This is a list of characters associated with the continent of Genabackis from Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. Please beware of spoilers. If you haven't finished the series you're probably best off not reading past the character descriptions.
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Darujhistan
Crokus Younghand/Cutter
Crokus Younghand/Cutter
A thief in Darujhistan who stumbles into the scheming of the gods.
- Badass Normal: Becomes one.
- Devious Daggers: Crokus Younghand starts out as a thief who is rather inefficient in combat, but learns the trade of an assassin from his Love Interest Apsalar, renames himself Cutter and becomes scarily competent with knives. Competent enough that he catches Hitman with a Heart Rallick Nom by surprise.
- Gentleman Thief: This is how he sees himself at the beginning of the story, with a fair amount of justification; he refuses to take advantage of Challice and eventually returns what he stole from her. He also generally targets the wealthy and avoids targets who would be truly worse off because of his theft.
- Hitman with a Heart: When he becomes an assassin, he is an example of this.
- Love Hurts/Love Martyr: His relationship with Apsalar, which was initially portrayed as kind of cute, is more or less poisoning his life. All attempts to move on have so far failed. It doesn't help that he became an assassin in an attempt to get closer to her, but this backfired when it reminded her of the parts of herself she disliked, and ultimately ended up pushing her away.
- Maybe Ever After: Tracks down Apsalar in one of the epilogues of The Crippled God.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Cutter
- Overshadowed by Awesome: Frequently. Against opponents in his own weight class, he's very capable. Against Ascendants and monsters, not so much.
- Sex for Solace: After Apsalar leaves him and Felisin Younger is kidnapped by the T'lann Imass, Scillara begins sleeping with him in order to make him feel less dead inside. Both of them are aware that it's not love, but she's fine with this because it gets him out of his Heroic BSoD. Later, he begins an affair with Challice, his first crush, but he's still quite obviously in love with Apsalar and it seems to be equally an example of this trope. He does end up feeling quite a bit better in both cases, though.
- Took a Level in Badass: Has he ever!
Rallick Nom
Rallick Nom
'At that range, I never miss.'
Rallick Nom is an assassin and a member of the Assassins Guild of Darujhistan. Unlike others, he prefers to work alone, eschewing the company of other guild members and instead spending his free time with some regulars at the Phoenix Inn. Nonetheless, he is favoured by Guild Mistress Vorcan.
- Action Girlfriend: Rallick eventually hooks up with Vorcan, who wasn't Mistress of Assassins for nothing, and is capable of more than holding her ground no matter what title she bears.
- Anti-Magic: On a whim, he once uses Otataral powder, rubbing it into his skin, and unwittingly creates an entire school/cult within the Assassins Guild which adheres to the ideal of not using any magic in their assassinations, using Otataral powder instead whenever they can get it.
- Badass Normal: Unlike the various superpowered freaks present in the story and most other guild members, who rely on magic, Rallick relies entirely on his own skill (and a little magic-negating dust).
- Black Sheep: Rallick stems from the Darujhistan House of Nom, a respectable family with far flung connections. Why he became an assassin is never explained, but Kruppe calls him a sheep 'the very black of nadir, the Abyss' when comparing him to his already wayward cousin Torvald Nom.
- Convenient Coma: The Put on a Bus kind. Rallick spends six books lying comatose on the floor of the Finnest House, only to resurface again in time for the events of Toll the Hounds.
- Dual Wielding: Rallick dual-wields two oversized knives.
- Hitman with a Heart: He's one of the best assassins the guild has to offer, yet he's got an ingrained sense of right and wrong and is willing to put his reputation on the line to restore his friend Coll's holdings, which were wrongly taken by Lady Simtal.
- Professional Killer: Rallick Nom is a member of Darujhistan's Guild of Assassins, a Badass Normal who — unlike a majority of his fellow guild members who use sorcery — relies entirely on his own skill (and a little magic-negating dust).
- Refuge in Audacity: Since assassinating Councilman Turban Orr without a contract would've raised too many questions, Rallick simply challenges him to a duel at a masquerade ball. Estraysian D'Arle comments how that looked suspiciously like an assassination, but of course, not even the Guild of Assassins could be that ballsy.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Discussed and Played for Laughs. When they were children, Rallick was very fond of Tiserra, but finds out in Toll the Hounds that she married his cousin Torvald. Fearing for his life, Torvald starts begging Rallick's forgiveness, but Rallick just laughs it off and says that while he's envious, it's in a good way, and really, he loves them both.
- The Worf Effect: In Toll the Hounds, Rallick is badly wounded by Cutter, aka Crokus Younghand, newly returned to Darujhistan when the former unintentionally sneaks up on the latter in a dark alley. It serves to show how much Cutter has improved, and also moved in a direction Rallick had striven to keep him from taking.
Kruppe
Kruppe
'I am named Kruppe, sir. Kruppe the First.'
A maganimous man of great girth.
- Author Avatar: Erikson acknowledges for large parts of Toll the Hounds, Kruppe is speaking directly for him.
- Character Filibuster: He can go on for pages, and other characters rarely think to interrupt him.
