OhCrap: She's described as looking horrified as Cain is accidentally sealed out of the escape pods.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kimeon Slabbard]]
A freight hauler on Adumbria who is bribed by heretics.

* InelegantBlubbering: He spends most of his brief appearance crying and frantically protesting throughout an interrogation for potentially capital charges.
* SuspiciousSpending: His corruption is detected after he spends three times his salary on HookersAndBlow.

[[folder:The Cleff Family]]
Residents of Nusquam Fundumentibus who are briefly mentioned in an InUniverse news article.

* NotEnoughToBury: When their great-grandmother is attacked by a Tyranid, all her family can save of her is her spectacles.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: It's slightly PlayedForLaughs, but the surviving family members describe their ravaged settlement as not being "a fit place to bring up kids in now" and announce their intention to move elsewhere.

[[folder:Kamella Dobrevesky]]
A prostitute on Keffia and Genestealer cultist.
----
* HalfTheWomanSheUsedToBe: Gets sliced in two by Cain's chainsword.
* HoneyTrap: She seduces various troopers to infect them with the Genestealer taint. Multiple characters describe her as having vivid tattoos which accentuate her curves.
* SayingTooMuch: She blows her cover by calling Cain by name before he can introduce himself to her. This causes Cain to recall that he did just give his name to her pimp downstairs and that Genestealers are telepathic.
* TattooedCrook: She's covered in sensuous tattoos which Cain realises as there to help disguise the physical mutations that would mark her out as a [[HalfHumanHybrid Genestealer hybrid]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Addie]]
The captain of an aging transport ship dubbed ''the Rustbucket'' that takes Cain, Amberly, and their respective people to Ironfound in the tenth book.
----
* BrutalHonesty: She gives bad news calmly and without evasion.
* ConsummateProfessional: She remains composed and focused on getting the ship within range of defensive guns faster throughout a tense starship ChaseScene where they are unsure if much faster Elder ships are charging toward them or said defenses.
[[/folder]]

!Chaos
Worshipers and agents of the Ruinous Powers whom Cain has encountered over the course of his lengthy career.

!!Daemons

[[folder:Emeli Duboir]]
Once a mortal sorceress and Slaaneshi cultist slain by Cain after she tried to sacrifice him in a ritual, Emeli was rewarded by her patron with transformation into a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh. She serves as the main villain of ''Traitor's Hand'', in which she tries to pull an entire planet into the Warp.

!Chaos
Worshipers and agents of the Ruinous Powers whom Cain has encountered over the course of his lengthy career.

!!Daemons

[[folder:Emeli Duboir]]
Once a mortal sorceress and Slaaneshi cultist slain by Cain after she tried to sacrifice him in a ritual, Emeli was rewarded by her patron with transformation into a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh. She serves as the main villain of ''Traitor's Hand'', in which she tries to pull an entire planet into the Warp.

* {{Archenemy}}: Most of Cain's enemies don't survive their first encounter with him. Emeli's attacked him twice and is still out there, plotting a third go. Given the nightmares that Cain still has about her, it's safe to say the loathing is mutual.
* AxeCrazy: Par for the course for Slaaneshi cultists and daemons alike.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: She talks like a giggly schoolgirl. Probably the most flat-out powerful adversary Cain ever encounters.
* BigBad: Of ''The Traitor's Hand''. [[spoiler: She also returns as the BigBad of ''Choose Your Enemies''.]]
* CameBackStrong: She returned from the dead as a daemon with far more power than she'd possessed previously.
* DarkActionGirl: As a daemon, she casually tears apart several Khornate Berzerkers from the World Eaters Legion. Only Jurgen's presence prevents her from doing the same to Cain.
* DavidVersusGoliath: Very much the Goliath to Cain's David. As a ''very'' powerful daemon, Emeli is leagues beyond not only Cain, but everyone else he's ever fought.
* DemonLordsAndArchdevils: While her exact status and relative power level are never specified, the fact that she's able to paralyze a room full of people, shred a pair of Berzerkers, and threaten to pull an entire planet into the Warp suggests that if she's not already around the level of a Greater Daemon, she's well on her way to becoming one.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Emeli's cheerful attitude does nothing to hide just how deadly dangerous she is.
* EvilPlan: She's usually revealed to have one:
** In ''The Traitor's Hand'', [[spoiler: her plan was to use the powerful Warp tides surrounding Adumbria to transform the planet into a Slaaneshi daemon world under her control]].
** Her plan in ''Choose Your Enemies'', [[spoiler: is pretty much the same; she intends to turn the hive world of Ironfound into her personal daemon world, though with the added benefits of gaining access to the Webway through a portal left over when Ironfound was an Eldar Maiden World, and getting to devour plenty of Eldar soulstones collected by her cultist dupes to both increase her power exponentially and protect her from Jurgen's abilities, since she inevitably expected another confrontation with Ciaphas]].
* EvilTeacher: When human, Emeli masqueraded as the headmistress of a girls' school.
* FirstNameBasis: Always refers to Cain as "Ciaphas". For his part, he never uses her last name; she's just "Emeli."
* FullFrontalAssault: Emeli's always nude in her daemonic form.
%%* InterplayOfSexAndViolence: At the core of her character.
%%* ItsPersonal: For both her and Cain.
%%* {{Lust}}: Her primary sin, and one which she magically evokes in others.%%ZCE. How is this trope used?
* ManiacTongue: As a daemon, Emeli's OverlyLongTongue permanently protrudes from her jaws.
* PreMortemOneLiner: Cain right before shooting her the first time around (and note that the short story is set ''before'' he meets Amberley Vail):
-->"Sorry, I prefer blondes."
* PsychicPowers: A very powerful witch and psychic when alive, she has gained even more power over the Warp since her "death".
* {{Revenge}}: Ropes Cain into her resurrection plot so she can avenge her first defeat.
* RevengeBeforeReason: If Emeli had left Cain alone she probably could have successfully pulled the planet into the Warp. Instead, she deliberately incorporated him into her plans, ensuring her own defeat. In ''Choose Your Enemies'' it initially looks like she's made the same mistake, but she was actually trying to take out ''Jurgen'' for purely pragmatic reasons.
* SealedEvilInACan: After her body is destroyed, her essence is absorbed into the sword of an Eldar Avatar.
* SmugSnake: She's incredibly sure of herself and prone to toying with her victims.
%%* VerbalTic: Describing someone as "silly".
* VillainousBreakdown: She tends to throw a hissy fit whenever Jurgen gets close to her or when Cain foils her plans.
* VillainousCrush: She tries to seduce Cain twice over, once when mortal, and once as a daemon.
* WasOnceAMan: She was once a mortal psyker.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: Emeli betrays the Slaaneshi cultists who brought her into the material world at the climax of ''Choose Your Enemies'', devouring their souls and using their flesh to create a host body for herself]].
* YoureNotMyType: Cain tells her he prefers blondes (Emeli has "raven hair") as a PreMortemOneLiner on their first meeting.

!!Humans

[[folder:Varan the Undefeatable]]
A powerful and "self-styled invincible" Chaos warlord with the power to mentally dominate and subvert others through a CompellingVoice, Varan led a splinter force of the Thirteenth Black Crusade against Perlia to capture the Shadowlight artifact held there. He serves as the main villain of ''Cain's Last Stand''.

* AndThisIsFor: He gets to be on the receiving end of one of these.
--> ''Commissar Donal sends his regards.''
* BigBad: Of ''Cain's Last Stand'', though in the Black Crusade as a whole he's a nobody. That would NOT have remained the case if he managed to capture his target in the book, but he blew it.
* CompellingVoice: His psyker power allows him to turn anyone within ranger of his voice into a mindless puppet follower. It doesn't have any range limitation -- he packs a stadium full of prisoners at one point to control them all ''en masse'' -- but it only works live, not through broadcast. This creates an amusing off-screen moment where some of his captured followers fully expect their captors to instantly switch sides on viewing a recording of his speech, only to be confused when they laugh at his LargeHam speechifying and dismiss the content as generic Chaos propaganda.
* DisneyVillainDeath: Falls to his death over the edge of the dam at the end of his duel with Cain ([[spoiler:helped along by a kick up the arse from Cain]]).
* KeystoneArmy: Discussed and subverted. Cain ''hopes'' that with Varan dead his slaves would come to their senses, but he admits that it's a fool's hope. He's right -- if anything, the death of their master sends Varan's forces into frenzy, and they rush in for an all-out assault.
* LargeHam: As is natural for someone who uses his voice for MindControl. His actual speeches are apparently fairly uninspiring.
* LetsGetDangerous: He's initially presented as a SquishyWizard who uses his voice-activated powers to make up for his lack of combat prowess. During his parley-turned-duel with Cain, he reveals that he ''also'' has daemonic talons. And natural scales that render him immune to lasfire.
* TheMagnificent: Varan ''the Undefeatable''.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Of Adolf Hitler -- a small, unimposing man with a weedy little moustache who makes trite speeches that nevertheless inspire mobs of fanatic followers. Of course, the real Hitler never had PsychicPowers ([[{{Ghostapo}} that we know of]]).
* ShoutOut: Could be coincidence, but Varan the Undefeatable's name and title is eerily close to Varan the Unbelievable, a small but violent kaiju from Toho known to be a contemporary of Godzilla.
* TemptingFate: Calling himself "the Undefeatable" like that is simply ''asking'' for someone to take him down a peg, a fate that Cain gladly delivers with a [[LiteralAssKicking boot to the ass]].
* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Completely loses it when Cain goes off-script from what Varan had in mind, proving resistant to his mind control thanks to Jurgen, and then insulting the Warmaster on ''live television'' (Varan having insisted on the cameras for his forces) by remarking he's ready to accept ''Varan's'' surrender]].

!!Nercons
[[folder:Anzibal]]
An ambitious Necron who encounters Cain in ''Vainglorious''.

* ItCanThink: Cain's past experience with Necrons prior to meeting Anzibal makes him view the entire species as mindless robots. Cain is quite creeped out to meet one who introduces himself by name and discusses his culture, history, and plans.
* PragmaticVillainy: He is willing to negotiate with renegade members of the Imperium (and eventually Cain) for them to mine materials to make a world engine for him rather than just kill everyone in sight like many Necrons would, but because the few years' worth of effort it would spare his own forces is "marginally preferable" to his plans.
* SmugSnake: He sees himself as a potential Phaeron, but badly underestimates his enemies and is defeated without much difficulty.
* WorthyOpponent: He comes to respect Cain's intelligence and occasional frankness and is honest with him in turn while offering him a deal where he can survive if he doesn't oppose Anzibal. Cain, for is part, doesn't return the sentiment due to how ruthless and arrogant Anzibal is.

!!Orks

[[folder:Gargash Korbul]]
The head of the Ork alliance behind the first Siege of Perlia.

* BadBoss: He has his psykers use direct contact with the warp to disable Imperium navigators and force their ships to abort their planned route, a useful strategy, but one that will get said psykers killed by the warp entities they attract.
* GeniusBruiser: He got to be warboss the usual way, by being the biggest and strongest Ork around, but he is also able to form alliances between tribes and has a good sense of strategy for ambushes.
* GenericDoomsdayVillain: He is on a mission of simple murder and conquest that happens to endanger the heroes and is more of a plot device than a character. He is only mentioned by name twice before the lone scene where he appears in person and has little characterization beyond embodying RankScalesWithAssKicking and some offscreen GeniusBruiser moments.

!!Drukhari
[[folder:Malicia Mortalyss]]
A prominent Dark Eldar who appears in the audio drama ''The Devil You Know.''

