Characters / The Spine of Night

Swamp-Witch Tzod

Portrayed by: Lucy Lawless

A humble swamp-witch who uses the Bloom for rituals, who runs afoul of Lord Pyrantin in the beginning.

Tropes:

• The Anti-Nihilist
• The Heart
• The Hero
• Made of Iron
• The Narrator

The Guardian

Portrayed by: Richard E. Grant

The wizened guardian of the Bloom patch found on a mountain peak.

Tropes:

• …And That Little Girl Was Me: After going through the list of Guardians before him, he finally reaches himself in the present day.
• Cool Old Guy: Still capable of raising his sword even on the verge of death.
• Eternal Recurrence: Every Guardian of the Bloom has been someone who came seeking its powers and who then successfully killed the previous Guardian. However, any man who learns the secret of the Bloom becomes dedicated to protecting everyone from it, leading them to take up the role of Guardian in turn.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Thinks pretty poorly of himself and his life, although he arguably doesn't deserve it.
• The Noseless: Has a missing nose, likely lost due to frostbite from staying on the mountain so long.
• Outliving One's Offspring: He came looking for the Bloom because a war party burned his crops, which led to his children starving.

Lord Pyrantin

Portrayed by: Patton Oswalt

The son of a greater conqueror tasked with subjugating the swamps Tzod lives in.

Tropes:

• Bad Boss: Talks a big talk about being powerful, but doesn't participate in any of the raids he orders, to Mongrel's chagrin.
• Facial Horror
• Hate Sink: Cruel, prideful, and ugly, especially after his disfigurement.

Mongrel

Portrayed by: Joe Manganiello

The far-superior henchmen of Lord Pyrantin.

Tropes:

• Large and in Charge
• Punch-Clock Villain: Notes that he's only taking Tzod because he has orders.
• The Starscream: Clearly resents having to work under Pyrantin.

Ghar-Sul

Portrayed by: Jordan Douglas Smith

A scholar from the nearby Pantheon institute who is summoned by Lord Pyrantin at the story's start. In coming there, he first learns the secrets of the Bloom...

Tropes:

• Big Bad
• Cruel and Unusual Death
• The Corrupter
• From Nobody to Nightmare
• God-Emperor
• Sealed Evil in a Can
• Super Power Lottery

Phae-Agura

Portrayed by: Betty Gabriel

A scholar of the Pantheon who wants to hear the peasants' cries for food and knowledge.

Tropes:

• Doomed Moral Victor: She recommends working with the peasants to end the terrible status quo. But unfortunately is not in that kind of narrative...
• Token Good Teammate

The Inquisitor

Portrayed by: Patrick Breen

The reigning leader of the Pantheon in the middle of the film, who interacts with Ghar-Sul and Phae-Agura.

Tropes:

• The Mole
• Too Dumb to Live

Dae and Gull

Portrayed by: Maggie Lakis, Rob McClure

Peasants caught up in a deadly raid who happen upon a tuft of the Bloom in the aftermath.

Tropes:

• Audience Surrogate
• We Hardly Knew Ye: After taking the bloom, they find themselves surrounded by soldiers and quickly perish. But their presence gives us a more optimistic take on the Bloom and its accompanying nihilism.

The First King

Portrayed by: N/A

The man who led the first charge against the gods in ages past.

Tropes:

• Blood Knight
• Pragmatic Hero
• Tragic Flaw

The First Guardian

'''Portrayed by: N/A

The first man to discover the Bloom and its accompanying secrets.

Tropes:

• Go Mad from the Revelation
• From Nobody to Nightmare
• Eternal Recurrence
• Suicide by Cop: While the Guardian doesn't describe it as such, we see in flashback that the First Guardian eventually grew tired of fighting and let himself be killed to end his suffering.

The Bird Trio

Portrayed by: Tom Lipinski, Nina Lisandrello, Abigail Savage

A trio of wingsuit-wearing soldiers from a city the God-Emperor is besieging. Realizing their city's chances of victory are slim, they decide to try to kill the God-Emperor themselves with what little time they have left.

Tropes:

• All for Nothing: Almost. When the zeppelin crashes into Ghar-Sul's chamber, he stops it in its tracks and starts pulling it away. But luckily, the remaining member is able to distract him long enough for it to do its job.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: All three.
  • One "only" gets stabbed and then obliterated by the crashing zeppelin.
  • One gets melted alive by the molten metal of the forge, Shown in excruciating detail.
  • And the third gets every single one of her bones broken by the God-Emperor before getting blown up.
• Heroic Sacrifice
• Not Quite Flight
• Spanner in the Works: Their Hail Mary hijacking of a zeppelin and crashing it into the God-Emperor's castle starts the final act, and is clearly something he never anticipated.