- The Chessmaster
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: As mentioned below under Obfuscating Stupidity, he initially seems rather dull. In reality, he's one of the smartest people in the series, if not the smartest. He's also incredibly powerful. Caladan Brood at one point got so irritated with him that Brood swung his powerful hammer at Kruppe. The land around him was permanently altered and all other witnesses were thrown to the ground, but Kruppe was unscathed.
- Insufferable Genius: Oh, the man's ego.
- Lemony Narrator: If he tells a story, expect him to be this.
- Manipulative Bastard
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Kruppe, a fat, constantly babbling, Third-Person Person, pastry-devouring thief and mage, is way, way, way smarter than he looks. Underestimating him has had unfortunate results for many characters and he basically runs the city of Darujhistan behind the scenes as the Eel. To be fair, a lot of his closer acquaintances aren't fooled, which he knows and it sometimes seems like he's mainly doing it to annoy people.
- Pals with Jesus: Elder God K'rul makes himself at home in the dreams of the mortal mage Kruppe. Since Kruppe knows so much and is a gifted storyteller, though somewhat wordy, they spend a lot of time at the camp fire talking.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Kruppe loves to talk in long-winded, complicated sentences stuffed full of words his immediate audience is likely to trip over. He also talks in the third person about himself. Several characters tend to zone out as soon as he opens his mouth. It is part of his Obfuscating Stupidity act, though.
- Third-Person Person: Kruppe is a man whose greatness is only surpassed by Kruppe's humility — a greatness, Kruppe hastens to add lest his good friends misjudge him most grievously, which refers more to his girth than the many skills Kruppe has shown his unmatched talent at — and as such refers to himself in the third person lest Kruppe's presence smother his attentive and handsome audience.
Murillio
Murillio
A courtier in Darujhistan.
- The Casanova: He spends much of his time doing dalliances with ladies of Darujhistan's high society, although his age is starting to catch up with him on that front.
- Collateral Angst: His death serves only to force Cutter to kill Gorlas Vidikas, which is in and of itself, completely irrelevant to the overall plot of both the entire series, and Toll the Hounds.
- Informed Ability: We're often told that Murillio is extremely skilled with the rapier. Usually right before (or as) someone or something kicks his ass.
- Killed Off for Real: And rather pointlessly to boot.
Coll
Coll
A drunkard regular of the Phoenix Inn.
- The Alcoholic: When the story begins he hasn't been sober since losing his land.
- Character Development: Has stopped drinking since regaining his land.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Hands up, anyone who expected Coll to show anything approaching competence or sobriety let alone fighting skills.
- Drowning My Sorrows: And he has a lot of sorrows.
- Functional Addict: Definitely not when he first appears, but after relapsing into drinking after Murillio's death during Toll the Hounds he remains capable enough to continue serving as a Councillor.
- Love Makes You Dumb: Somehow he didn't notice that his (now) ex-wife, Lady Simtal was a psychotic (and none-too subtle) bitch.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Most of what we see of the Council is deeply corrupt, but Coll was and later is again one its most honest members.
Alchemist Baruk
Alchemist Baruk
A wealthy alchemist in Darujhistan, and a member of the T'orrud Cabal which guides the city from the shadows.
- Alchemy Is Magic: He performs highly fantastical experiments with alchemy, in addition to being a mage.
- Fighting from the Inside: When forced to serve the Tyrant, he does the best he can to sabotage its rule over Darujhistan.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Barukanal, his demonic form, has a scarred face.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He cares deeply about Darujhistan, and does the best he can to protect the city.
Lady Simtal
Lady Simtal
A vain and indolent noblewoman who rose to her position by marrying nobleman Coll, before scamming him out of his title and leaving him destitute. By the time of Gardens of the Moon she intends to rise ever higher, and very much intends for her ex-husband to die with nothing.
- Arc Villain: Serves as the primary antagonist of Rallick Nom, Murillo, and Coll's plotline in Gardens of the Moon.
- Despair Event Horizon: Once informed of Turban Orr's death, Simtal seems to shrink as her outward protections fall apart upon realizing she is doomed, becoming despondent and suicidal.
- Gold Digger: Married Coll for his money, then took things one step further by outright cutting him out of his money, and then ordering an assassination on him just to make sure he doesn't come back.
- Driven to Suicide: After realizing that Turban Orr is dead and she no longer has any power, Simtal effectively collapses in on herself, before taking her own life.
- Psychopathic Womanchild: Simtal quite immature and implusive, not to mention very willing to have people killed is she feels like they need to be. Turban Orr even comments that her brain "works with all the subtlely of a malicious child."
- Really Gets Around: Very sexually active, albeit much of it is to seduce men she views as useful to her.
- Rich Bitch: Simtal doesn't seem to have been the most plesant person to begin with, and wealth has only caused her attitude to become far more self-absorbed and arrogant.
- Sleeping Their Way to the Top: Simtal's primary way of recruiting councilman to her side seems to be inviting them over to her estate for a night to remember.
- Smug Snake: Simtal is not what one would call competent in matters of politics, despite what she thinks of herself. Turban Orr, himself a Smug Snake, outright advises her to stay out of politics, and is baffled by how she even made it anywhere with her intelligence.