* DarkActionGirl: She is an enormously talented fighter who oozes sadism.
* EnemyMine: She and Cain form a truce to fight Tyrannids, but there is no warmth to their alliance, and she is eager for the chance to spend years torturing Cain to death as soon as she doesn't need him anymore.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Her efforts to take Cain back to the webway to torture end up letting Tyrannids swarm through the portal to her home city.
* WeHaveReserves: When her bodyguards die defending her, her only reaction is mild annoyance.
[[/folder]]

!!Asuryani

[[folder:Sambhatain]]
A craft world Eldar farseer who encounters Cain while menacing the forge world Ironfound.
----
* BlingOfWar: He goes into battle wearing a bejeweled raiment and shows little sign of needing his bodyguards to stay alive.
* EnemyMine: He is willing to deal with Cain and Amberly in good faith to fight Slaaneshi cultists and recover stolen Eldar spirit stones.
* HiddenDepths: He has the same arrogance as many other Eldar but bothers to learn human languages and will decide to talk to them to save time during important negotiations.
* SummonBiggerFish: His forces summon an Avatar of Khaine to attack a Chaos daemon who is trying to devour the spirit stones.

* GenericDoomsdayVillain: He is on a mission of simple murder and conquest that happens to endanger the heroes and is more of a plot device than a character. He is only mentioned by name twice before the lone scene where he appears in person and has little characterization beyond embodying RankScaleEqualsAssKicking and some offscreen GeniusBruiser moments.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: His ''boss'' was, being as she was Magos Ernulph's counterpart at the refinery, something Quintus has nothing flattering to say about in the meeting minutes. He, on the other hand, serves as a counterpart to Logash, who is equally the reasonable subordinate to the unreasonable Ernulph.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Subverted. Even though the best way to deal with the space hulk would be to destroy it, he shoots down any idea of doing so due to the massive stash of archeotech it represents.

!!Commissar Cadets

[[folder:Donal]]
One of Cain's cadets, who reminds him a bit too much of himself.

* DyingAsYourself: After being possessed by daemonic forces, he regains control while dying.
* HoldTheLine: Along with Governor Trevellyan. Unfortunately, he suffers the same fate.
* IndyPloy: Cain says that he has
--> ''...the rare ability to think his feet and take immediate advantage of any unexpected circumstances.''
* TheQuietOne: He observes more than he speaks in class.
* TooMuchAlike: Cain regularly notes that Donal reminds him a little too much of himself.

[[folder:Kayla]]
One of Cain's cadets, who he views as the most promising of the group but lacking in self-confidence.

* NervesOfSteel: Cain describes her voice as "tightly controlled" on the verge of a battle.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The only girl shown among Cain's class.
* TeachersPet: She's a decent student who answers question to Cains' satisfaction and puts a less intelligent Nelys in his place.
* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: She wears her hair long and Cain states "her refusal to adopt the short crop of her fellow cadets was the one sign of feminity I'd so far seen her allow herself."

[[folder:Nelys]]
A Perlia cadet who annoys Cain with his rigidity.

* ByTheBookCop: A serious young man who lives by the protocol for things. Cain worries he'll suffer an UnfriendlyFire incident out in the field.
* DeadpanSnarker: He develops a tendency for this during the invasion as a result of his TookALevelInBadass. A prime example is Nelys defusing an argument between two Tech-Priests delaying the evacuation of HQ over which bit of tech or other should be saved by asking which of them is staying behind to make room for it on the last shuttle.
* EnhancedInterrogationTechniques: Cain assigns him to question some prisoners and he quickly gets results (albeit partially because one overconfident prisoner thought he could convert Nelys to Chaos just by showing him some pictures).
* HiddenDepths: It's hinted that he might have a girlfriend among the Battle Sisters Novitiates based on the way he smiles identically to Maklin when Julien and the Novitiates arrive in one scene. He's also shown to have quite a sarcastic sense of humour.
* IndyPloy: He quickly comes up with one to end a battle between Cain's team and attacking Tyranids: the Tyranids are coming out of a mine shaft, so Nelys stuffs a mine cart full of explosives, lights the fuse and shoves it down the shaft on the rails, collapsing the tunnel and killing the synapse creature controlling the Tyranid swarm.
* JabbaTableManners: Cain describes him as trying to stuff an entire salt grox bun into his mouth in one go.
* LeeroyJenkins: Dives out of cover to enact his IndyPloy and nearly gets blasted by Tyranid bio-weapons.
* TookALevelInBadass: Throughout the incursion he gets a bit smarter and tougher.
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Cain compliments him when Nelys doubts his instincts in class, pointing out that following them worked on his IndyPloy.

[[folder:Stebbins]]
A Perlia cadet.

* ATeamFiring: Cain describes him as the worst las-pistol shot he's ever met (and notes how distinctive that dubious honor is given all of the chaos cultists and such he's fought).
* AnArmAndALeg: Cain describes one of his hands as a "mangled ruin" after the battle.
* ToiletHumour: Cain observes him pissing on an overheating autocannon to cool it enough to get the weapon firing again, and notes any Tech-Priests who saw it would be mortified.

[[folder:Heskin]]
One of the Perlia commissar cadets.

* HoldTheLine: When being swarmed by Tyranids, he and several local militia troopers manage to hold back the swarm (despite a few losses) [[HopeSpot until Cain and reinforcements arrive]] only for Heskin to die seconds later.
* LetsSplitUpGang: Defied, he knows that doing this near Tyranids is a bad idea.
* OffWithHisHead: One second, he's showing relief at Cain's arrival on his face, the next "all traces of expression vanishes, along with most of his head" due to a cloud of fleshborer beetles.

[[folder:Maklin]]
A dim-witted Perlia Cadet.

* BattleCouple: He quickly seems to be talking and flirting with Monyka, one of Sister Julien's Battle Sister initiates, and both play a role in the remainder of the battle.
* CaptainObvious: To call Maklin's attempts at describing the ruinous powers obvious, generic, and uncomplicated (after he's called on in class) would be understating just how unprepared he sounds.
--> '''Cain:''' Maklin, what do you know about the ruinous powers?
--> '''Maklin:''' That they're really, really bad?
* DistractedByTheSexy: He's repeatedly noted as paying more attention to the Battle Sisters than to Cain.

[[folder:Frister]]
One of the Perlia Commissar cadets.

* BigDamnHeroes: He helps save Cain's life near the end of the battle.
* DistractedByTheSexy: Cain notes him watching a pair of bouncy kitchen maids at one point.
* {{MacGyvering}}: He proposes, but ultimately doesn't use, a strategy involving grenades rigged to a gun barrel.

[[folder:Briel]]
Another Perlia commissar cadet.

* CavalryBetrayal: He dies as a result of one when several guards arrive during a fight at the governor's mansion but turn out to have been corrupted by Varan.
* GotVolunteered: Cain takes him to the governor's mansion along with Kayla, Donal and Nelys "on the entirely reasonable grounds that he'd been the first of the remaining cadets to cross my path after selecting the other three."
* ShellshockedVeteran: He causes Cain some concern by becoming withdrawn after losing two friends in the first engagements.

[[folder:Klarch]]

* NervesOfSteel: He's able to eat calmly during a dangerous sweeping exercise and upon realizing that he's surrounded by Tyranids and doomed, he simply yells into the radio for another cadet at the end of the tunnel to assume defensive positions for when they reach him.
--> '''Cain:'''' The lad would have made a good commissar, probably, still thinking of the bigger picture even as his own life hung by a thread, but he wasn't going to get the chance now.
* TheSnackIsMoreInteresting: While searching for tyranids, Cain notes that Klarch is munching on a ration bar from an opened crate found during the search.
* SoundOnlyDeath: Cain hears him give what is described as "his last scream" over the radio right after he yells for Heskin to HoldTheLine.
* StuffBlowingUp: He warns his militia companions to be careful where they shoot due to a lot of explosive material being nearby.

[[folder:Dallory]]

* CrazyPrepared: He carries extra weapons due to Cain having said to have a backup plan.

[[folder:Garvie]]

* BloodKnight: Cain thinks that he looks more resigned than anything when given a mission ''away'' from the front lines.
* BoringButPractical: He's assigned to direct crowd control during the final stages of the battle, pointing militia troops in the right direction to go.

!!Diplomats

[[folder:Erasmus Donali]]
An Imperial envoy involved in multiple of Cain's adventures; he first appears in the Gravalax incident alongside El'hassai, and later reappears alongside the t'au diplomat in The Greater Good.

* ConsummateProfessional: Cain repeatedly references Donali's "calm deliberation."
* GoingNative: Cain (and perhaps others) fear that Erasmus' regular exposure to the T'au as a diplomat has led to him going a little bit native.
* SharpDressedMan: During his second appearance Cain watches him smooth "a non-existent crease from the front of his immaculate robe."
* TheStoic: Donali is often guarded and reserved with his comments and facial expressions.

!!Naval Personnel

[[folder:Commodore Hubert Visiter]]
Commodore of the naval cadets at Perlia

* CardGames: Often gambles with his fellow instructors, paticuallry Cain and Rorkins.
* CrazyPrepared: He has his cadets do theoretical training exercises which can be used to defend Perlia and assigns Cain a very good pilot.
* FatherNeptune: He's a visibly aged naval tactician who imparts his lessons to the next generation and plays a major role in the defense of Perlia.
* HumbleHero: He is a LivingLegend who never writes his own memoirs and, when someone else writes a biography of his career, is willing to acknowledge when a triumph depended more on luck than skill.
* NiceGuy: He's fairly warm and open towards both Cain and the cadets.
* {{Workaholic}}: He goes a while without sleep working for Perlia's defense.

[[folder:Captain Paraji]]
Captain of a transport ship in the first book.

* ItsPersonal: He is insistent on demanding action against Kelp, Trebek, Sorel, Velade and Holebi for a bar fight which gets three people killed (including two provosts from his ship). Cain correctly suspects this was because Paraji was sleeping with one of the dead provosts.

[[folder:Captain Nansi Blakit]]
Commander of a vessel in Battlefleet Damocles.

* ForcedToWatch: She had to watch and listen to via vox as another ship get swarmed and wiped out by Hormagaunts.
* IgnoredExpert: She advised her commodore to keep the ships closer together in order to provide support but was ignored.
* MilitaryBrat: She refers to a superior, the head of the inquiry she's reporting to as "Uncle Jym" at one point.

[[folder:Sprie]]
A Naval cadet at Perlia assigned to pilot Cain.

* AcePilot: He comes out well of several near scrapes and Cain is repeatedly thankful toward Visiter for assigning Sprie to him.
* ChickMagnet: The teenaged female militia members are pretty aroused by him.
* DissonantSerenity: A battle raging on around them isn't enough to keep him from giving Cain a cheerful greeting.

[[folder:Karrie Straun]]
A Naval Comissiar and a lover to a young Cain shortly before the First Siege of Perlia.

* MilitaryBrat: She's third generation Navy (at least) with the last two generations of her family having also served on the ship she's commissar for.
* NavelDeepNeckline: Cain notes that her jacket has several buttons undone, showing off much of her chest.
* OhCrap: She's described as looking horrified as Cain is accidentally sealed out of the escape pods.

[[folder:Horatio Bugler]]
A HeroOfAnotherStory naval officer mentioned throughout ''Traitor's Hand''.
----
* {{Expy}}: His name, intelligence, and rise through the ranks are reminiscent of ''Literature/HoratioHornblower.''
* HoldTheLine: Despite having permission to retreat and BringHelpBack, he and his two ships remain at their post to fight an approaching Chaos flotilla, decimating much of it with their superior maneuvering skills and Bugler's clever tactics.
* HumbleHero: He has a celebrated rise from a SoldiersAtTheRear EnsignNewbie to a LivingLegend FrontlineGeneral fleet admiral, but never writes memoirs.

[[folder:Igor Yates]]
Captain of the Naval vessel ''Indestructible'' in ''The Traitor's Hand.''

* DavidVsGoliath: Defeats a Chaos battleship with his cruiser and a ragtag merchant fleet.
* ObfuscatingDisability: He pretends his ship is badly hurt to lure in a Chaos Battleship.

[[folder:Gianella Dimarco]]
The navigator of the ''Indestructible''.

* BearerOfBadNews: Describes the movements of Chaos to the local authorities.
* BigBeautifulWoman: Cain calls her "pleasantly plump".
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Her extreme haughtiness is tempered by discussions about Chaos ritual sacrifices being used to summon a daemon.

