History Characters / TheDarkTowerRolandsKaTet

* TrueCompanions: Roland's first ka-tet started off as this, but his second become true companions through their arduous quest, eventually [[FamilyOfChoice seeing the others as their true family]]. This makes the breaking of their ka-tet in the final book all the more [[TearJerker heartbreaking]].

* TooDumbToLive: After Susannah leaves, Roland has nobody to share night watches with, and sleep deprivation eventually forces him to put Patrick in charge. It takes Patrick all of about ten minutes to fall asleep himself, after which Mordred attacks.

A young boy from New York (circa 1977) who was killed by the SerialKiller Jack Mort in his own world and appeared at the Way Station in the Mohaine Desert of Roland's world. He fell to his death when Roland abandoned him to catch up with the Man in Black, but in the the third novel Jake is brought back to life through a GrandfatherParadox caused by the death of Jack Mort. He is Roland's spiritual son and is strong in 'the touch', a psychic ability that enables him to read minds and project his thoughts to others.

-->''[[ADateWithRosiePalms "At least I jerk off left-handed."]]''

* TheChick: To Roland and his first ka-tet, who she is an honorary member of as she helps them break out of jail and also assists with their plan of attack against John Farson's men.

* TheChick: Susannah is the only female member of the ka-tet.

* AutomaticCrossbows: Jamie may be a gunslinger, but he's said to prefer the 'bah' (crossbow) and bolt as his WeaponOfChoice.

* NiceHat: He wears a classic cowboy hat as part of his outfit. He loses his first one, but gains a second white version from the folken of Calla Bryn Sturgis.

* {{Determinator}}: He pretty much takes this trope UpToEleven. Nothing will stop him from reaching the Dark Tower, ''nothing''. Not illness, injury, near death, not even the death of one of his ka-tet. He is even able to make his remaining limbs function while sick from poison and in great pain through sheer willpower alone. A passage in ''The Drawing of the Three'' even states that one of the policemen he encountered while wearing Jack Mort's body later had a heart attack while seeing ''Film/TheTerminator'' in a theatre with his son and recognizing Roland in the titular character.

* HeartbrokenBadass: It's not surprising when you consider all he has been through, losing his entire family, friends ''and'' the love of his life. This trope is taken UpToEleven in the last book when he loses two members of his ka-tet in rather quick succession, firstly Eddie and then Jake (who he considers to be his true son) for a second time, and then Susannah chooses to leave the quest and last of all, poor Oy dies brutally whilst defending him.

* {{Fingore}}: Early in the second book, a mutated sea creature called a "lobstrosity" bites off two fingers from his right hand and one of his toes while he sleeps. Late in the seventh book, he uproots a rose from the fields surrounding the Dark Tower with that same hand, cutting one finger deeply enough to leave it attached by just a tendon.

* {{Fingore}}: He loses two of his fingers early in the second book during an encounter with a mutated sea creature that he dubs a "lobstrocity". It bites his fingers off whilst he is sleeping.
* FiringOneHanded: As any gunslinger can, their insane proficiency with guns being such that they don't need to use the other hand to steady themselves. It's a good thing, too, because Roland loses several fingers early in the series, allowing him to only use one hand to shoot. [[ImprobableAimingSkills He never misses anyway]].
* FishOutOfWater: Used to comedic and rather endearing effect whenever Roland has to enter the Keystone World or those like it, especially in ''Literature/TheDrawingOfTheThree'' and ''Literature/SongOfSusannah'', due to his general astonishment at our technological achievements and abundance of what we see as mundane things like [[MundaneLuxury paper, sugar and especially bullets]] because of their rarity in Mid-World. He also has trouble pronoucing many of our words such as tuna-fish (which he calls "tooter-fish") and aspirin ("astin").

* RapunzelHair: Her golden hair is described as being so long that it reaches her hips when loose. She prefers to keep it tied back in a braid, especially when she is riding.

* BadassBeard: Roland always has a very manly stubble, likely because his ka to WalkTheEarth (or multiverse!) means that he often has neither the time or equipment necessary to shave.