- The Vamp: Attempts to seduce pretty much every man around her, and is both manipulative and murderous, without a single redeeming trait.
Snell
Snell
- Cain and Abel: Tries to sell his handicapped sisters into slavery.
- Enfante Terrible
- Evil Is Petty
- Kids Are Cruel: Kids are sniveling monsters.
- Smug Snake
- The Sociopath: Even the Crippled God wants nothing to do with him.
Bellam Nom
Bellam Nom
- Good Is Not Nice: Which he lampshades as he threatens to sell Snell into slavery.
- Teens Are Monsters: Fakes it incredibly well.
Challice D'Arle
Challice D'Arle
- First Love: Crokus falls in love with her on sight, though it's later indicated to have been a youthful infatuation. When they eventually do have an affair, it's implied that both of them are mostly doing it out of desperation, loneliness, and lust rather than love.
- Incompatible Orientation: While not actually stated outright, this is hinted to be a significant problem with her marriage. It's not clear whether Gorlas is gay or asexual, but her inner monologue notes that "Gorlas only ever used his fingers in this place", and that sex was much better. It's also noted that he won't be giving her an heir because of his proclivities.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Deconstructed. She initially comes across as a somewhat downplayed example of this trope and inspires Crokus to try to pass himself off as a gentleman in order to win her affections, but this ultimately ends up not happening when the plot takes him away from Darujhistan and she ends up in a loveless marriage. When they do have an affair upon his return to Darujhistan, both of them once again begin speculating about wild plans that both of them realise in their interior monologues are highly unlikely ever to happen. Furthermore, her cheery exterior masks a very lonely, desperate, and fearful woman who feels trapped by the constricts of her society and sees no realistic way of escaping, which ultimately leads to her suicide when she becomes convinced that none of her plans will ever happen.
- Sex for Solace: It's implied that she has affairs because she feels trapped in her marriage to a sociopath who views her as nothing more than a tool to be used, and doing this is the only thing that makes her feel alive.
- Stepford Smiler: She attempts to put on a brave face to the rest of the world, but, as Cutter can see immediately, she's really very unhappy and frightened. This eventually leads to her suicide when Darujhistan is under siege by the Hounds of Shadow.
Caladan Brood's Forces
Warlord Caladan Brood
Warlord Caladan Brood
A warlord opposing the Malazan armies in the North Campaign, longtime friend and ally of Tiste Andii leader Anomander Rake.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He not only commands an army, but is their best fighter.
- Famed In-Story: A quite famous person in the Malazan world.
- Four-Star Badass: And in command of a Badass Army to boot.
- Genius Bruiser: As smart as he is strong.
- Guile Hero: He is an heroic strategist.
- Healing Hands: Ironically, despite his well-deserved title of "Warlord" and being a Four-Star Badass who has the ability to bring about The End of the World as We Know It, his principal magical abilities are his healing powers.
- Kirk Summation: As seen in one of the chapter prefaces in Gardens of the Moon, High King Kallor once boasted to Warlord Caladan Brood of the many kingdoms he had raised, ruled, and then destroyed. He asked if Caladan Brood could understand what that meant. And Caladan calmly replied: "Yes. You never learn."
- Large and in Charge: A giant, all muscle and bone Warlord.
- Lightning Bruiser: Heavily implied.
- Magic Knight: A magic fighter.
- Physical God: Being an Azathanai, who are this kind of being.
- Really 700 Years Old: As an Ascendant, Brood no longer ages. He's also an Azathanai.
- The Strategist: He knows how to plan strategies for his army.
High King Kallor
High King Kallor
I am the High King of Failures, am I not? Who else deserves the Broken Throne? Who else personifies the misery of the Crippled God? No, it will be mine, and as for all the rest, well, we'll see, won't we?
Kallor Eiderann Tes'thesula is an ancient human swordfighter and emperor, who was cursed with immortality after destroying his own kingdom. Nowadays he is attached to Caladan Brood's forces and serves mainly as a tactician, though his skills and millennia of practice make him an effective warrior, aswell.
- Age Without Youth: Kallor was cursed with this, but uses some weird herbs and a ritual with Century Candles to keep himself just old rather than immensely decrepit even after millennia. The curse was largely to take away his most fervent desire, ascension to godhood (a complicated process in that verse, but Kallor likely would have), enabling him to live forever until killed with all the benefits.
- A God Am I: According to his own words, Kallor once attempted to sanctify his entire empire into a centre of worship with himself as the object of said worship. When Skintick points out that it obviously failed, Kallor just retorts that everything fails, eventually.
- Ambition Is Evil: He wants power, no matter what the price.'The High King is cursed to fail, but never to fall. The High King is but… what? Oh, the physical manifestation of ambition. Walking proof of its inevitable price. Fine. Fuck you, too.'
- Badass Longcoat: Justified as it's a chainmail longcoat.
- Beard of Evil: Appears unshaven in Toll the Hounds. His shaving routine seems to be impeded by pursuing dragons these days.
- Berserk Button: Loyalty to people who are, by his own estimation, unworthy of it, will get him mad in no time. Spinnock Durav being willing to fight him to the death, just because Anomander Rake asked him to launches him into a fit of rage.