[[folder:Admiral Duque]]
The [=SDF=] commander of Serendipita.

* DeathOfAThousandCuts: His proposal for destroying a genestealer space hulk approaching Serendipita is to have his much smaller ships spend the month it will take it to approach concentrating their fire on a bit of the hulk at a time to steadily reduce it to nothing.
* {{Nepotism}}: One of his aides has a strong familial resemblance to him.
* SpaceNomads: Cain pegs him as a void-born man who is uncomfortable on the surface of any kind of planet and prefers to traverse the system in his ships.

[[folder:Admiral Benjamin Bowe]]
A recurring task force leader.
----
* TheCavalry: The arrival of his task force turns the tide of the Battle of Periemunda.
* TheVoice: Transcripts of his communiques and meetings he hosts have appeared in interludes, but he has yet to meet Cain.

!!The Ecclesiarchy

[[folder:Deacon Cuthbert Catchart]]
The head of the Schola where Cain taught during his first retirement.

* DeanBitterman: Cain and Amberly agree that he is "plodding and unimaginative," although Amberly feels that Cain is too hard on him, and he does give his students an alright education.
* TheGhost: He is mentioned, but Cain never interacts with him on page.

[[folder:Callister]]
The Hierophant of Lentonia.

* BadassPreacher: He marches toward an undead crowd to try and exorcise them and smashes one's head with his staff when that fails, [[DownplayedTrope although this is done in a somewhat bumbling nature that nearly gets him killed]].
* ChehkovsGunman: Initially just a comic relief character in "Old Soldiers Never Die", he blesses Holy water that is needed for a vaccine and also helps care for the infected and dying Governor Worden.
* TooDumbToLive: He (fortunately briefly) thinks dead soldiers coming back to life is a miracle rather than Warpcraft reviving the dead as {{Mook}}s and needs a reminder otherwise.

!!Civilians

[[folder:Kolfax]]
A Perlia local and desert prospector used by Cain and the other refugees to navigate the desert during the First Siege of Perlia.

* NativeGuide: A local road worker and desert expert who guides the group to sources of water.
* SacrificialLion: He's KilledOffScreen near the end of the book after having made enough of an impression that Cain finds himself missing the man and even thinks of him a time or two in later books.

[[folder:Ariott]]
A veterinarian on Perlia who is among the liberated prisoners who join Cain's convoy.

* ClosestThingWeGot: Due to the lack of an actual medical he ends up caring for the injured.
* KindlyVet: He is a humble, and sympathetic veterinarian.

[[folder:Captain Mires]]
Captain of a civilian vessel that once transports Cain and the Valhallans.

* {{Jerkass}}: He is a disrespectful, insinuation-prone cost-cutter who dislikes criticism.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: His incompetence and general cost-cutting gets the ship infested by a demon, damaged and put in mortal danger along with its passengers. He then works hard with his crew to find a way to get them down to the planet safely, but breaks his neck in the landing.

[[folder:Kolyn]]
A member of Mires' bridge crew.

* IgnoredExpert: As things go badly, Kolyn is quick to point out about how he's been warning Mires about the need for equipment repairs and the reconsecration of wards for some time.
* ResignInProtest: Fed up with Mires ignoring his recommendations for so long, Kolyn declares his intention to quit as soon as the mission is over. Some {{Retirony}} is teased when the ship ends up being destroyed instead, but Kolyn survives (albeit with a broken arm).
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Kolyn and the other surviving crewmen are last seen separating from Cain and his men while they flee their ship before it can sink into the lake where they've crashed. Cain speculates that their knowledge of the ship will allow them to escape faster than his party, but they are never seen or mentioned again.

[[folder:Demara and Tamworth]]
Two members of the Perlia group, a former cop and criminal respectively, who first fight each other, then are forced to cooperate by Cain.

* FireForgedFriends: They go from trying to kill each other over some spilled water to goofing off together when not on duty and being an effective fire team and BackToBackBadasses going up against an Ork ZergRush.
* TattooedCrook: Demara is a former gang enforcer with a tattooed cheek.

[[folder:Artur Morel]]
Head of the miner's guild of Simia Orirchalacae.

* BenevolentBoss: When some of Morel's men disappear, he refuses to ignore it and wants an investigation to protect his remaining workers. Morel also shows anger when it is (falsely) suggested that the culprits might be among his staff.

[[folder:Durant]]
A merchant ship captain who ferries Imperial Guards.
----
* CyborgHelmsman: Durant has so many cyborg parts that Cain almost mistakes him for a servitor, and his mechanical parts are entwined with the ship itself.
* GoodParents: He's quite warm toward his daughter (his ship's Tech-Priest) and feels that she has the potential to do a lot more than stick around his ship.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: When Cain fills his ship with refugees, Durant demands an explanation, but once he gets one, he's mollified and accommodating.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kimeon Slabbard]]
A freight hauler on Adumbria who is bribed by heretics.
----
* InelegantBlubbering: He spends most of his brief appearance crying and frantically protesting throughout an interrogation for potentially capital charges.
* SuspiciousSpending: His corruption is detected after he spends three times his salary on HookersAndBlow.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Cleff Family]]
Residents of Nusquam Fundumentibus who are briefly mentioned in an InUniverse news article.
----
* NotEnoughToBury: When their great-grandmother is attacked by a Tyranid, all her family can save of her is her spectacles.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: It's slightly PlayedForLaughs, but the surviving family members describe their ravaged settlement as not being "a fit place to bring up kids in now" and announce their intention to move elsewhere.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kamella Dobrevesky]]
A prostitute on Keffia and Genestealer cultist.
----
* HalfTheWomanSheUsedToBe: Gets sliced in two by Cain's chainsword.
* HoneyTrap: She seduces various troopers to infect them with the Genestealer taint. Multiple characters describe her as having vivid tattoos which accentuate her curves.
* SayingTooMuch: She blows her cover by calling Cain by name before he can introduce himself to her. This causes Cain to recall that he did just give his name to her pimp downstairs and that Genestealers are telepathic.
* TattooedCrook: She's covered in sensuous tattoos which Cain realises as there to help disguise the physical mutations that would mark her out as a [[HalfHumanHybrid Genestealer hybrid]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Addie]]
The captain of an aging transport ship dubbed ''the Rustbucket'' that takes Cain, Amberly, and their respective people to Ironfound in the tenth book.
----
* BrutalHonesty: She gives bad news calmly and without evasion.
* ConsummateProfessional: She remains composed and focused on getting the ship within range of defensive guns faster throughout a tense starship ChaseScene where they are unsure if much faster Elder ships are charging toward them or said defenses.
[[/folder]]

!Xenos

!!The Tau Empire
A federation of a half-dozen alien species on the Eastern Fringe of the Imperium of Man, the Tau Empire arrived on the galactic stage relatively recently. Spared by a warp storm from Imperial extermination in the 36th Millennium, the tau began annexing Imperial planets in the Damocles Gulf (where the ''Cain'' novels take place) in the 8th century M41. The Imperium retaliated, launching the Damocles Gulf Crusade to reclaim its lost territory and wipe out the xenos, but quickly found that the tau, in Cain's words, "know how to put on a good war."

In the wake of the Crusade, for the next 200 years until the series the Tau Empire has maintained hostilities with the much larger Imperium at the level of a SpaceColdWar: duking it out over the odd planet here and there but never committing to full-scale war because neither side can afford it:
* If humanity brought all its force to bear on the tau, the tau would lose, guaranteed, but the force required would allow threats elsewhere in the galaxy to gain a foothold.
* Conversely the tau can't antagonize the Imperium ''too much'' or else the humans might take the risk and worry about the cleanup later.

Most Tau commanders are also far more willing to forge alliances with non-Tau than humans are with anybody else, which grants them control of many auxiliaries, but doesn't always allow for the clearest chain of command.

The Tau and many of the local human commanders, among them Cain and Lord General Zyvan, are also pragmatic enough to [[EnemyMine work together against greater threats]] such as the Tyranids, who care nothing for flags or national borders. That being said, the Imperium does not like showing weakness to the Tau and refuses to allow them to annex Imperial worlds easily, reasoning that not putting up a fight would only encourage the aliens to push their luck further.

[[folder:Por'el'hassai]]
A tau diplomat and a member of the Water Caste, he serves as ambassador to the Imperium in ''For the Emperor'' and ''The Greater Good''.
----
* CoolOldGuy: It's not clear exactly how old he is, but his appearances are 61 years apart in-universe and Tau consider 40 retirement age.
* LimitedAdvancementOpportunities: Under Tau {{Fantastic Naming Convention}}s the "El'" part of his name denotes his rank in the Water Caste. He hasn't gotten a promotion in 61 years. That said, it is the second-highest rank a Tau can achieve, and few ever get as far as he has.
* OddFriendship: Cain saved his life back in ''For the Emperor''. Sixty-one years and eight books later in ''The Greater Good'', he seeks out Cain as his opposite number in the face of Hive Fleet Kraken's invasion, and the two strike up something of a friendship.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: He's mostly known as El'hassai (a shortened form of his formal name containing his rank and a defining trait that is left untranslated). The "Por" for his affiliation with the Water Caste is only added once and his home sept is never identified.
* PutOnABus: After the events on Gravalax the Tau withdraw from the planet, El'hassai included. He doesn't return until ''The Greater Good'', sixty-one years and eight books later. [[spoiler:[[TheBusCameBack He was also somehow spared the fate of his genestealer-implanted comrades.]]]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gorok]]
A Kroot soldier in service of the Tau on Gravalax.
----
* FriendlyEnemy: He seems to have no personal animus toward the Imperium despite his government's on-and-off hostility with them, saves Cain's life a few times, and amiably chats with him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Au'lys Devrae]]
A human from a world long ago occupied by the Tau, and a member of El'hassai's staff.
----
* CategoryTraitor: She is a human whose job is to rebuild the infrastructure of Tau-annexed worlds and get the local authorities to embrace "The Greater Good." Many in the Imperium hate her on sight for what she represents, although she is only doing what she was raised to and she implies that she is curious about humanity outside of her government's control.
* SmarterThanTheyLook: Her casual attitude belies a job that requires a lot of intelligence, and she seems to recognize Jurgen as a blank.
[[/folder]]

!Chaos
Worshipers and agents of the Ruinous Powers whom Cain has encountered over the course of his lengthy career.

