History Characters / GauntsGhosts

* StealthExpert: He's a fething cloaking device on legs, especially after Gereon. If this guy doesn't want you to see or hear him, you ''won't''.

* StealthExpert: He's a fething cloaking device on legs, especially after Gereon. If this guy doesn't want you to see or hear him, you ''won't''. In ''Sabbat Martyr'', a Dark Eldar Mandrake thinks he has the drop on Mkoll, and admits that he's impressed by Mkoll's skill... and then promptly realizes that he stabbed a dummy, and Mkoll kills him.
-->You were good, Skarwael conceded. A pleasure to hunt, a pleasure to test my skill against. But you are no match for a mandrake. Don’t move. I will honour you with a slow, delicious death.
-->Skarwael lunged with his sacred knife. The boline stabbed between the railings and speared through lifeless cloth.
-->Surprised, Skarwael dragged the doth through the bars and sniffed it. A cloak, an empty cloak, made of some camouflage material. He turned and saw the rifle aimed at him.
-->“You’re good,” said Mkoll grudgingly.
-->The single las-round hit the mandrake between the eyes.

* HeroicBSOD: After Gereon, he gets better. Gets put through a second one in ''Anarch'' at the hands of a woe machine.
** The second time leads to him becoming a ShellShockedVeteran. He gets better [[spoiler: when Mkoll returns.]]

* TheAtoner: Appears sincere in his desire to help the Imperium. [[spoiler:As of ''Anarch'', his HeelFaceTurn is genuine.]]

* SuicidalPacifist: After [[spoiler:finishing his mission to give the Imperium the key to an ancient superweapon so Chaos won't use it,]] Mabbon swears an oath of non-violence. When Sek's elites come to kill him, he repeatedly asks his guards to just shoot him and be done with it instead of sacrificing their lives to protect him. Rawne tries to give Mabbon a lasgun for self-defense and Mabbon won't take it; needless to say, Rawne is not happy about this.
--> '''Mabbon:''' "I won't fight anymore, Rawne. I've fought for too many sides. Too many causes. None of them have made sense to me. So rather than make an oath to others, I made one to myself. I would fight no more. It's the only pledge I think I can keep."
--> '''Rawne:''' "Well, I've seen some things. Now I've met the only fething pacifist objector in this whole fething galaxy."
** [[spoiler:Subverted. When the Qimurah are going to kill Rawne and Varl, the only people who've treated him with anything like kindness for a very long time, Mabbon breaks his final oath and defends them.]]

** [[spoiler:Averted. When the Qimurah are going to kill Rawne and Varl, the only people who've treated him with anything like kindness for a very long time, Mabbon breaks his final oath and defends them.]]

* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: The reason he cites whenever saving Gaunt's life.

---->[[spoiler:Mabbon: "It's pointless because if I wanted to escape, I would have done so by now. And I ''could'' have done so."]]

* ArtificialLimbs: Loses an arm to a trio of loxatl assassins in ''Sabbat Martyr'', which is later replaced with a mechanical prosthetic. He loses an arm ''again'' during an aircraft crash in ''Only in Death,'' but by good luck, it's the already-mechanical one: it's been replaced by the time of ''Blood Pact.''

* PutOnABus: [[spoiler:Accompanies Saint Sabbat on her journeys at the end of Sabbat Martyr.]][[spoiler: It comes back finally in Anarch.]]

* HeroicBSOD: After Gereon, he gets better. Gets put through a second one in Anarch at the hands of a woe machine.

* NeverFoundTheBody: When Gaunt returns to Gereon and contacts the Imperial resistance, he is shown the Mkvenner's grave. However, he also learns that it's empty, since Mkvenner's remains were not found after the battle in which he supposedly died. [[spoiler: Later on, when the Ghosts move to Untill, he suddenly appears to Eszrah, and then helps to liberate resistance members from the hands of the Inquisition.]]

* OverrankedSoldier: Is promoted to Captain during the Tanith First's time as part of the Belladon 81st. Some of the Ghosts think him unworthy of his new rank. [[spoiler: Turns out they were right, what with his blatant cowardice, and the fact that he's making money off of dead troopers by submitting false paperwork from non-existent Guard wives.]]

* ChekhovsGunman- Appears VERY briefly in the first book, and just long enough in the second to lose his jaw thanks to a las round. He returns later in the series to play a more prominent role [[spoiler: until his death]].
* ColdSniper- In the beginning, until he loses his jaw in combat. His replacement prosthetic reduces his accuracy.