- BFS: Not an extreme example, but Kallor's bastard sword is a two-hander and is repeatedly described as "huge", "enormous" and so on.
- Commander Contrarian: Rarely agrees with the strategy suggested by the Alliance and is openly disgusted by the plan to leave the conquered Coral to the Malazans.
- Cursed with Awesome: Subverted. Being cursed to live forever sounds great, but with the continuous aging, and Failure Is the Only Option subclause, it really, really appears to suck for him.
- Determinator: Demonstrates his diligence in Toll the Hounds, where he fights Spinnock a whole night long, just to be able to reach Darujhistan and have a chance at an unoccupied throne.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Three gods cursed Kallor to live forever and never Ascend. He cursed them back. And it worked.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Following his deal with the Crippled God he gains access to the Warren of Chaos.
- Evil Old Folks: Kallor's thousands of years old and looks it. He's still as evil as ever.
- Evil Overlord: Kallor was the ruler of one of the first human empires, and his rule was so brutal and oppressive that his own subjects colony-dropped a god on him to try and get rid of him.
- The Emperor: He called himself The High King, but he's much closer to this trope, specifically the Evil Overlord/ General Ripper variant.
- Evil Virtues: Ambition, Determination, Diligence and even Love are among Kallor's virtues. Ambition for his goals, Determination to reach them despite his curses and Diligence in doing what's necessary to get what he wants. And Toll the Hounds reveals that he once loved dearly and that his wife's death hit him especially hard, since she died because she didn't want to be with him.
- Failure Is the Only Option: A part of his curse: he can never Ascend and never reign over a kingdom or empire ever again, but not for lack of trying. Something always goes wrong."Kallor Eiderann Tes'thesula, each time you rise you shall than fall. All that you achieve shall turn to dust in your hands. As you have wilfully done here, so shall it be visited upon you in all that you do."
- Famed In-Story: Way, way back he was the High King of Jacuruku and his actions made him infamous enough to lure three gods to curse him.
- Flying Dutchman: K'rul, Draconus and the Sister of Cold Nights cursed him to live forever, but never ascent to godhood or become the leader of an empire. Kallor is forced to seek out magic candles that keep him somewhat young and functional and wander the earth, knowing that his dearest wish is unreachable for him.
- Gone Horribly Right: Kallor's curse did exactly what it was supposed to do, which was to prevent him from ascending, yet it made him an even bigger Jerkass. It also means that he presents a problem to every unoccupied or easily-conquered throne now, because he will try to reign again, no matter where or what —or whom it would kill.
- Hero Killer: Kills Whiskeyjack in Memories of Ice, defeats Spinnock Durav and kills Orfantal in Toll the Hounds, and kills Ereko in Return of the Crimson Guard before being run off by Traveller, aka Dassem Ultor.
- Jerkass: Not a friendly fellow by any stretch of the word and of the opinion that bastardry is inherent in human nature, and as such every nasty thing he does is justified.
- Kirk Summation: As seen in one of the chapter prefaces in Gardens of the Moon, High King Kallor once boasted to Warlord Caladan Brood of the many kingdoms he had raised, ruled, and then destroyed. He asked if Caladan Brood could understand what that meant. And Caladan calmly replied: "Yes. You never learn."
- Master Swordsman: Kallor is one hundred thousand years old, looks like one hundred, lugs a huge bastard sword around and is rumored to have never been defeated. However, Caladan Brood notes that this is at least partly because Kallor picks his opponents well.
- Misanthrope Supreme: Kallor is fully aware that he is a spiteful, vicious minded bastard, who takes out his frustrations on everyone around him. He also believes that Humans Are Bastards, and that as such, his tyranny and brutality are not only justified, but the norm.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Everybody mocks Kallor as a bullying braggart. Right up until he joins forces with the Crippled God and performs an epic backstab on Caladan Brood's forces. Then in Toll the Hounds he approaches near Hero Killer status.
- Number Two: Serves as Brood's second-in-command.
- Pride: Kallor is arrogant, prone to overstepping his bounds, and very touchy about insults to his person. And then there's the whole "allowing a continent to die rather than relinquishing control of it" thing, and the obsession with power and becoming an Ascendant.
- Really 700 Years Old: He's older than most Ascendants, despite being completely mortal. He was cursed over 120 000 years ago and is still alive and kicking.
- Time Abyss: Around 120 000 years old. Or more, if he turns out to be the foreign High King in The Kharkanas Trilogy.
- Turncoat: Not that he made the most trustworthy impression beforehand, but his betrayal still comes as a bit of a shock to his superiors. Nobody thought that he would willingly join the Crippled God just to get a shot at Silverfox.
- Would Hurt a Child: Kallor is of the opinion that it is best to get rid of Silverfox, before she grows adult and even stronger. He nearly succeeds when he attacks her while everyone else is focused on the battle of Coral.
Silverfox
Silverfox
A Rhivi girl in the custody of the Warlord.
- Composite Character: In-universe, containing the souls of three deceased Malazan mages.
- Creepy Child: For a while.