!!Daemons

[[folder:Emeli Duboir]]
Once a mortal sorceress and Slaaneshi cultist slain by Cain after she tried to sacrifice him in a ritual, Emeli was rewarded by her patron with transformation into a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh. She serves as the main villain of ''Traitor's Hand'', in which she tries to pull an entire planet into the Warp.
----
* {{Archenemy}}: Most of Cain's enemies don't survive their first encounter with him. Emeli's attacked him twice and is still out there, plotting a third go. Given the nightmares that Cain still has about her, it's safe to say the loathing is mutual.
* AxeCrazy: Par for the course for Slaaneshi cultists and daemons alike.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: She talks like a giggly schoolgirl. Probably the most flat-out powerful adversary Cain ever encounters.
* BigBad: Of ''The Traitor's Hand''. [[spoiler: She also returns as the BigBad of ''Choose Your Enemies''.]]
* CameBackStrong: She returned from the dead as a daemon with far more power than she'd possessed previously.
* DarkActionGirl: As a daemon, she casually tears apart several Khornate Berzerkers from the World Eaters Legion. Only Jurgen's presence prevents her from doing the same to Cain.
* DavidVersusGoliath: Very much the Goliath to Cain's David. As a ''very'' powerful daemon, Emeli is leagues beyond not only Cain, but everyone else he's ever fought.
* DemonLordsAndArchdevils: While her exact status and relative power level are never specified, the fact that she's able to paralyze a room full of people, shred a pair of Berzerkers, and threaten to pull an entire planet into the Warp suggests that if she's not already around the level of a Greater Daemon, she's well on her way to becoming one.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Emeli's cheerful attitude does nothing to hide just how deadly dangerous she is.
* EvilPlan: She's usually revealed to have one:
** In ''The Traitor's Hand'', [[spoiler: her plan was to use the powerful Warp tides surrounding Adumbria to transform the planet into a Slaaneshi daemon world under her control]].
** Her plan in ''Choose Your Enemies'', [[spoiler: is pretty much the same; she intends to turn the hive world of Ironfound into her personal daemon world, though with the added benefits of gaining access to the Webway through a portal left over when Ironfound was an Eldar Maiden World, and getting to devour plenty of Eldar soulstones collected by her cultist dupes to both increase her power exponentially and protect her from Jurgen's abilities, since she inevitably expected another confrontation with Ciaphas]].
* EvilTeacher: When human, Emeli masqueraded as the headmistress of a girls' school.
* FirstNameBasis: Always refers to Cain as "Ciaphas". For his part, he never uses her last name; she's just "Emeli."
* FullFrontalAssault: Emeli's always nude in her daemonic form.
%%* InterplayOfSexAndViolence: At the core of her character.
%%* ItsPersonal: For both her and Cain.
%%* {{Lust}}: Her primary sin, and one which she magically evokes in others.%%ZCE. How is this trope used?
* ManiacTongue: As a daemon, Emeli's OverlyLongTongue permanently protrudes from her jaws.
* PreMortemOneLiner: Cain right before shooting her the first time around (and note that the short story is set ''before'' he meets Amberley Vail):
-->"Sorry, I prefer blondes."
* PsychicPowers: A very powerful witch and psychic when alive, she has gained even more power over the Warp since her "death".
* {{Revenge}}: Ropes Cain into her resurrection plot so she can avenge her first defeat.
* RevengeBeforeReason: If Emeli had left Cain alone she probably could have successfully pulled the planet into the Warp. Instead, she deliberately incorporated him into her plans, ensuring her own defeat. In ''Choose Your Enemies'' it initially looks like she's made the same mistake, but she was actually trying to take out ''Jurgen'' for purely pragmatic reasons.
* SealedEvilInACan: After her body is destroyed, her essence is absorbed into the sword of an Eldar Avatar.
* SmugSnake: She's incredibly sure of herself and prone to toying with her victims.
%%* VerbalTic: Describing someone as "silly".
* VillainousBreakdown: She tends to throw a hissy fit whenever Jurgen gets close to her or when Cain foils her plans.
* VillainousCrush: She tries to seduce Cain twice over, once when mortal, and once as a daemon.
* WasOnceAMan: She was once a mortal psyker.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: Emeli betrays the Slaaneshi cultists who brought her into the material world at the climax of ''Choose Your Enemies'', devouring their souls and using their flesh to create a host body for herself]].
* YoureNotMyType: Cain tells her he prefers blondes (Emeli has "raven hair") as a PreMortemOneLiner on their first meeting.
[[/folder]]

!!Humans

[[folder:Varan the Undefeatable]]
A powerful and "self-styled invincible" Chaos warlord with the power to mentally dominate and subvert others through a CompellingVoice, Varan led a splinter force of the Thirteenth Black Crusade against Perlia to capture the Shadowlight artifact held there. He serves as the main villain of ''Cain's Last Stand''.
----
* AndThisIsFor: He gets to be on the receiving end of one of these.
--> ''Commissar Donal sends his regards.''
* BigBad: Of ''Cain's Last Stand'', though in the Black Crusade as a whole he's a nobody. That would NOT have remained the case if he managed to capture his target in the book, but he blew it.
* CompellingVoice: His psyker power allows him to turn anyone within ranger of his voice into a mindless puppet follower. It doesn't have any range limitation -- he packs a stadium full of prisoners at one point to control them all ''en masse'' -- but it only works live, not through broadcast. This creates an amusing off-screen moment where some of his captured followers fully expect their captors to instantly switch sides on viewing a recording of his speech, only to be confused when they laugh at his LargeHam speechifying and dismiss the content as generic Chaos propaganda.
* DisneyVillainDeath: Falls to his death over the edge of the dam at the end of his duel with Cain ([[spoiler:helped along by a kick up the arse from Cain]]).
* KeystoneArmy: Discussed and subverted. Cain ''hopes'' that with Varan dead his slaves would come to their senses, but he admits that it's a fool's hope. He's right -- if anything, the death of their master sends Varan's forces into frenzy, and they rush in for an all-out assault.
* LargeHam: As is natural for someone who uses his voice for MindControl. His actual speeches are apparently fairly uninspiring.
* LetsGetDangerous: He's initially presented as a SquishyWizard who uses his voice-activated powers to make up for his lack of combat prowess. During his parley-turned-duel with Cain, he reveals that he ''also'' has daemonic talons. And natural scales that render him immune to lasfire.
* TheMagnificent: Varan ''the Undefeatable''.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Of Adolf Hitler -- a small, unimposing man with a weedy little moustache who makes trite speeches that nevertheless inspire mobs of fanatic followers. Of course, the real Hitler never had PsychicPowers ([[{{Ghostapo}} that we know of]]).
* ShoutOut: Could be coincidence, but Varan the Undefeatable's name and title is eerily close to Varan the Unbelievable, a small but violent kaiju from Toho known to be a contemporary of Godzilla.
* TemptingFate: Calling himself "the Undefeatable" like that is simply ''asking'' for someone to take him down a peg, a fate that Cain gladly delivers with a [[LiteralAssKicking boot to the ass]].
* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Completely loses it when Cain goes off-script from what Varan had in mind, proving resistant to his mind control thanks to Jurgen, and then insulting the Warmaster on ''live television'' (Varan having insisted on the cameras for his forces) by remarking he's ready to accept ''Varan's'' surrender]].
[[/folder]]

!!Nercons
[[folder:Anzibal]]
An ambitious Necron who encounters Cain in ''Vainglorious''.
----
* ItCanThink: Cain's past experience with Necrons prior to meeting Anzibal makes him view the entire species as mindless robots. Cain is quite creeped out to meet one who introduces himself by name and discusses his culture, history, and plans.
* PragmaticVillainy: He is willing to negotiate with renegade members of the Imperium (and eventually Cain) for them to mine materials to make a world engine for him rather than just kill everyone in sight like many Necrons would, but because the few years' worth of effort it would spare his own forces is "marginally preferable" to his plans.
* SmugSnake: He sees himself as a potential Phaeron, but badly underestimates his enemies and is defeated without much difficulty.
* WorthyOpponent: He comes to respect Cain's intelligence and occasional frankness and is honest with him in turn while offering him a deal where he can survive if he doesn't oppose Anzibal. Cain, for is part, doesn't return the sentiment due to how ruthless and arrogant Anzibal is.
[[/folder]]

!!Orks

[[folder:Gargash Korbul]]
The head of the Ork alliance behind the first Siege of Perlia.
----
* BadBoss: He has his psykers use direct contact with the warp to disable Imperium navigators and force their ships to abort their planned route, a useful strategy, but one that will get said psykers killed by the warp entities they attract.
* GeniusBruiser: He got to be warboss the usual way, by being the biggest and strongest Ork around, but he is also able to form alliances between tribes and has a good sense of strategy for ambushes.
* GenericDoomsdayVillain: He is on a mission of simple murder and conquest that happens to endanger the heroes and is more of a plot device than a character. He is only mentioned by name twice before the lone scene where he appears in person and has little characterization beyond embodying RankScaleEqualsAssKicking and some offscreen GeniusBruiser moments.
[[/folder]]

!! Governors and other aristocrats

[[folder:Mira [=DuPanya=]]]
The daughter of the governor of Viridia, and a GirlOfTheWeek for Cain, holding an honorary Guard position. She sees Cain as a potential consort, which he finds problematic.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Up until TheReveal he seems impressively level-headed and helpful, even showing more concern with the danger to his servants than his property when his countryside estates were attacked by the Eldar.

!!Civilians

[[folder:Kolfax]]
A Perlia local and desert prospector used by Cain and the other refugees to navigate the desert during the First Siege of Perlia.

* NativeGuide: A local road worker and desert expert who guides the group to sources of water.
* SacrificialLion: He's KilledOffScreen near the end of the book after having made enough of an impression that Cain finds himself missing the man and even thinks of him a time or two in later books.

[[folder:Ariott]]
A veterinarian on Perlia who is among the liberated prisoners who join Cain's convoy.

* ClosestThingWeGot: Due to the lack of an actual medical he ends up caring for the injured.
* KindlyVet: He is a humble, and sympathetic veterinarian.

[[folder:Captain Mires]]
Captain of a civilian vessel that once transports Cain and the Valhallans.

* {{Jerkass}}: He is a disrespectful, insinuation-prone cost-cutter who dislikes criticism.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: His incompetence and general cost-cutting gets the ship infested by a demon, damaged and put in mortal danger along with its passengers. He then works hard with his crew to find a way to get them down to the planet safely, but breaks his neck in the landing.

[[folder:Kolyn]]
A member of Mires' bridge crew.

* IgnoredExpert: As things go badly, Kolyn is quick to point out about how he's been warning Mires about the need for equipment repairs and the reconsecration of wards for some time.
* ResignInProtest: Fed up with Mires ignoring his recommendations for so long, Kolyn declares his intention to quit as soon as the mission is over. Some {{Retirony}} is teased when the ship ends up being destroyed instead, but Kolyn survives (albeit with a broken arm).
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Kolyn and the other surviving crewmen are last seen separating from Cain and his men while they flee their ship before it can sink into the lake where they've crashed. Cain speculates that their knowledge of the ship will allow them to escape faster than his party, but they are never seen or mentioned again.

[[folder:Demara and Tamworth]]
Two members of the Perlia group, a former cop and criminal respectively, who first fight each other, then are forced to cooperate by Cain.

* FireForgedFriends: They go from trying to kill each other over some spilled water to goofing off together when not on duty and being an effective fire team and BackToBackBadasses going up against an Ork ZergRush.
* TattooedCrook: Demara is a former gang enforcer with a tattooed cheek.

[[folder:Artur Morel]]
Head of the miner's guild of Simia Orirchalacae.

* BenevolentBoss: When some of Morel's men disappear, he refuses to ignore it and wants an investigation to protect his remaining workers. Morel also shows anger when it is (falsely) suggested that the culprits might be among his staff.

[[folder:Durant]]
A merchant ship captain who ferries Imperial Guards.

* CyborgHelmsman: Durant has so many cyborg parts that Cain almost mistakes him for a servitor, and his mechanical parts are entwined with the ship itself.
* GoodParents: He's quite warm toward his daughter (his ship's Tech-Priest) and feels that she has the potential to do a lot more than stick around his ship.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: When Cain fills his ship with refugees, Durant demands an explanation, but once he gets one, he's mollified and accommodating.

[[folder:Kimeon Slabbard]]
A freight hauler on Adumbria who is bribed by heretics.

* InelegantBlubbering: He spends most of his brief appearance crying and frantically protesting throughout an interrogation for potentially capital charges.
* SuspiciousSpending: His corruption is detected after he spends three times his salary on HookersAndBlow.

[[folder:The Cleff Family]]
Residents of Nusquam Fundumentibus who are briefly mentioned in an InUniverse news article.

* NotEnoughToBury: When their great-grandmother is attacked by a Tyranid, all her family can save of her is her spectacles.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: It's slightly PlayedForLaughs, but the surviving family members describe their ravaged settlement as not being "a fit place to bring up kids in now" and announce their intention to move elsewhere.

[[folder:Kamella Dobrevesky]]
A prostitute on Keffia and Genestealer cultist.
----
* HalfTheWomanSheUsedToBe: Gets sliced in two by Cain's chainsword.
* HoneyTrap: She seduces various troopers to infect them with the Genestealer taint. Multiple characters describe her as having vivid tattoos which accentuate her curves.
* SayingTooMuch: She blows her cover by calling Cain by name before he can introduce himself to her. This causes Cain to recall that he did just give his name to her pimp downstairs and that Genestealers are telepathic.
* TattooedCrook: She's covered in sensuous tattoos which Cain realises as there to help disguise the physical mutations that would mark her out as a [[HalfHumanHybrid Genestealer hybrid]].