* MommyIssues: And ''how''. When he's 14, he discovers that his mother is having an affair with [[TheMole Marten Broadcloak]], one of [[TheDragon Walter's]] guises. This is the catalyst for his early gunslinger trial. Later, after the events in ''Literature/WizardAndGlass,'' he glimpses her in a mirror carrying a belt that she intends as a peace offering. He mistakes her for [[WickedWitch Rhea]] and her snake (magical illusion may or may not have been involved), and [[{{Matricide}} guns her down out of pure reflex]].

* UnfortunateNames: His nickname in Calla Bryn Sturgis, "The Old Fella", is slang for 'penis' in some circles in RealLife.

* {{Adorkable}}: Alain is a lot more [[SociallyAwkwardHero socially awkward]] than Roland and Cuthbert in conversation and he often takes a long time to contemplate a question, making people sometimes think he is dull and stupid, when the reality couldn't be further from the truth. He is actually very intelligent, thoughtful and diplomatic and prefers to use his voice for reason.

* TheRainman: Despite being mentally handicapped, Sheemie is revealed to be a very powerful Breaker.

* MixAndMatchCritters: He has characteristics of a raccoon, a dog, a badger, ''and'' a civet. Some of his characteristics (his deftness, agility and the fact that he sleeps with his 'corkscrew' tail wrapped around himself) also make him seem quite feline in nature.

* NiceHat: Has wears a classic cowboy hat as part of his outfit. He loses his first one, but gains a second white version from the folken of Calla Bryn Sturgis.

* TheAllAmericanBoy: Jake is pretty much this trope at the beginning of ''Literature/TheWasteLands'' before the GrandfatherParadox takes over his psyche and he gets drawn back into Mid-World. He is blonde, blue-eyed, handsome and polite to his elders, but has a healthy appetite for adventure and something of an old-fashioned 'gee whiz' attitude about him.

The main protagonists of Creator/StephenKing's ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series and their closest allies.

!!! '''Appears in:''' ''The Little Sisters of Eluria'' | ''Literature/TheGunslinger'' | ''Literature/TheDrawingOfTheThree'' | ''Literature/TheWasteLands'' | ''Literature/WizardAndGlass'' | ''Literature/TheWindThroughTheKeyhole'' | ''Literature/WolvesOfTheCalla'' | ''Literature/SongOfSusannah'' | ''Literature/TheDarkTower''

The main protagonist of ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series, also known as "The Gunslinger", who hails from Mid-World, specifically Gilead in the barony of New Canaan. He became a gunslinger at the age of fourteen after defeating his teacher, Cortland Andrus, in combat (his weapon of choice being David the hawk). He is the last known living descendant of Arthur Eld, the legendary king of All-World and his world's analogue of Myth/KingArthur, and is therefore sworn to protect the Dark Tower. He seeks the Tower and will stop at nothing to reach it.

!!! '''Appears in:''' ''Literature/TheGunslinger'' | ''Literature/TheWasteLands'' | ''Literature/WizardAndGlass'' | ''Literature/TheWindThroughTheKeyhole'' | ''Literature/WolvesOfTheCalla'' | ''Literature/SongOfSusannah'' | ''Literature/TheDarkTower''

* ParentalSubstitute: He sees Roland as being his true father. In ''Literature/TheDarkTower'' when he and Roland are reunited after having to face their own battles in two different "whens" during ''Literature/SongOfSusannah'', Roland holds his arms out to Jake (an act which is very unlike Roland) and Jake asks Roland for his permission to call him father, to which Roland is clearly overjoyed.

!!! '''Appears in:''' ''Literature/TheDrawingOfTheThree'' | ''Literature/TheWasteLands'' | ''Literature/WizardAndGlass'' | ''Literature/TheWindThroughTheKeyhole'' | ''Literature/WolvesOfTheCalla'' | ''Literature/SongOfSusannah'' | ''Literature/TheDarkTower''

* DisappearedDad: He finds the Mid-World expression "forgotten the face of my father" ironic, because he wouldn't recognize his father if he met him. When he introduces himself as "Eddie Dean of New York, son of Wendell" in the Calla, he thinks that leastwise, his mother always said that. It's clear that by the end of the series that Eddie considers Roland as his true father, and his internal monologue and even dying words to Roland confirm it in ''Literature/TheDarkTower''.