- Put on a Bus: Silverfox disappears at the end of Memories of Ice with the intention of following the T'lan Imass to whatever it is they are fighting on the continent of Assail, and only reappears in the novel actually named Assail. Word of God has it that Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont had meant for Silverfox's story to be concluded by the latter from the very beginning.
- Rapid Aging: After being born she grows much more quickly than expected.
- Reincarnation: Silverfox's soul is a composite of the souls of Tattersail, Bellurdan Scullcrusher and Nightchill, while her physical body is the child of the Mhybe, born with the help of Bonecaster Pran Chole.
- Reincarnation Romance: Subverted. Tattersail and Ganoes Paran were just casual lovers, but her sudden death and rebirth as part of Silverfox creates the expectation that their feelings were stronger than they actually were and that something would continue after Silverfox's coming of age. It doesn't, and Paran realises there never was anything real between them.
- Vampiric Draining: Is stealing her mother's life energy without even knowing it.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: At the end of Memories of Ice, Silverfox wanders off towards Assail with her army of T'lan Imass.
- Younger Than They Look: She's only a few years old, but has aged herself to her early twenties.
Pannion Domin
Pannion Domin in General
Pannion Domin in General
A brutally expansionist theocratic regime that arose in southeastern Genabackis a few years prior to the beginning of the series proper.
- Conflict Killer: The Domin's sheer existence is horrifying enough that virtually every other major power on Genabackis, most obviously the Malazan's, Caladan Brood's alliance and Darujuhistan, end up putting aside their differences for the time it takes to bring them down. In a world where most conflicts have at least some shades of grey, the Pannion Domin is pitch black.
- Egopolis: It's eventually revealed that "Pannion" is the Seer's real name... so he named his empire after himself.
- Elite Mooks: The Domin's actual soldiers much less numerous than the Tenescowri , but they're much better trained and equipped, and are much more dangerous.
- The Empire: A comparatively small empire, true, but they intend to change that via a campaign of ruthless conquest.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: In the course of just a few years, they went from being a cluster of obscure city-states to an empire that threatened everyone else on Genabackis.
- I'm a Humanitarian: The Tenescowri regularly practice cannibalism, as all actual food supplies go to the regular army, leaving them nothing but what they can scavenge, including the bodies of dead enemies (and, in extreme cases, each other). It's eventually revealed that ordinary citizens of the Domin will also practice cannibalism at need - often using the Tenescowri as their "emergency rations."
- Made a Slave: The usual fate of those who are conquered by the Domin; they will be stripped of homes and property and forced into the most brutal and degrading forms of labor, with the only legal escape route being to join the Tenescowri instead. That people voluntarily join the Tenescowri is a testament to just how awful enslavement by the Domin is, if that is preferable.
- Master Race: Domin citizens enjoy a number of rights and privileges well beyond what most nations in the setting offer their subjects. Of course, what the Domin's missionaries don't tell people is that such citizenship is available only to the inhabitants of the Domin's original cities (whose people, descended from explorers from the Genostel Archipelago, are ethnically and culturally distinct from the rest of the continent), and can never be attained by anyone else. Most of the Domin's subjects live lives of abject misery.
- Mordor: The Domin homeland is not much more than a barren waste. This is because the Seer isn't so much trying to win as he is to just make the rest of the world hurt as much as he can... and that includes gradually scouring his own empire of life, leaving nothing but desolated wasteland behind. Notably, the Malazans initially believe upon entering the Domin and seeing how desolate it is that the Seer must have had it razed to deny them resources... and then gradually realize that it's been like this for years.
- Deconstructed, as Toc the Younger observes, such a barren waste for a homeland could not possibly supply and sustain the armies of an expanding empire like the Domin, which is completely correct. The Tenescowri, the main mass of Domin troops, are the normally important peasants driven by a sheer lack of food to find enemies whose corpses they can eat, their only other source of food being other Tenescowri who starved to death. This means the Domin's main military force, and therefore the Domin, is completely unsustainable without constant expansion.
- A Nazi by Any Other Name: The Domin ticks off almost all the major hallmarks of a fascist regime, being brutally authoritarian, highly militaristic, devoting their entire state to war and conquest, having a cult of personality centered around their leader, preaching a doctrine of racial superiority of the natives to the Domin's original cities, whilst everyone else is worth slightly less than dirt and the target of systematic campaigns of extermination. Additionally the unsustainable, but highly effective tactics for expansion means the Domin will burn very hot for a short period of time, much like real facist movements.
- Religion of Evil: The Domin's state religion venerates the Pannion Seer as a living god, and while the exact tenets of the Faith are never completely spelled out, but given they include such lovely practices as officially sanctioned cannibalism, necrophilia, and the killing of nonbelievers, its morality is pretty apparent...and its very good at spreading. The Domin is treated as a cancer needing to be excises because of this, as the unchecked spread of its faith would cause incalcuable damage to the world.
- Rising Empire: The Domin was officially founded only a few years before Gardens of the Moon but has already conquered a noticeable chunk of Genabackis in that time. It's explicitly noted that the Domin has no choice but to be this sort of empire - as it's civilian infrastructure is essentially nonexistent, the only way it can sustain itself is through constant conquest and it can never pause to consolidate or make peace.