* NiceGuy: An excellent soldier and a truly decent human being. He gives his rations to Tona, who when he first met was a dirty scavenger trying to survive a Hive war, and the child she was caring for just because he could.

* HeroicSacrifice: Gets shot in the head after rescuing Tona Criid in Guns of Tanith. He survives, but loses all of his memories and most of his personality. [[spoiler: Until Sabbat Martyr.]]
** [[spoiler: And again, fatally, in Anarch whilst trying to stop a Woe Machine.]]

* ThrowingOffTheDisability: [[spoiler: Gol is seemingly healed by the Beati of his brain damage but Ana Curth's examinations reveal the same thing each time : the only healing that has occured is scar tissue on the parts that were already damaged, not the full blown regeneration of the damaged tissue itself. Gol simply shouldn't be responding the way he is, at all. Both are a little creeped out by it being a miracle, even an Emperor driven one.]]

* PutOnABus: [[spoiler:After his psychic abilities come to light Soric is taken by the Black Ships in ''Sabbat Martyr'']]

* BaitTheDog: From the very moment he was introduced in Honour Guard it was obvious that Cuu was a highly unpleasant individual. However, he is nonetheless an effective soldier with a few humourous moments. Then in Guns of Tanith he [[spoiler:rapes and murders a civilian woman. Right after the liberation of the city.]] After that, all bets were off.

* KarmaHoudini: Nearly brought to justice in Guns of Tanith when evidence implicates him in a murder-rape. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Then Gaunt, thinking him innocent, steps in and gets him off]]. He also nearly gets brought to justice in Straight Silver, but again escapes. In Sabbat Martyr, the [[spoiler: reveal of his guilt]] comes purely as a result of outside interference, rather than any efforts of the Ghosts. [[spoiler: But ultimately, he is finally killed, though not before killing Corbec.]]

* OhCrap: In Sabbat Martyr, when he mouths off to the [[spoiler: mentally handicapped Gol Kolea as usual, only to discover Kolea has been healed off his affliction by Saint Sabbat, Cuu's reaction is pretty much this. Much to the delight of the Ghosts present, Kolea proceeds to [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech chew Cuu out in disgust for his behaviour]] and then orders the little shit out of his sight before Kolea succumbs to the urge to kill him]].

* AwesomeButImpractical: Most of his war machines are ludicrously designed; while deadly, they were much less efficient than they could have been.

** Later zig-zagged in The Warmaster. Inquisition intelligence theorises that he was a traitor member of the mechanicum but any further elaboration is redacted in real time.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: In desperation on Gereon, she helps kill a daemonic werewolf by dousing it with holy water from a Shrine World.

* BrokenAce: A very dedicated and skilled surgeon who selflessly stays behind to help the resistance on Gereon. She manages to survive for years on a Chaos occupied world but it takes it's toll on her. By the time Gaunt finds her again, she's a jaded, burnt out shell of woman who regrets making the decision in the first place. She gets a bit better in the following books.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: In desperation on Gereon, she helps kill a daemonic wirewolf by dousing it with holy water from a Shrine World.
* HelloNurse: Regarded in-universe as being quite attractive.

* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Zhukova's reputation, both on Verghast and in the regiment itself, is that her rank was more a result of [[HelloNurse her looks]] than her combat skill; even friends like Daur have made jokes about it. She's aware of it, and she hates it with a passion. She mentions to Mkoll at one point that she had hoped for a disfiguring shrapnel wound to the face during the Verghast war, in order to be taken seriously.

!!Colonel-Commissar [[spoiler: now Lord Militant Commander & First Lord Executor]] Ibram Gaunt

!!Major [[spoiler: (later Brevet Colonel)]] Elim Rawne

A one-eyed Vervunhive miner who keeps the men of his work shift organized despite the chaos, and uses them to help the war effort and the other refugees. Joins the Ghosts after Vervunhive is abandoned. [[spoiler: He is eventually revealed to be a [[PsychicPowers Psyker]] and is taken by the Black Ships during the events of ''Sabbat Martyr''. Returns to play an important part in ''Only in Death'', where he dies.]]

* [[spoiler: EnemyWithin: And one that is only revealed at the very last moment, with no previous suspicion.]]

