These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
Your mileage can really vary on this as he can also be construed as just a Big Bad Wannabe
Moral Event Horizon: In the first book, Thomas Covenant does something horrible, which firmly establishes that, unlike a typical fantasy protagonist, he is notThe Cape. He spends the rest of the first trilogy trying, painfully, to drag himself back out of the moral black hole he fell into. Covenant's behaviour lead to a kind of cascade effect whereby the majority of bad stuff that happens in the book, and a lot of the series, is a consequence. The same goes for a significant amount of Covenant's suffering. Basically, it haunted Covenant for the rest of the series. For instance, Lena gave birth to Covenant's child, who was not completely sane, and went on to break a chunk of reality (the Law of Death) and give the Big Bad access to infinite undead armies of anything, up to and including fossils.
Foul himself has an odd crossing, because it is entirely verbal before he has a chance to actually do anything. Just reading his rant to Covenant about how he is going to corrupt and destroy the Land and there is nothing anyone can do to stop him, culminating in the declaration that he will annihilate hope from the universe, puts you off on rooting for the guy for good. It all just cements Foul's rep as what Card Carrying Villains want to be when they grow up.
Serial Numbers Filed Off: The first Trilogy is an obvious Captain Ersatz of everyone in The Lord of the Rings, with several the races being types of human instead of elves, orcs, dwarves, and so on (and the other races are unique, rather than the standard ones, the only exception being the Giants). Used as a Deconstruction of the high fantasy genre.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: High Lord Kevin was pretty much this. Elena Foul-wife also qualifies. There's even speculation in the third series that Foul might be one.