- The Theocracy: The Pannion Seer is both king and god of the Domin and under his rule political and religious authority are one and absolute.
- Warrior Monk: The Seerdomin are explicitly described as the Pannion Seer's warrior priests, and they're the most elite of the Domin's Elite Mooks.
- Zerg Rush: The Tenescowri are the Domin's peasant horde that's used as a supplement to their regular army. Though they mostly lack training and equipment (beyond what they can scavenge on the battlefield) their sheer numbers and ferocity make them a terrifying foe to face anyway - especially given their penchant for cannibalism, which is often the only way they get to eat. Of course, if they're set against actual professional soldiers, like the Malazans, without support from the Domin's main army, the predictable happens.
The Pannion Seer
Pannion Seer/Pannion
The Prophet Tyrant ruler of the Pannion Domin.
- Arc Villain: The main antagonist of Memories of Ice.
- Bad Boss: Considering those who disappoint him are liable to get eaten by his followers or bear-hugged to death by his captive K'Chain Che'Malle Matron and he can fly into a rage for little provocation... yeah, you probably don't want to work for this guy.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Downplayed. Pannion had plenty of crazy to go around after his traumatic childhood, the Crippled God just fanned the flames by making him a vicious Sadist. Even when freed of the Crippled God's influence, Pannion does not intially have an outward personality change, and needs to be reasoned with to trigger a Heel–Face Turn...which is still better than before, when could could not even be slightly reasoned with at all.
- Dark Messiah: Amoungst prophets he's as dark as they come, being leader of a brutal theocracy based on death, cannibalism and endless wars of conquest.
- Disc-One Final Boss: For the series as a whole. The fact of his existence in the background drives much of the conflict of the first two books, and then he takes center-stage as the main antagonist of the third...but as Quick Ben realizes, the Pannion War is merely the opening salvo in the struggle against the Crippled God that will drive the rest of the series.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite being a horrendous Dark Messiah, which was only partially caused by the Crippled God, he cares deeply for his sister. Reuniting with her is the primary trigger for his Heel–Face Turn, aside from removing the Crippled God's hold on him so that he's actually capable of a Heel–Face Turn.
- Evil Old Folks: He usually appears as a decrepit, corpse-like old man. Subverted, as that actually is a corpse, puppeteered by a Jaghut whose actually rather young by his species' standards, as he was born near the end of the wars with the T'lan Imass. Though that still makes him mind-bogglingly old by human, and even plenty who live longer than human's, standards, of course.
- Evil Overlord: The Pannion Seer is God-Emperor of the theocratic empire called the Pannion Domin, which is essentially an attempt to create Mordor on an industrial scale. The Domin is viciously aggressive, works its citizens brutally and keeps a horde of peasants starved into madness and cannibalism to supplement its regular army. It's noted that the Domin is entirely dead in its core regions and alive only at the fringes, and therefore it must expand constantly. The Seer actually seems to encourage this, as inflicting suffering on his people is actually more important to him than running a functional nation. He's also one of the last surviving Jaghut in a human disguise, making him a Jaghut Tyrant.
- Faux Affably Evil: At times he'll affect a kindly, grandfatherly demeanor that is horribly at odds with the atrocities he commits. He will also drop that facade very quickly if he gets angered.
- Freudian Excuse: His mother was killed by the T'lan Imass and he was tossed into the Warren of Chaos by accident as a child, lost his little sister in the same Warren, was raised, if you can call it that, by a demented K'Chain Che'Malle matron and eventually had his mind messed with by the Crippled God... all told, it had a rather negative impact on his sanity that meant it was probably inevitable the guy would eventually just snap.
- God-Emperor: His followers regard him not only as a living god, but as the one true God of the world. He's also the temporal head of the Pannion Domin as an empire.
- Heel–Face Turn: Once freed of the Crippled God's corrupting influence amping up his desire for vengeance, alongside being given the opportunity to reunite with his baby sister, he actually seems a rather decent fellow who is horrified by his past actions. He's ultimately allowed to live peacefully with his sister in Burn's flesh, using his Omtose Phellack warren to fight off the infection of Burn by the Crippled God.
- His Name Really Is "Barkeep": For most of Memories of Ice he's only referred to by his title as "the Pannion Seer". It's eventually revealed that "Pannion" actually is his name.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After he's released from the Crippled God's influence, which gave him a desire to inflict pain, he's genuinely horrified by his actions, even trying to directly apologise to one of the comrades of someone he killed.
- Orcus on His Throne: Played with. Initially, he remains at his capital of Outlook while sending out his armies to conquer Genabackis. But once Outlook is breached by Lady Envy, he flees... to relocate his throne to the much more defensible Coral, where he stays put for the remainder of Memories of Ice.
- Sadist: Relishes in the pain and suffering he commits. Though this is not what Pannions is typically like, as it comes from the Crippled God's influence, whose primary desire is to make the world suffer. Pannion doesn't realize its not a part of him, however, until Quick Ben frees him from the Crippled God and asks Pannion if he still feels his desire to inflict pain.