* [[spoiler: KillAndReplace: Much like Yoncey, it's likely that the original Dalin either died in the siege of Vervunhive and was replaced during the ensuing chaos or had been a sleeper agent for sometime before that. Unlike Yoncey, enough people remembered that Gol had a male child called Dalin for there to be no question of his replacement]].
* [[spoiler: LaserGuidedTykebomb: Like his sister, Dalin is a Woe Machine. Meaning that he was never actually Gol's child to begin with and avoided detection for years. He's only "activated" at the very last moment of the seige of Urdesh. He wasn't even aware of it himself until it happened]].

* [[spoiler: TomatoInTheMirror: When it's revealed that he's actually the second woe machine created by Heritor Asphodel to infiltrate the Ghosts, he seems disturbed by the realization of what he truly is before he transforms.]]

The general in command of retaking Fortis Binary in First & Only. [[spoiler:Actually much more cunning than he seems]].

* [[spoiler:SweetPollyOliver: Revealed to be a female who has been posing as a male for much of her life. The ruling families on her home planet Verghast are said to be extremely patriarchal, and House Chass's lack of a male heir left them vulnerable to losing their power. Felyx's mother sought to get her away from the planet before the public discovered her gender and have her earn a reputation as a war hero, which would overcome the bias against women and allow her to lead House Chass openly.]]

Overlord and supreme commander of the Chaos forces in the Sabbat Worlds, having risen to the top of the heap after Balhaut. Commands the notorious and extremely deadly [[EliteMooks Blood Pact]], the most competent of the Chaos troops. He has yet to face the Ghosts directly, although his Blood Pact has; mostly, his cadres form the "main fronts" where Macaroth's elite fights. Commands from the the "fortress world" Morlond, until [[spoiler: it is taken by Imperial forces in ''Sabbat Martyr'']].

A Chaos general and one of Gaur's lieutenants, Innokenti was one of many Chaos commanders sent to flank the main Imperial advance. His forces attacked the Khan Group, home to many of the forge worlds responsible for Imperial resupply. His group laid siege to the world of Herodor in ''Sabbat Martyr'' due to rumors that Saint Sabbat had been reincarnated on that world. [[spoiler: He dies in combat against Sabbat herself, at the end of ''Sabbat Martyr'']].

Chaos general and leader of the Sons of Sek, another faction of Archon Gaur's army. Becomes the senior Chaos leader on the secondary flank when [[spoiler: Enok Innokenti is KIA]]. Currently at large after losing several planets to the Ghosts.

One of the Chaos warlords who survived Balhaut, Nokad the Blighted, aka Nokad the Smiling, is a Nurgle devotee and minor thorn in the side of the Crusade armies. He believes in leading from the front and is skilled at rallying his armies. [[spoiler: Killed in action on Bucephalon, courtesy of a headshot from "Mad" Larkin]].

Another Balhaut survivor, Sholen Skara was a notorious Khornate death-worshiper, thought to have ritually slaughtered a billion Balhauteans in camps. His bloodlust was so all-consuming that he would even kill his own troops rather than have them captured or defeated by the Imperium. [[spoiler: Captured by the Ghosts and handed over to the Inquisition during ''Ghostmaker'', when a forward team blows up a chunk of his base, panicking him into sacrificing his own men]].

A prominent Chaos warlord and powerful psyker, Pater Sin led a Chaos force to capture the shrineworld of Hagia, birthplace of the Saint. He escaped when Imperial forces, including the Ghosts, recaptured Hagia, although his status among the Chaos commanders was reduced dramatically due to his failure and the loss of most of his troops. [[spoiler: Reappears in ''Sabbat Martyr'' as one of the assassins tasked with killing the Saint, and is killed by Corbec]].

Commander of the Blood Pact forces on the captured world of Phantine, Slaith was a charistmatic warlord and Khornate devotee whose abilities strained the Imperial efforts to reconquer the world, prompting the Imperial Crusade to attempt to assassinate him to deal a crushing blow to enemy morale. After [[spoiler: surviving several attempts by Ghost snipers to kill him, Slaith perishes when a bomb planted by Mkoll detonates inside his command centre]].

A notorious and deadly Chaos general known for his tactical genius and love of absurd war machines. He led the attack on Verghast in ''Necropolis'', leading the forces of Ferrozoica Hive City. [[spoiler: Killed in single combat by Gaunt, though not before very nearly killing him.]]