[[folder:Addie]]
The captain of an aging transport ship dubbed ''the Rustbucket'' that takes Cain, Amberly, and their respective people to Ironfound in the tenth book.

* BrutalHonesty: She gives bad news calmly and without evasion.
* ConsummateProfessional: She remains composed and focused on getting the ship within range of defensive guns faster throughout a tense starship ChaseScene where they are unsure if much faster Elder ships are charging toward them or said defenses.

!Chaos
Worshipers and agents of the Ruinous Powers whom Cain has encountered over the course of his lengthy career.

!!Daemons

[[folder:Emeli Duboir]]
Once a mortal sorceress and Slaaneshi cultist slain by Cain after she tried to sacrifice him in a ritual, Emeli was rewarded by her patron with transformation into a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh. She serves as the main villain of ''Traitor's Hand'', in which she tries to pull an entire planet into the Warp.

!!Imperial Guard

Members of the Imperial Guard outside of the Valhallans, including some of Cain's fellow Commissars.

[[folder:Toren Divas]]

Lieutenant (later Major) of the Valhallan 12th Artillery Regiment, and the closest thing Cain has ever had to a best friend. Overly aggressive and rash, but reliable and decent despite that. A big drinker and rumormonger, providing Cain with useful gossip, but also... well, let's face it, he's not very bright.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Cain thinks Toren is rather an idiot but acknowledges that he's an expert with his artillery.
* {{Foil}}: Divas is ''very'' enthusiastic about engaging the enemy personally and thus hates the artillery because it shoots everything from miles away... which is why Cain joined it at the first place.
* LeeroyJenkins: A big fan of charging the enemy head-on.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: He always finds some way to get Cain in trouble (accidentally getting him stuck on the wrong side of some doors or nearly getting him beaten to death by angry Tau sympathizers for example) without meaning to.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Cain's best friend he may be, but that doesn't mean the descriptions of him are too flattering.

[[folder:Colonel Mostrue]]

Commanding officer of the Valhallan 12th Artillery Regiment, Mostrue is implied to have never fully bought into Cain's reputation as a hero, suspecting (quite rightly) that Cain's first act of 'heroism' with the regiment was really an attempt to desert and has reputedly tried to catch Cain out in similar circumstances.

* BadBoss: Cain notes Mostrue was always a little too eager to call in artillery strikes on his position when required.
* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: He never openly calls Cain out on what really happened on Desolatia, but makes his suspicions plain in his demeanor.
* IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten: A variation; Cain notes that in the years after Desolatia, Mostrue always made sure to volunteer Cain for suicide missions and the like, hoping Cain would balk at the prospect and show his true colours.
* ProperlyParanoid: In regard to Cain's fraudulent reputation, certainly.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: For all his distrust of Cain's reputation, Mostrue has no problem following Cain's military instinct.

[[folder:Lord General Zyvan]]

A Lord General of the Imperial Guard who oversaw operations in which the 597th served on Gravalax, Adumbria, and Periremunda, and also commanded the Guard on Quadravidia and Fecundia in ''The Greater Good''. He appreciated Cain's tactical insight and highly regarded him, to the point that Amberley often inserts footnotes pointing this out whenever Cain implies something to the contrary.

* BerserkButton: Zyvan ''really'' doesn't like being jerked around or not given vital information, whether it's by the Administratum, the Adeptus Mechanicus, or anyone else. Fortunately, in the cases where it could be really dire Cain is usually around to be the voice of reason.
* TheBrigadier: Commands an Imperial Guard task force that, for a time, includes the Valhallan [=597th=]. He often defers to Cain's judgment on important matters, and not merely because he's a Commissar; Zyvan seems to have a genuine appreciation for Cain's apparent talents - a rarity, given most Commissars are seen as a nuisance ''at best''.
* TheChainsOfCommanding: Cain often notes that he and Zyvan hit it off and became friends because Cain, being a commissar and thus not part of the normal Guard command structure, is the only person around whom Lord General can just be himself.
* AFatherToHisMen: Noted as having a genuine concern about the troops under his command.
* NoNameGiven: Zyvan's around for more than half the series but Ciaphas never does tell us what his first name is.
* NotSoStoic: Tries to be serious and professional, most of the time, but Cain occasionally manages to coax a little wry humour or TheGadfly esque moments out of Zyvan; in one instance Cain shamelessly compliments the cooking skills of Zyvan's chef and takes an opportunity to grab some more food when Zyvan offers, and in turn asks anyone else at the table if they'd like anything whilst he's up. Zyvan notably declines the offer, only to send one of his aides to go get him some coffee just after Cain has sat down again.
* PragmaticHero:
** In ''For the Emperor'', the Tau Empire has an entrenched diplomatic presence and security forces on Gravalax and is making inroads with the populace. You'd expect a Lord General Militant of the Imperial Guard to want them gone at whatever cost, but Zyvan states point-blank during a briefing that the planet isn't worth getting into a shooting war with the xenos.
** In ''The Traitor's Hand'', he chews out Tallarn 227th Colonel Asmar and Commissar Tomas Beije for excessive zeal, namely burning down a Slaaneshi cult site before it could be investigated for information about the cult's intentions.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: In contrast to the frequent portrayal of Imperial Guard flag officers as {{General Failure}}s, {{Insane Admiral}}s, and/or {{General Ripper}}s, Zyvan pays close attention to his subordinates' input and makes an effort not to risk their lives needlessly.
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Subverted; despite his immense strategic skill, Cain always beats him in their Regicide games. Cain muses that Zyvan just can't properly shrink his focus to properly play such a simple game when he's used to dealing with the immense complexity of modern battlefields.
* SupremeChef: Well, his staff chef is, anyway; Cain is taken enough by the chef's skills to the point that he's loathe to do anything to sour his relationship with Zyvan simply because he'd lose access to said chef.

[[folder:Tomas Beije]]

A fellow cadet at the Schola Progenium which Cain studied at. He is Commissar to the Tallarn 227th regiment. He and Cain are none too fond; Beije can't believe someone so flippant and blasé as Cain could do half the things he has, while Cain considers Beije a sanctimonious Emperor-bother and a monumental pain in the ass.

* CruelMercy: After he finds himself being investigated on charges of gross incompetence for interfering with Cain's mission, Cain mentions that he intends to pull some strings to get Beije off the hook... in part because he knows that Beije will find being in Cain's debt absolutely intolerable.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler:Deriding Kasteen as a "petticoat colonel" only to then realize he said that in front of a squad of ''extremely'' pissed off Valhallans from her regiment who are already looking for an excuse to shoot him]].
* FatBastard: Though it's not elaborated upon exactly, Beije is repeatedly described as "pudgy" as well as having great difficulty keeping up when everyone is double-timing, leading one to believe that he is essentially an evil, twisted version of [[Series/HogansHeroes Sergeant Schultz]].
* GreenEyedMonster: Towards Cain. Beije sees the honors and glory piled onto his old classmate, who seems to still be the irresponsible layabout he was in schola. Not only that, but Cain seems surrounded by an AmazonBrigade which is full of "special exceptions" to normal discipline, leading Beije to believe that his old rival is sleeping with them. Eventually, it becomes too much for the conservative jackass, and he accuses Cain of cowardice and desertion. This ends about as well as you'd expect...
* HumiliationConga: ''Dear God.'' First, he comes to arrest Cain for cowardice and desertion, only to find out Cain has his hands full trying to prevent a daemonic summoning. Then a (male) cultist kisses him as he tries to interrogate them. ''Then'' it turns out Cain was ''right'', and is perfectly willing to talk back to a Greater Daemon, which only serves to instill awe and reverence in the Tallarns with him. Then Cain defeats the daemon (Beije getting attacked in the process), earning the admiration and respect of the Emperor-botherers Beije had brought with him, undermining his authority further. Then, once Cain is put on trial, the jury not only clears Cain of all charges, but starts looking into charges of incompetence for Beije. And when they're out of the courtroom, Cain reminds Beije that they still have a duel to fight (Beije having referred to Kasteen as a "petticoat colonel"), so Beije is forced to hastily apologize to her. And finally (assuming he wasn't executed or transferred elsewhere), the Tallarns he was with have started a splinter cult ''worshiping'' Cain as the Emperor's will made manifest after the earlier encounter with the Greater Daemon.
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Another amusing contrast to Cain. Whereas the latter can OneHitKill virtually anything with his laspistol, Beije couldn't hit a Titan if he were seated in the cockpit. This is best shown during the final fight with [[spoiler:Daemon Princess Emeli]] where, in spite of [[spoiler:her]] very large size (as in [[spoiler:she]] dwarfed a pair of Chaos Space Marines), he was only able to strike a glancing blow after firing a dozen or so shots.
* KnightTemplar: He's the model of the strict, uncompromising "ideal" Commissar. This leads to the LawfulStupid below.
* LaserGuidedKarma: His attempt to arrest Cain on charges of desertion and cowardice gets ''him'' charged with gross incompetence for interfering with Cain's mission by the Commissariat tribunal he called to charge Cain (with the quite high probability of facing a firing squad). Cain said he'd pull a few strings to help him out.
* LawfulStupid:
** Burned down a Chaos cult's ritual site before the Imperial Guard could investigate it and learn anything. Lord General Zyvan was ''not'' pleased.
** Also attempted to torture information out of a cultist. Someone who worships Slaanesh. The God of Pleasure. Whose followers take pleasure from doing literally ''anything,'' including having their own limbs chopped off. As is pointed out in the text, torturing masochists is [[TooKinkyToTorture at best counterproductive]].
* MyEyesAreUpHere: Cain mentions this regarding Beije and Kasteen's first meeting, when Cain gleefully asks if Beije forgot to how to read shoulder insignias, he notes that given Kasteen's uniform ''really'' emphasizes her figure, perhaps Beije didn't look that high.
* PetTheDog: He allows for extenuating circumstances when disciplining one of his men for getting into a fight with Magot (although that could just be to show his disfavor toward the Valhallans) and, judging by the way he addresses a pair of random Tallaran troopers by name in the climax, seems to make some effort to know the men he's assigned to.
* ReassignmentBackfire: Invoked; Cain notes that whoever in the Munitorum assigned Beije to the Tallarn 229th made a wise choice in dumping him with a bunch ''of Emperor botherers as pious and humorless as him' as opposed to another Guard regiment where his attitude would have made Beije a friendly-fire accident just waiting to happen.
* TheResenter: To Cain. And '''how'''. He's EXTREMELY jealous of Cain, because back at the Schola, Cain was... essentially, the same as he is now, but less restrained and probably still [[ReallyGetsAround really getting around]]. Cain became a '''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM''', being in frequent contact with a Lord General Militant, having constant praises and honors heaped on him, while by contrast Beije was stuck on Tallarn, with nowhere near a fraction of Cain's glory.
* TheRival: To Cain.
* ShoutOut: His name may be a reference to Tom Brown, the protagonist of the ''Literature/TomBrownsSchooldays'' series, where Flashman originally appeared.
* StayInTheKitchen: Like the regiment he serves with, Beije has somewhat conservative views about Guard regiments that include women. He practically blows up when he learns Kasteen is the 597th's CO.

[[folder:Colonel Asmar]]

The Commander of the Tallarn 227th. He's very uptight.

* KnightTemplar: The Tallarn are a notoriously devout regiment, and Asmar is no exception.
* LawfulStupid: Just like Beije he's too much of a rule stickler and zealot.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Even stoic Asmar is genuinely horrified by what his men find in the agricultural center's lab. [[spoiler:Slaanesh will do that to you.]]
* SeriousBusiness: Everything he does. Notably, this extends towards those parts of his job that demand his interaction with Cain, so he doesn't dismiss Cain out of hand like Beije does. He just dislikes Cain, he doesn't disrespect him.
* StayInTheKitchen: His attitude toward women is not very open, which is part of his problem with the Valhallan 597th.