- Sorcerous Overlord: He's an overlord with sorcerous powers. Specifically, a combination of Jaghut Omtose Phellack sorcery mixed with the Warren of Chaos granted to him, unknowingly, by the Crippled God.
- Unwitting Pawn: He's being manipulated from the start by the Crippled God, who is messing with his emotions. The Seer himself is completely unaware of this, and is genuinely shaken to learn it.
Anaster
Anaster, First Child of the Dead Seed
The very first Child of the Dead Seed, children born out of Women of the Dead Seed getting impregnated by fresh corpses, and the only one to be of age by the time of the Pannion War. He was born to lead the Tenescowri in battle, though the nature of his being makes him, a...not properly developed human being.
- Berserk Button: He's fairly cordial with Itkovian, until Itkovian offers to take his despair from him, at which point Anaster freaks out. This is because his despair is all he has, taking that away leaves him souless.
- Child by Rape: His mother raped a dying man, in order to become pregnant with Anaster.
- Death Seeker: Becomes a monster in the hope that someone will kill him.
- Despair Event Horizon: It's arguable if Anaster was ever beyond the horizon, or if he was born across it, thanks to his Empty Shell nature. By the time of the series at least, his despair means he has nothing left to live for, nor any purpose.
- Empty Shell: Thanks to being a Child of the Dead Seed, Anaster has absolutely nothing inside him beyond his despair. He pretty mcuh becomes a vegetable after his despair gets taken from him.
- Grand Theft Me: Toc the Younger's soul, leaving his horredously broken body, eventually takes possession of Anaster's body.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Encourages the Domin practice of cannibalism among his followers and practises it himself. Most disturbingly shown after he kills Prince Jelarkan, as he skins and cooks the corpse.
- Improbable Age: He's around fourteen and leading an army. Justified by his Tyke-Bomb status.
- Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You: Tries this on Rake and Whiskeyjack, appearing to be a Type 2, before revealing that he really does want to die.
- Poisonous Person: Briefly demonstrates this sort of ability when Annomander Rake grabs him.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Exaggerated. His despair over his actions on the battlefield is the only part of Anaster that exists, there is literally nothing else of him beyond his shell shock.
- Sociopathic Soldier: He's a vicious leader of the Tenescowri, taking part in their atrocities personally. Invoked, as Anaster is deliberatly trying to make himself the biggest monster he can so that someone will kill him.
- Soulless Shell: After Norul, as Shield Anvil, claims his despair, all that is Anaster disappears. When Toc the Younger takes possession of Anaster's body, he notes that it is just his body, nothing more.
- Tyke-Bomb: Raised since birth to lead the cannibalistic Tenescowri horde.
Seeredomin/Segda Travos
Seerdomin / Segda Travos
'Redeemer, I have looked in the eyes of my enemy, and they are hard, cold, emptied of everything but hate. I have, yes, seen my own reflection – it haunts me still.'
A remnant officer of the Pannion Domin army that stays in Coral after the Seer's defeat and tries to better his life. He befriends the Tiste Andii Spinnock Durav in a tavern, where the both of them spend their evenings playing board games and pondering their daily lives. Aside from that, Seerdomin garners a little cult following within the camp of the Redeemer's worshippers as the Benighted, because he visits the Redeemer's barrow daily and so keeps undesirables from the camp.
- The Atoner: Wishes to atone for his crimes in the service of the cannibalistic army of the Pannion Domin. He keeps the title 'Seerdomin' so that he won't be able to hide his legacy.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Seerdomin manages this twice: Once the son of a fisherman, he became a high ranking officer in an army full of religious fanatics and cannibals. Then, after that career path has ended, he does it again in Toll the Hounds, when he goes from gloomy but generally decent citizen to stalking and murdering people at night because they were planning to get rid of their new lord, whom he secretly approves of.
- Heel–Face Turn: While you couldn't exactly call him evil at any point, he is still conflicted about his past and tries his best to live with himself and his decisions. While his road is rocky indeed, by the end of Toll the Hounds he dies for the ideals of a god he isn't even sure he really believes in or trusts.
- Lonely Together: The human Seerdomin and the Tiste Andii Spinnock Durav meet every evening in Scour Tavern to play Kef Tanar, get drunk and be miserable together. When Spinnock falls in love with a human priestess Seerdomin even calls him a fool for not acting on his feelings, but it still amounts to nothing.
- Madden Into Misanthropy: By the time of Toll the Hounds he is a gruff loner, not even trying to hide his legacy and his only friend is a Tiste Andii he considers better than most humans.''This is my penance, Spinnock Durav. My singular apology for the madness of humanity. Forgive them, please, because I cannot.'
- Messiah Creep: In Universe! Seerdomin slowly realizes that he's becoming a figure of salvation to the Redeemer's followers and deeply conflicted about it, because while his deeds may seem heroic to outsiders, he is mainly in it for personal reasons.
- Mook Lieutenant: The Septarch calls him his most trusted servant.
- Name Amnesia: Goes by his former military rank of 'Seerdomin' to show that he won't hide from his crimes under the Pannion Domin. It is later revealed that his real name was Segda Travos.