A tall, horned, sexless daemonoid lifeward, charged with guarding [[spoiler: General Noches Sturm while Sturm is being held on Gereon]].

!![[spoiler: Handro Rime and the Sirkle]]

A deadly agent of Anarch Sek, who use a combination of augmetic surgery, psyker tricks and [[spoiler: the ability to alter their facial appearance and voice at will]] to impersonate Imperial personnel to get close to assassination targets. First appear in ''Blood Pact'' and become a major threat in 'Salvation'''s Reach'.

!![[spoiler: Yoncy Criid]]

[[spoiler: The surrogate daughter of Tona Criid and a hidden Woe Machine created by Heritor Asphodel, effectively becoming a Chaotic sleeper agent embedded in the Ghosts for years.]]

[[spoiler: The surrogate daughter of Tona Criid and a hidden Woe Machine created by Sek, effectively becoming a Chaotic sleeper agent embedded in the Ghosts for years.]]

* HumanoidAbomination: [[spoiler: She's a Woe Machine, although unlike the titan-sized monstrosities created by Heritor Asphodel, she was "made" by Sek. She is completely human in appearance and undetectable until she uses her powers. Then she becomes the "Bad Shadow".]]

* HeroicBSOD: After Gereon, he gets better.

* KarmicDeath: Gets what's coming to him in ''Anarch'', courtesy of Felyx Chass and [[BoomHeadshot two shots to the face]] from a carbine.]]

* [[spoiler: BackForTheDead: In ''Anarch'', Saint Sabbat tells Gaunt that Holofurnace had joined her inner circle but was lost to a warp portal not long after the Ghosts arrived on Urdesh. Mkoll finds both him and Milo on board Anarch Sek's destroyer and rescues them, but Holofurnace dies during the assassination attempt on Sek, overwhelmed by a horde of cultists and excubitors after throwing a halberd at the Anarch and impaling him.]]

** [[spoiler:Ultimately averted, he remains defected to the Imperium to his death. The revelation of him bieng a Quiramah highlights his sincerity - he could have easily transforamed and escaped or assasinated numerous important officers at any moment if he had truly wanted to]].

* FriendlyEnemy: Develops a rapport with Varl, one of the soldiers assigned to guard him. When Mabbon is [[spoiler:taken away by the Inquisition, Varl tries to convince them to let Mabbon keep his reading material, and the two exchange friendly goodbyes.]][[spoiler: He later saves Rawne's life, after attempting to sacrifice his own life to the Quiramah sent to hunt them down]].

* HumanoidAbomination:[[spoiler:He's Quiramah, a pseudo-deamonic supersolder and notably one the greatest one ever created. He finally unleashes his true form during the end of Anarch.]]

[[spoiler: The surrogate daughter of Tona Criid and a hidden Woe Machine created by Sek, effectively becoming a chaotic sleeper agent embedded in the Ghosts for years.]]

* [[spoiler: ChildrenAreInnocent: It's not very clear how much she is aware of her purpose and it seems to frighten her, at least at first.]]

* [[spoiler: LaserGuidedTykebomb: Her final goal is to decapitate the chain of command of the entire crusade.]]

* BadassGrandpa: Often bemoans his advanced age, particularly after suffering a nasty wound in Honour Guard that plagues him for the rest of the series. Doesn't stop him being badass, though.

* MadeOfIron: Frequently takes horrible, maiming wounds and nonetheless survives to fight another day. [[spoiler:until Heredor.]]

* BadassGrandpa: Always described as being very old whenever Gaunt reminisces about him. He was about 150 when he started the Sabbat Worlds Crusade and was in his 160s when he died.

* [[spoiler:ArtificialLimbs]]: [[spoiler:Loses his foot during the liberation of Gereon, due to Gaunt chopping it off. The action saved his life, but Larks is still somewhat miffed afterwards. He gets over it fairly quickly.]]

* [[spoiler:KarmicDeath: Gets what's coming to him in ''Anarch'', courtesy of Felyx Chass and [[BoomHeadshot two shots to the face]] from a carbine.]]

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Mabbon is a triple defector, going from the Imperial Guard to Gaur's Blood Pact, then to Sek's new army, ''then'' back to the Imperium. [[spoiler:It may turn out he is a ''quadruple'' agent, if it turns out he rejoined Gaur or Sek.]][[spoiler:Ultimately averted, he remains defected to the Imperium to his death.]]