[[folder:Commissar Forres]]

The regimental Commissar assigned to the newly founded Nusquan 1st Regiment of the Imperial Guard and, being fresh out of the schola, Forres is everything Cain isn't: gung-ho, by the book, and indifferent to extensive casualties. Cain finds his second tour on Nusquam Fundumentibus divided between saving the planet from alien invasion and trying to stop Forres and her troopers from getting themselves killed.

* ActionGirl: She leads from the front like a "proper" Commissar and manages to hold her own against 'Nids.
* AttackAttackAttack: Her initial view of how an Imperial Guard regiment should operate. Exposure to Cain and the 597th rapidly cures her of it.
* CharacterDevelopment: Unlike Beije, who mainly comes away from his encounter with Cain with [[BreakTheHaughty a collection of humiliations and traumas]], Forres starts her book as the Commissar equivalent of NewMeat but learns from Cain's example that there's a lot more to fighting for the Emperor than charging the enemy and shooting the slowest man into the fray, coming away from the experience a better officer for it.
* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: [[spoiler: Lambasts the Valhallans for electrocuting the floor of the room she and her regiment were in, even though it wiped out the Tyranids trying to eat them. Magot's reaction is essentially this]].
-->'''Magot''': [[spoiler: No "thanks for saving us from being 'nid bait", then. Snotty fem-hound]].
* DidntThinkThisThrough: After the above example, [[spoiler: Forres cuts the power to the electricity by blasting the circuit box with her bolt pistol... killing ''all'' power in the room]].
** When it turns out [[spoiler: there are Tyranids on Nusquam Fundumentibus, Forres suggests trying to put the 'nids against the Orks they are already dealing with to make the Imperials' job easier. Kasteen, Broklaw and Cain all shoot down that idea immediately]].
* DefrostingIceQueen: Seems blunt and tactless at first but becomes more friendly and tactically savvy as the book goes on.
* {{Deconstruction}}: of the stereotypical "The first one to retreat gets a bolt to the head" type of Commissar so often seen in the Imperium. Her forces only start doing better when they use techniques that aren't massed infantry charges and other suitably Hollywood-esque tactics the Imperium seems to love, and Cain openly shows disdain for the Bolt Pistol she uses- widely popular with the Commissariat for its power and intimidation, but in a battlefield, the humble laspistol is more rugged, lighter, carries more ammo, and is more likely to help you survive.
* HandCannon: Favours a bolt pistol, like many Commissars for its intimidation factor.
* HeroWorship: Of Cain, as to be expected. She even outright says that the tutors at her schola held Cain up as the ideal to aspire to. Interestingly, she resents this, saying that she disapproved of it, and she ignores Cain's advice right up until it nearly gets her killed. She calms down a bit after that.
* KnowWhenToFoldThem: When Jurgen mentions that the last time another Commissar called Kasteen's competence into question, Cain challenged them to a duel, Forres takes one look at his well-used chainsword and withdraws her remark.
* LeeroyJenkins: To be expected from a commissar fresh out of the schola. Cain gets the worst of it out of her by the end of the novel.
* NoSocialSkills: Forres does not do a good job of endearing herself to the 597th. Judging by the reactions of her own regiment's officers whenever Kasteen, Broklaw or Cain takes her down a peg, Cain notes she's probably not very popular there.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Initially between Forres and the 597th, particularly with Kasteen.
* WeHaveReserves: Her idea on how to beat Orks is to charge them in close combat. It takes Cain and Kasteen pointing out that her regiment's casualty figures are ''three'' times higher than the 597th's to convince her to try something new (i.e., actual tactics)

[[folder:Erhlsen]]
A Gunner in Mostrue's unit. He's convinced that saving the Commissar's life during the first encounter is keeping him from suffering any more severe punishments, and Cain seems disinclined to disabuse him of this utterly false idea.

* AndroclesLion: He saves Cain's life in the first short story soon after Cain giving him a mild punishment in his first disciplinary hearing.
* BloodKnight: Erhlsen is repeatedly described as being happy and nonchalant amidst intense battles.
* DeadpanSnarker: Cain wonders if Erhlsen intends to make latrine duty his full-time job. The Gunner simply fires off a platitude about serving the Emperor as their talents direct.
* MildlyMilitary: He's constantly being disciplined for drinking and such and takes being demoted and reprimanded in stride.

[[folder:Sautine]]
A Perlian Leman Russ commander who ends up joining the convoy shortly after the refugees leave an old arms depot in ''Death or Glory''.

* ActionGirl: Sautine is a skilled tank commander, a good Laspistol shot, and a great asset to Cain's convoy.
* NoseArt: On her ''tank'', specifically, a badge of a red fox wearing Guard flak armour. Apparently, her (all-female) tank unit was called the 'Vixens'.
* TheStoic: Described as sounding "infuriatingly calm" and matter-of-fact in combat. Staying cool is important as a tank commander, after all.
* TankGoodness: Commands a tank which joins Cain's forces.

[[folder:Nordstorm]]
A hell-raiser in Mostrue's unit.

* ManchurianAgent: He turns out to have been taken over by the broodmind.
* WhatDidIDoLastNight: He's introduced seemingly hung over and incoherent. Anyone with half a brain can easily figure out that he was implanted by the broodmind at the brothel, though.

[[folder:Milsen]]
A trouble-making trooper who serves with Cain on Keffia.

* KleptomaniacHero: Milsen has been repeatedly disciplined for looting and theft but seems to take his duties seriously.
* SuicideAttack: An infected Milsen ties several grenades to his chest and blows them up to open a door for the Genestealers.

[[folder:Jarvik]]
A friend of Erhlsen, Milsen and Nordstrom.

* ProperlyParanoid: He's absolutely right to be wary of the local brothel, [[RightForTheWrongReasons even if he thinks that it's just a dive where soldiers get drugged and robbed]] and [[WrongGenreSavvy not a genestealer front]].

[[folder:Mulenz and Grear]]
Two forward observers in Mostrue's artillery unit who accompany Cain during an encounter with Slaanesh cultists, which sadly ends in disaster for them. This is also Cain's first encounter with the long-term antagonist Emeli.

* CaptainObvious: Mulenz announces their pathway is blocked by a wall when this is painfully obvious to Cain; the Commissar makes a remark to the effect of "no wonder they made him an Observer, nothing gets past this guy."
* ThoseTwoGuys: They're introduced together and not too distinct.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: They don't survive their encounter with the Slaanesh cultists. [[spoiler:One is sacrificed in a ritual, whilst the other gets possessed by the daemon that ritual summoned.]]

[[folder:Dravin]]
A Guards Commissar assigned to a tank unit during the Battle of Adumbria. He ends up being one of the judges selected when Tomas Beije brings Cain before a tribunal on several trumped-up charges.
----
* OldSoldier: His service record is twice the length of either of his fellow judges.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Dravin is quick to acquit Cain of the unsupported charges filed against him and then proceeds to discipline Cain's accuser for nearly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory with his LawfulStupid antics.

[[folder:Malden]]
A Psyker for Zyvan. One of the calmer and more stable psykers you'll ever meet.

* DissonantSerenity: He generally sounds either flat or casual while discussing torture of daemon invasions during his scenes in the third book.
* MindRape: He does this as a form of interrogation, with it being mentioned that a noble falsely suspected of being a Chaos worshipper will take a long time to regain his faculties after Malden probed his brain.
* TheNondescript: Cain mentions that he meets Malden multiple times through the course of his career, but can never quite remember what he looks like enough to describe him.

[[folder:Alem Mahat]]
A Tallarn sergeant serving under Beije.

* SergeantRock: Mahat is a capable and caring leader to his squad and comes out of some very intense fighting unscathed. While initially sent to help arrest Cain, he quickly becomes an ally of his upon realizing Beije is risking the lives of his men and possibly the entire planet.

[[folder:Lanks]]
A soldier in the unit Forres is assigned to.

* RankUp: Lanks starts as a sergeant but is promoted to lieutenant due to his unit's heavy losses and his bravery in the face of the Tyranids.

[[folder:Colonel Greydon]]

The head of a regiment whose commissar is murdered in the short story "Three Questions".
* GetOut: Upon learning that the murderer of his commissar is legally untouchable, he makes it clear how unhappy he is with this in spite of the commissar's AssholeVictim status and the killer's sympathetic motives, telling the killer to petition her superiors for reassignment and "stay out of my way" in the meantime.
* NervousWreck: He is weary from dealing with a real martinet of a commissar and his stress level goes up when the man is murdered and the entire regiment become suspects.

[[folder:Dr. Wersun]]
A medical officer who assists in the investigation into the death of another commissar in "Three Questions".
* BeleagueredBureaucrat: Cain describes him as a man whose words and actions are meant to "minimize the amount of paperwork in his immediate future", but who won't slack off in the face of truly serious matters.
* TheCoroner: He examines a dead body and is annoyed at being ordered to make his examination more thorough. However, once he finds evidence of foul play, he explores them further and quickly reports his findings.
* PetTheDog: Despite being sarcastic, insubordinate, and frustrated with responsibilities at times, he does make some career suggestions to the SympatheticMurderer of Comissiar Fossick after she's dismissed from her unit and feels unsure where to go next.

[[folder:General Torven]]
The Guard commander of the Serendipita System.

* TheBrigadier: He is a commanding and sensible headquarters soldier who wields a lot of influence but has a RuggedScar and still dresses like the field combatant he likely was as a youth.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: Like many generals, he is unaware of how alarming he can sound when he talks about about having Cain attach himself to a dangerous operation as an overseer.
* InterServiceRivalry: He dislikes how single-minded Tech-Priests can be and doesn't hesitate to complain about how many of them are willing to take big risks for new tech when others will be the ones paying the price if they fail.

!! Adeptus Mechanicus

Members of the Adeptus Mechanicus that Cain has come across in his lifetime.

[[folder:Lazurus]]
A member of the Mechanicus who was assigned to their end of the investigation into the theft of the Shadowlight.

* CoolPlane: Well, a Cool Ornithopter anyway. His vehicle is both good at getting where it needs to be and it's reasonably well-armed.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Especially for the Adeptus Mechanicus. He wants to find the relic first, but as soon as they are able to confirm that there's an assassin after Cain or Vail, he puts aside his rivalry with Vail to help catch the killer.

[[folder:Logash]]

An Adept on Simia Orichalcae, who was noted as being more reasonable in solving disputes, but also got quite distracted by the Necron tomb on the planet.

* AdmiringTheAbomination: Is thoroughly in awe of the Necron tomb. He is also quite fascinated by the ambulls (extremely violent apex predators not native to his planet).
* AndThisIsFor: When Cain lets him set off [[spoiler:the bomb that detonates the planet's store of promethium, obliterating the Necron tomb]], he declares revenge for his slain mentor.
-->''"[[GratuitousLatin E nominae Ernulph!]]"''
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Went with a group of Mechanicus adepts to explore the Necron tomb, but they were all killed except for him.
* DrivenToMadness: Between awe at the Necrons' superior technology and PTSD from his comrades' slaughter at their hands, he cracks noticeably, alternating between referring to them worshipfully and bloody-minded vengefulness.
* MachineWorship: He's a Mechanicus priest. It comes with the territory.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Cain later regrets he didn't shoot Logash when they found him in the tomb before he could disseminate the tomb's location amongst his superiors in the Mechancius.
* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: He is good at running mining equipment and is also an avid biologist.
* ReassignmentBackfire: {{Implied|Trope}}. After the events on Simia Orichalcae, Amberley explains that Logash goes onto an unspectacular career as a Magos assigned to the Noctis Labyrinth on Mars. That's the resting place of the Void Dragon, one of the C'Tan who the Necrons worshipped (and is all but stated to be the Machine God the Adeptus Mechanicus worship).

[[folder:Felicia Tayber]]

An adept on Perlia, who worked with Cain during his trek across the planet after being separated from his regiment in ''Death or Glory''. She reappears in ''Cain's Last Stand'' as the Magos in charge of the Mechanicus research effort into the Shadowlight.