!!! '''Appears in:''' ''Literature/TheDrawingOfTheThree'' | ''Literature/TheWasteLands'' | ''Literature/WizardAndGlass'' | ''Literature/TheWindThroughTheKeyhole'' | ''Literature/WolvesOfTheCalla'' | ''Literature/SongOfSusannah'' | ''Literature/TheDarkTower''

!!! '''Appears in:''' ''Literature/TheWasteLands'' | ''Literature/WizardAndGlass'' | ''Literature/TheWindThroughTheKeyhole'' | ''Literature/WolvesOfTheCalla'' | ''Literature/SongOfSusannah'' | ''Literature/TheDarkTower''

* ActionPet: Oy may not be human like the rest of his ka-tet, but he fights alongside them regardless. He is responsible for saving Jake from the Tick-Tock Man in ''Literature/TheWasteLands'' and saving Roland from Mordred in ''Literature/TheDarkTower'', amongst many, many other acts of bravery during the series.

* EyeScream: The comics reveal that he was shot in the eye with an arrow at the battle of Jericho Hill. It turns out in ''Literature/TheDarkTower'' that he was actually shot and killed by Walter Padick himself, who was disguised as one of John Farson's men.

!!! '''Appears in:''' ''Literature/WolvesOfTheCalla'' | ''Literature/SongOfSusannah'' | ''Literature/TheDarkTower''

!!! '''Appears in:''' ''Literature/WizardAndGlass'' | ''Literature/TheDarkTower''

* DisabilitySuperpower: In ''Literature/TheDarkTower'' it is revealed that Sheemie is an incredibly powerful Breaker, one of the most powerful currently being held at Algul Siento, and that's without the guards even having any ''clue'' that he's also capable of [[TeleportersAndTransporters teleportation]]!

* OlderThanTheyLook: In ''Literature/TheDarkTower'', an older Sheemie looks much, much younger than his real age, and much younger than Roland.

!!!'''Appears in:''' ''Literature/TheDarkTower''

!!! '''Appears in:''' ''Literature/TheDarkTower''

* ParentalSubstitute: He sees Roland as being his true father. In ''Literature/TheDarkTower'' when he and Roland are reunited after having to face their own battles in two different "whens" during ''Literature/SongOfSusannah'', Roland holds his arms out to Jake (an act which is very unlike Roland) and [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Jake asks Roland for his permission to call him father, to which Roland is clearly overjoyed]].

* {{Retcon}}: When he joins the ka-tet in ''Literature/TheWasteLands'', he is missing his tail. Roland thinks he probably lost it in a fight with other bumblers. In later books, he's described as wrapping his (very long) tail around himself when he rests. No explanation is given as to how he got it back.

* DemonicPossession: She is possessed by an entity called 'Mia' at some point during ''Literature/TheWasteLands''. Mia was once a succubus, a demon of the Prim who had sex with men and then killed them, but she became obsessed with bearing a child and was manipulated by Walter into becoming mortal so that she could get pregnant. Mia invaded Susannah's body so that Susannah could feed her growing fetus (or 'chap' as Mia called it), making both Susannah ''and'' Mia the baby's mother... and Roland and the Crimson King it's father... ItMakesSenseInContext.

* HandicappedBadass: Starting with book two when he loses two of his fingers. See the entry for {{Fingore}} above.

* ParentalSubstitute: He sees Roland as being his true father. In ''Literature/TheDarkTower'' when he and Roland are reunited after having to face their own battles in two different "whens" during ''Literature/SongOfSusannah'', Roland holds his arms out to Jake (an act which is very unlike Roland) and [[HeartwarmingMoments Jake asks Roland for his permission to call him father, to which Roland is clearly overjoyed]].