- Nominal Hero: The Redeemer's followers see him as their hero, because his daily presence at the barrow discourages bandits from entering the camp, but his reasons for visiting are personal and he is even surprised that people would look up to him.
- Not Always Evil: Despite not being a named character yet, in Memories of Ice he is an all around decent human being towards Toc during his imprisonment with the Matron: conversing with him to alleviate the torture the latter has to endure, taking him outside to view the sea and carrying him when he grows too weak to walk himself. All this despite holding the highest military rank of his army and being a very minor character in that book.
- Religious Bruiser:
- Deconstructed in Memories of Ice when he is part of the fanatical army of the Pannion Domin and already a broken man because of the things he had to do. Then...
- Reconstructed in Toll the Hounds when he finds himself bafflingly in the service of the Redeemer, once again fighting for a faith, but this time the implication is, that he's doing the right thing.
- Only Sane Employee: He is smart enough not to directly oppose his less than sane Seer's commands, but does go out of his way to call attention to the state of their prisoner and tries to reason with his higher-ups. It also helps that he is not one of the hunger-crazed foot soldiers that make up the bulk of the army.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Seerdomin has been thoroughly broken by the things he witnessed and did as a commanding officer under the Seer's tyrannic holy war. While he still sometimes tries to talk sense into his superiors, he wilts at the slightest resistance and accepts his reality stoically. He considers his ideals devoured by the world he lives in.
- The Stoic: He delivers the news of the starvation of an entire people in a detached tone, though Toc sees a Not So Stoic undercurrent in him.
- Withholding Their Name: Played With by Seerdomin, who goes by the title of his former military rank to show that he won't hide from his crimes under the Pannion Domin. It is later revealed that his real name was Segda Travos, but nobody alive remembers it.
- You Shall Not Pass!: Defends the Redeemer from a dying god-possessed Salind.
The Defenders Of Capustan
Gruntle
Gruntle
- Badass Normal —> Empowered Badass Normal: When he becomes Trake's Mortal Sword, Gruntle shifts from a very capable caravan guard to a nigh-unstoppable warrior.
- The Champion: Becomes Mortal Sword of Trake
- Dual Wielding: Cutlasses.
- Hired Guns: Worked as a caravan guard for hire.
- Lightning Bruiser: Big, strong and fast. Becomes stronger, and lethally quick and agile when Trake selects him as his Mortal Sword.
- Panthera Awesome: As the Mortal Sword of the Tiger of Summer, Gruntle now moves like a big cat.
- Power Makeover: His appearance becomes very, very tigerish following his selection as Mortal Sword of Trake, to the point where it creeps people out.
- Power Tattoo: Trake's blessing tattoos his skin with tiger stripes.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Initially disinterested in fighting during the siege of Capustan, Gruntle changes his mind after Stonny is raped by a Seerdomin and ends up leading the resistance.
- Technicolor Eyes: They turn tiger-yellow.
Stonny Menackis
Stonny Menackis
- Lipstick Lesbian: It's not entirely clear if she is a lesbian, though she seemingly sleeps with both Nektara (female) and Netok (male) in Memories of Ice.
- Rape as Drama: Raped by an unnamed Seerdomin during the siege of Capustan. She quickly kills him, though not before making him beg for mercy first.
Brukhalian
Brukhalian
- The Champion: Mortal Sword of Fener
- Hired Guns: He's hired to protect Capustan from the Pannions.
- Private Military Contractors:
Itkovian
Itkovian
We humans do not understand compassion. In each moment of our lives, we betray it. Aye, we know of its worth, yet in knowing we then attach to it a value, we guard the giving of it, believing it must be earned. T'lan Imass. Compassion is priceless in the truest sense of the word. It must be given freely. In abundance
The Shield Anvil of the Grey Swords.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Becomes an Ascendent known as The Redeemer.
- All-Loving Hero: As his quote says, Itkovan believes that one must be boundlessly compassionate. As Shield Anvil of the Grey Swords, he is willing to take the grief of even those who have done terrible things and as the Redeemer, he gives forgiveness freely and without judgement.
- Celibate Hero: No romance for him.
- Cultured Badass: He's a deadly soldier who fights in the defense of Capustan, but also well-versed in philosophy and history.
- The Empath: Can detect and absorb others' grief. Given the nature of the series there's a lot of it to go around.
- Foil: To his counterpart in the Grey Helms, Tanakalian. Both are Shield Anvils in a military organization that serves a god of war. Itkovian believes that he must take the grief of others without judgement, and dies heroically taking on the pain the T'lan Imass have acquired over their millennia of existence. Tanakalian, on the other hand, believes that he should only take on the grief of those he deems deserving, and cruelly condemns the entire human race to extinction. Furthermore, Itkovian shows that he has Undying Loyalty to Brukhalian, while Tanakalian is The Starscream to Krughava and mortally wounds her.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Dies absorbing the collective grief of the T'lan Imass.
- Meaningful Funeral: A great barrow is constructed to honor his sacrifice, which becomes a pilgrimage site.
- You Are in Command Now: He leads the Grey Swords after Brukhalian dies.