* ActionSurvivor: Though not a trained fighter, she's still a tech-priestess and has a great rapport with machines. She's able to modify a power loader based on a Sentinel chassis to turn it into what is effectively a flamer Sentinel and used it to deadly effect, and pilots it with the same level of skill as a veteran pilot.
* ArtificialLimbs: Has a mechandrite that looks exactly like a tail. According to Ciaphas, it is actually attached directly to her tailbone (and Amberly wonders precisely ''how'' [[ReallyGetsAround he learned this]]).
* BigEater: Compared to most techpriests who tend to regard food as simple fuel to be taken on when necessary and ignored the rest of the time. In ''Cain's Last Stand'' he notes that she still has a habit of frequently snacking on ration bars that she picked up during ''Death or Glory''.
* DidTheyOrDidntThey: There are a number of hints in ''Death or Glory'' that Cain and Felicia's relationship was a bit more intimate than Cain lets on. Aside from him complimenting her looks, he mentions several surprisingly intimate details (such as the location of her mechadendrite's attachment, or that she doesn't need to sleep) and later on she refers to him by his first name and the two are shown eating breakfast together. Amberly remarks that if they were "socializing" then Cain never recorded it and she has no idea when they found the time to get so friendly.
* GadgeteerGenius: Cain's convoy wouldn't have gotten far if it wasn't for her constant repairs. The fact that she was able to keep their captured Ork vehicles functional says something about her skills as an engineer[[note]]Ork technology in general functions largely due to their ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve powers, to the point that Techmarines have taken apart Ork guns only to find they're nothing but boxes containing a few loose bullets and screws. A human keeping a piece of Ork tech in working order is akin to taking ten pounds of scrap metal and somehow using it as a functional engine, and she did it several times over[[/note]].
* GenkiGirl: Highly unusual for the Mechanicus, who disdain emotions and try to rise above them. One of her teachers thought this would limit her prospects.
* IWasQuiteALooker: Unusually for this trope, we see Felicia both as a rather attractive young woman, and as a typically disturbing-looking tech-priestess as an older woman.
* MachineWorship: {{Downplayed|Trope}}, as she is noted to be more secular in her outlook than other tech-priests. She does however mourn the "death" of a servitor, and Cain suspects she never really forgave him for blowing up the Mechanicus Shrine Dam.
* NiceToTheWaiter: ESPECIALLY for a Techpriestess.
* PetTheDog: Surprisingly serves as this for [[ThePigPen Jur]][[AlmightyJanitor gen]]. She thanks him and compliments his cooking, calls him a cog (Mechanicus compliment for an unnoticed part that helps the whole function), recognizes him the better part of a century later... It's about the nicest anyone ever is to the poor guy, short of [[HeterosexualLifePartners Cain himself]].
* PrehensileTail: Has a mechandrite attached to her tailbone. Amberley wonders [[DidTheyOrDidntThey how]] Cain managed to discover the part of her body it attached to. Although given her habit of leaning on it like a personal kickstand it may have been fairly obvious.
* RankUp: Made Magos between ''Death or Glory'' and ''Cain's Last Stand''.
* TheSleepless: She apparently doesn't require sleep due to having part of her brain replaced with cybernetics. Which once again raises the question of just [[DidTheyOrDidntThey how]] Cain discovered this.

[[folder:Metheius]]

A renegade member of the Adeptus Mechanicus who stole the Shadowlight from Perlia with the help of Ernst Killian. He and Killian hoped to use the Shadowlight to awaken the psychic powers of humanity to battle Chaos.

* ForScience: His whole reason for stealing the Shadowlight.
* MadScientist: Collaborates with a rogue Inquisitor to experiment on a Chaos artifact.
* OffWithHisHead: He tries to make a run for it only to get scooped up by a tyranid gargoyle and his head (not so) neatly torn off his neck.
* TheParanoiac: He's been running from the Ordo Xenos for a while now after the joint venture fell apart and Killian took over the Shadowlight project, so a high degree of paranoia is to be expected. Cain thus exploits Metheius' paranoia; he makes Metheius think that the military dataslate case he's carrying contains a device that suppresses the Shadowlight's powers, and that the case is boobytrapped and/or genelocked. Inquisitor Killian ''also'' buys into this, and it all conveniently deflects their attention away from Jurgen's status as a Blank - which is what ''actually'' suppresses the Shadowlight.

[[folder:Killian]]

A Magos supervising the archaeotech dig that turned into Cain's first encounter with Necrons, in "Echoes of the Tomb." Dies jumping in front of a gauss flayer to save Cain's life. The ironic coincidence of his name with that of the villain from ''Duty Calls'' is never examined. Somewhat uncharacteristically for a mid-to-high-level member of the Mechanicus he actually still enjoys eating regular food (most have long since replaced all that messy organic stuff with nice efficient nutrient paste), which is perhaps yet another reason he gets disintegrated.

* NiceGuy: Once you get past his obsession with archaeotech, he's not really an unpleasant person, just a bit naive and pushy.
* OneSteveLimit: There are two characters named Killian. Neither survive for very long after their introductions.
* TakingTheBullet: The gauss flayer blast kills him instead of Cain due to his sacrifice.
* TooDumbToLive: As with every Adeptus Mechanicus adept, his fascination with archaeotech (specifically ''Necron'' archaeotech) gets him and his entire expedition wiped out to a man; only Cain escapes, thanks to diving through a Necron teleporter and being rescued by the Reclaimers.

[[folder:Yaffel]]
A Tech-Priest working with the Reclaimers.

* AdmiringTheAbomination: He openly praises the technical magnificence of an ominous space hulk.
* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: He has replaced his lower body with a tire, his vocal cords with a vox caster, and has an off-putting appearance and attitude.
* {{Jerkass}}: He has a very superior attitude and sneeringly views creatures born in the warp as vermin that should be killed but aren't worth worrying about in a fight.

[[folder:Kildhar]]

Senior Magos Biologis on Fecundia, engaged in research on the Tyranid hivemind.

* BaitTheDog: She initially seems like the OnlySaneWoman amidst the other bigoted, officious, ForScience leaders of her shrine, but turns out to be more of a MadScientist than any of them.
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:Cain and the Reclaimers realize that Kildhar was infected by genestealers aboard the ''Spawn of Damnation'', explaining her counterproductive if not suspicious actions through most of the book, such as the fact the 'stealers escape right when Cain and another high-level Mechanicus official have just arrived at the secret shrine; the tyranid hivemind is clearly angling to kill or even more likely subvert the both of them and strengthen its position. Cain and Sholer present her with the evidence and after hitting her with the ArmorPiercingQuestion of when the last time she herself had fitted with new tech was, the genestealer takes over and Cain is forced to fatally shoot her. Her last words are that she was last upgraded 65 years ago, before the ''Spawn of Damnation'', and to use her remains for research.]]
* ForScience: Entirely willing to toss caution (and what passes for ethics among the Mechanicus) to the wind and run a ''genestealer breeding program'', something that visibly shocks even the deeply pragmatic (and pokerfaced) Tau emissary at first. In addition to that, [[spoiler:her last words are a request to use her remains as research material rather than destroy them]].
* ManchurianAgent: [[spoiler:Was implanted by genestealers over 60 years ago. The broodmind never took direct control of her actions but has been subconsciously "nudging" her towards a disastrous course ever since.]]

[[folder:Izembard]]
The highest-ranking Adeptus on Nusquam Fundumentibus during the events there surrounding the ancient crashed tyranid bioship.

* BearerOfBadNews: Izembard informs Cain and his allies about the dwindling amount of time they have before the Tyrannids will be able to reach out to other fleets and dormant hives, necessitating a desperate mission to stop the Tyrannids.
* MissionControl: During the climactic battle, Izembard remains at headquarters while radioing Cain and his men information about the power plant they're trying to blow up to stop the tyrannids.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He's upset at the idea of technology being destroyed as a side effect of Cain's operations but accepts that there are more pressing concerns and gives his approval. Better a few (ultimately replaceable) geothermal powerplants get blown up and take some tyranids with them than said tyranids eat everyone, after all.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: An inverted male example. He's one of the few men in a high-ranking position of power on Nusquan Fundumentibus because the Adeptus Mechanicus stands apart from the planet's traditionally matriarchal culture.

[[folder:Yaitz]]
A Skitarii at Perlia, part of the joint Mechanicus-Inquisition group working on the Shadowlight. Chief of security for the Mechanicus side of things, his opposite number in the Inquisition being Sieur Makan.

* DemolitionsExpert: Helps rig explosives charges around the Shadowlight.
* NiceGuy: He salutes Cain and Rorkins even though he isn't required to, and while apparently unhappy with Sister Julien's presence, he is polite and professional enough not to say so out loud or treat her rudely. [[spoiler:Given Sisters of Battle were responsible for the last joint operation being wiped out (at the command of Inquisitor Killian) it's hardly a surprise he's not too happy to see her.]]

[[folder:Vinkel Ernulph]]
Logash's superior.

* DeathByMaterialism: [[spoiler: His obsession with possessing the knowledge he believes the Necron tomb on Simia Orichalcae holds ends up getting him killed when he takes an expedition there and the tomb's guards massacre them all]].
* JerkassHasAPoint: Ernulph is an arrogant and difficult person, but he does make many good technical points about the campaign, some of which greatly influence Cain's strategy in the final act.
* NoIndoorVoice: He has a booming Vox box installed in his throat.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: He constantly feuds with the Administratum office over the smallest thing, to the point where his complimenting Quintus for his AwesomeByAnalysis skills and protesting a decision at the same time Pryke does both earn shocked stares.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Cain had nearly convinced Kasteen and Broklaw that [[spoiler: their only hope against the Necrons reawakening on Simia Orichlacae is to [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere get off world]] and call in an Imperial Navy flotilla to [[ItsTheOnlyWayToBeSure obliterate the Necron tomb complex from orbit]] when Ernulph points out in the time it takes a flotilla to arrive, the Necrons could have fully awoke and evacuated using the portal Cain saw in the tomb. Cain realizes that they're going to have to destroy the portal before the Imperials evacuate, and he's [[GotVolunteered the obvious choice to lead]] such a suicide mission]].
* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:He ignores Cain's warnings and marches straight into the Necron tomb, believing them to be servants of the Machine-God that will not hurt him. Hell, his reaction to seeing the Necrons coming for him was to ''sit down and start praying to them.'']]
* WeHaveReserves: He responds to Morel's concern about missing miners with comments about statistically acceptable losses.

[[folder:Mazarin]]
A Tech-Priest aboard her father's merchant ship.

* DaddysGirl: She insists on serving aboard her father's ship rather than going on to better things, although her father says that she takes more after her mother in many ways (such as religious inclinations).
* DeadpanSnarker: She's a relatively easygoing and snarky Tech-Priest, especially when trading quips with her father.
* DissonantSerenity: She's described as sounding chipper while admitting that she doesn't entirely understand an important situation on the eve of a potential Necron invasion.

[[folder:Tarkus]]
A Skitarii officer who accompanies Cain during his first encounter with the Necrons.

* EnsignNewbie: Tarkus has far less combat experience than anyone else accompanying him.
* TheNeidermeyer: Tarkus defensively ignores anyone who suggests they know better than him. This gets his unit wiped out.

[[folder:Pavrik]]
An engineer who appears in the short story "Three Questions".
* BigSisterInstinct: She kills one commissar and tries to kill another to keep her guardsman brother from being unjustly executed.
* OffOnATechnicality: Even after she is exposed as a killer, she only gets transferred rather than arrested due to commissars not having authority over her branch of the Imperium.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Vorspung]]
Omniprophet of the forge world Eucopia.

* BigBrotherIsWatching: In one of his first meetings with Cain, he quotes Cain's favorite book as an icebreaker and casually mentions that he knew to make that quote because he downloaded all of Cain's personal files as soon as he arrived on the planet.
* TheFundamentalist: He is very devout in his worship of the machine god and belongs to a sect that wants to destroy dangerous Necron technology rather than study it (to Cain's relief). Part of the reason he is willing to believe there is a conspiracy in the first place is that it would be more understandable and acceptable to him than constant mechanical failures.
* HiddenDepths: He initially seems like a cold fish who had been letting dark things go on beneath his nose, but he turns out to have his suspicions, which he confides in Cain, named his Cyber Altered Task unit, and occasionally shows hints of a sense of humor.

[[folder:Hetroydne Tezler]]
A mechwright operating a Eucopia mine plagued by mysterious inefficiency.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: They betray humanity out of hopes of getting a new body (through biotransfercence) and end up as a combat servitor as punishment for his crimes.
* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: They are never referred to by any other pronoun and have replaced every visible part of their body with metal that while being obsessed with uploading their mind into a robot body.
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: They are fond of making sly puns that amuse no one and show no signs of having a conscience.
* MeaningfulName: Even for someone belonging to a technology-obsessed faction, "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterodyne Heterodyne]] [[UsefulNotes/NikolasTesla Tesla]]" is a bit on-the-nose.
* SmugSnake: They are far too fond of EvilGloating and risking everything as part of a DealWithTheDevil where their counterpart never had any intention of fulfilling his end of the deal.

[[folder:Kyrus Norgard]]
Praetor of the Skitarii on Eucopia.

* CloserToEarth: She behaves more human-like than most tech priests, lacking a stilted voice and taking the time to shake hands with Cain.
* FanGirl: She admits to being intrigued by Cain's past adventures and wanting to hear his perspective of the pursuit of the ''Spawn of Damnation''.
* FrontlineGeneral: She leads her forces into battle with an enormous axe in one hand and a pistol in the other, using both weapons quite well.

!! The Administratum

Members of the Administratum, the bureaucracy of the Imperium.

[[folder:Quintus]]

A scrivener who served on Simia Orichale, who was rather reasonable for an Adept of the Administratum. Essentially the Administratum counterpart to Logash, but less crazy.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: He's insightful and intelligent when he needs to be, but when recording the notes of a meeting spends a lot of time writing insults about those he dislikes and talking about Kasteen's beauty.
* DistractedByTheSexy: The notes he took during meetings show that he was more interested in the highly attractive Colonel Kasteen than what was in what was actually going on.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: His ''boss'' was, being as she was Magos Ernulph's counterpart at the refinery, something Quintus has nothing flattering to say about in the meeting minutes. He, on the other hand, serves as a counterpart to Logash, who is equally the reasonable subordinate to the unreasonable Ernulph.

[[folder:Norbert]]

A scrivener of the Administratum on Perlia, he helped managed the logistics of Cain's ragtag army cut off from the Imperial Guard.

* EasyLogistics: He and Cain manage to turn their convoy of desert refugees and survivors into an ''ad hoc'' army and fight their way across a continent, specifically by Averting this trope. He knows they have to hold on to every scrap of water and fuel they find and spends the whole story working out where to find more.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Administratum drones have a reputation for being obstructive and using the arcane rules of their offices to stonewall people. Norbert is an exception, thankfully.

[[folder:Brasker]]

The Administratum adept assigned as bursar to the Schola Cain teaches at in ''Cain's Last Stand''.

* GossipyHens: Brasker is noted by Cain as being something of a chatty, gossipy individual, prone to talking about all sorts of unusual things, and seemingly terrible at keeping secrets. This later comes in handy when Cain needs someone to ask around about unusual folk tales dating back to Perlia's initial colonization; anyone else asking around would raise too many eyebrows (or think Cain had gone crazy for asking them to do the digging), but Brasker's innocuous and eccentric enough to not draw any undue attention.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: He's not nearly as hidebound and shortsighted as he may seem at first. He stocks ink just to fake the telltale-ink stains on his hands and clothes that more "old-fashioned" administratum drones expect of someone in his position; he does all his work on a computer. He also turns out to be perfectly capable of keeping secrets when needed.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Subverted. He initially looks like one but proves effective at working the bureaucracy to gather information and coordinate logistics.
* OppositesAttract: Has a secret romantic relationship with ''Sister Julien'' of all people.

[[folder:Kelso Proktor]]
A representative from the office of the Governor of Drechia.

* HyperCompetentSidekick: He's quick to help the Guardsmen and is open to hearing their warnings and requests, while even making a decent military suggestion or two.
* NerdyNasalness: He's described as having both a nasal voice and a cold.
* OhCrap: He takes bad news about the Eldar webway with professionalism, but not without clear unease.
* SarcasticDevotee: He isn't afraid to comment on the unreasonableness of his boss.

[[folder:Marum Pryke]]
Quintus's superior.

* InterserviceRivalry: She's constantly bickering with her Tech Priest opposite number.
* KnowWhenToFoldThem: When Kasteen declares Simia Orichalcae under martial law so she can co-ordinate the defence against the Orks without bureaucratic interference, Pryke angrily protests, to which Kastenn retorts Pryke can either put up with it or face the alternative. When Pryke angrily demands the alternative, Cain casually chimes in that the alternative is summary execution for interfering in defeating the Emperor's enemies. Pryke quickly shuts up.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Quintus calls her "The Emperor's Gift to the Administratum, at least in her own mind," and she doesn't do much besides insult people and make unreasonable demands based on monetary calculations.
* ShoutOut: Gets one to ''Film/Aliens'' when she protests the Simia Orichalcae refinery's financial value to the Imperium when Cain advocates [[spoiler:destroying it to obliterate the Necrojn tomb complex buried beneath it]].
* WeHaveReserves: She responds to Morel's concern about missing miners with comments about statistically acceptable losses.

!! The Inquisition

[[folder:Ernest Stavros Killian]]

A Radical Inquisitor who stole the Shadowlight from Perlia, using a group of Battle-Sisters. His mad plans for using it ultimately backfire ''quite'' spectacularly, however.

* CrazyPrepared: Emphasis on "crazy". His [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere escape plan should his enemies locate him]] was using [[spoiler: a captive Tyranid Lictor to lure in a nearby Tyranid swarm to destroy the Adepta Sororitas convent he was using as his base of operations, trusting the aliens to erase all trace of his presence, and seemingly uncaring about the fact he would be providing the 'nids an all-you-can-eat buffet in the process]].
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Exposed [[spoiler: to the full fury of the Shadowlight's power outside of the psychic-dampening aura of Jurgen. According to Cain, Killian's corpse looks like "flesh and bone had [[BodyHorror melted]] together"]].
* DidntThinkThisThrough: In regard to his plans for the [[spoiler: Shadowlight; Killian intended to use it to create an army of psykers to take the fight to the forces of Chaos on their own turf. A psyker who examined the Shadowlight later said that, had Killian carried out his ''imbecilic'' scheme, the Shadowlight could well have destroyed the entire galaxy. Quite apart from the damage wreaked by these individual psykers, their very existence would have invited [[DemonicPossession possession by daemons]], and acted as a gateway allowing the forces of the Warp to flow freely into the Materium. This psyker soberly predicted that, in two generations, the Eye of Terror would expand and swallow the rest of the Galaxy. Cain is sick to his stomach at the very thought of it.]]
* EvilGloating: Is partial to this, which Cain exploits to play for time.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Thought Cain had some sort of device which cancelled the Shadowlight's abilities. In fact, it was Jurgen's presence that messed with the thing, and the minute he got out of Jurgen's AntiMagic field the Shadowlight came back on, killing him.
* MeaningfulName: His first and middle names are clearly a reference to Franchise/JamesBond's early nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and he has several traits of Bond villains.
* PromotedToScapegoat: Invoked in "Cain's Last Stand": when the Inquisition and Mechanicus detachments protecting the Shadowlight started arguing over whose fault it is Abaddon has found out about the artefact, Cain defuses the dispute by reminding them that Killian was using a Chaos cult as [[UnwittingPawn his pawns]] to test out the Shadowlight, and if any of the cultists survived the Imperial efforts to exterminate them, word could have gotten to Abaddon from them.
* StateSec: He's an Inquisitor. Secretive and draconian measures to preserve the peace and root out Chaos and sedition come with the territory. Killian seems to have gone to particularly heinous extremes for even a Radical Inquisitor, however.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: Explains, when asked why an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor sabotaged a project operated by the Ordo Xenos, that the internal workings of the Inquisition are far more fractious than the image they like to project to the rest of the Imperium.
* WeCanRuleTogether: To a degree; he shows [[spoiler: the Shadowlight and explains his plans to Cain, hoping Cain's influence and support of his efforts will convince Killian's rivals in the Ordo Xenos to back off]].
* WellIntentionedExtremist: How Radical Xanthians are usually portrayed. Killian doesn't come off so well.
* WouldHurtAChild: Inferred: [[spoiler: when his first facility on Pereimunda at the Hell's Edge mining colony came under attack from the Tyranids, the miners there tried to storm Killian's ship, hoping to get their children to safety. Killian ordered his Sororitas bodyguards to open fire on the crowd]].
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: To the Sisters of Battle. He used them to [[spoiler: raid the Perlia Mechanicus facility to recover the Shadowlight and protect his operation but was quite happy to leave them to the mercy of the Tyranids to cover his own ass]].

[[folder:Rasmus Vekkman]]
An Ordo Malleus Inquisitor working on Iron found, his area of interest is in Chaos Cults and Daemons rather than Xenos. The sudden appearance of Eldar in the system has put something of a damper on his investigation, something he doesn't appreciate at all.

* CarryABigStick: He wields a null rod, a staff designed to nullify Warp powers and weaken daemons.
* ConsummateProfessional; Vekkman is pretty crisp and matter-of-fact for the most part. He's highly focused on his job of rooting out heretics, and while he considers them insane, he's experienced enough to know that they aren't working without a plan.
* IWorkAlone: While he is willing to temporarily work with others, unlike other field inquisitors such as Amberly and Killian, he seems to lack a full/time entourage of his own.
* NervesOfSteel: Tackles Emeli, a daemoness of Slaanesh, during a battle.
* SmallNameBigEgo: While quite competent, he seems to think he's superior to Cain and Amberly. He isn't.
* TheresNoKillLikeOverkill: He seriously considered bombing most of the planet to purge the Chaos taint.
* WorkingTheSameCase: With Amberly. He's focused on heretics, her on Eldar at the time they appear together. They play off each other at times, as the locals know ''an'' Inquisitor is investigating, but not who that Inquisitor ''is'', allowing Amberley to go in and draw focus to the Eldar, drawing attention away from Vekkman whilst he keeps working the cult angle.

[[folder:Terie Makan]]
The Inquisition head of security for the Shadowlight on Perlia.

* CrazyPrepared: He has analyzed every likely threat against the Shadowlight, whether it involves outside attacks or infiltration from the inside.
* InterServiceRivalry: He doesn't seem to like his techpriest counterpart Yaitz (although he does get along ok with Felicia) and lets some scorn for the local militia into his voice while saying that depending on them is a last resort.
* PreMortemOneLiner: When Cain sees an unfamiliar kind of daemon and asks what it is, Makan replies "a dead one" before emptying his gun at it. Unfortunately, it doesn't help much, given the daemon is being sustained by the Shadowlight.
* SpeakIllOfTheDead: He doesn't hesitate to call Killian an imbecile.

[[folder:Genghis Singelton]]
An Inquisitor present in an AfterActionReport regarding the First Siege of Perlia in an interlude chapter of the fourth book.

* MrExposition: His role is to reveal the existence of Ork psykers and what the Imperium knows about them.

[[folder:Kuryakin]]
A rare Ordo Hereticus inquisitor whom Amberly apparently gets along with.

* TheCavalryArrivesLate: Amberly sends him to Perlia to investigate reports on heretical actions but he only arrives after the end of the Second Siege of Peril.
* TheGhost: He is mentioned in the footnotes of two books but has yet to meet Cain.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: He apparently spends decades, if not longer, investigating a conspiracy involving senior tech priests deliberately building sites over Necron tombs and risking countless lives for the chance to loot Archaetoech.