Line #88 Characters/RangersApprentice


1	'''Spoilers for books 1-7 are UNMARKED'''
2
3	[[foldercontrol]]
4
5	[[folder: Protagonists]]
6	!'''Will Treaty'''
7	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/icon_will.jpg]]
8	----
9	* AmazonChaser: The two girls he showed romantic interest in were [[ActionGirl Alyss]] and [[RebelliousPrincess Cassandra,]] so this is a fair bet.
10	* TheApprentice: In the first few books, until he earns his silver oakleaf. Then inverted in Book 12.
11	* BlankSlate: Briefly, when addicted to warmweed.
12	* BroughtDownToNormal: For a fair chunk of book three.
13	* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Alyss.
14	* CombatPragmatist: Necessary in close combat when his only weapons are a bow, a saxe knife and a small throwing knife.
15	* DeadpanSnarker: Rarely can he have a conversation without snarking.
16	* {{Determinator}}[=/=]UndyingLoyalty: If his friends are in trouble, come hell or high water, no matter how long and far he has to ride, he ''will'' do whatever it takes to protect them.
17	* FireForgedFriends: With Horace after the boar hunt.
18	* HappilyMarried: To Alyss.
19	* HeightAngst: He was too small to fulfill his dream of becoming a knight, or even working with the warhorses that they ride into combat.
20	* TheHero: The protagonist of almost every book, with the exception of Books 11-13 and some of 3, 4, and 11.
21	* HeroicBSOD: Gets into a bad one for the beginning of Book 12, and a brief one in Book 2 after what he perceived as cowardice.
22	* HeroicSelfDeprecation: In Book 2, he understandably freezes when charged by Wargals, and thinks of himself as a coward. Gilan and Halt talk him out of it.
23	* HumbleHero: Will doesn't think of himself as anything particularly special, just a Ranger doing his job to the best of his ability.
24	* ImprobableAimingSkills: He's described as better archer than Gilan, Halt's former apprentice and a Ranger of considerably more experience, to add to any Ranger's already almost inhuman accuracy with a bow. At one point, he’s disappointed that he hit ''the wrong body part'' of a target ''hundreds of meters away''. With a type of bow he has no practice with that threw off his aim.
25	* MeaningfulName: Baron Arald notices his determination and ''will''power in the first book, and how it relates to his name. His last name was given to him when he graduated from his apprenticeship, referring to the important role he played in securing the treaty with Skandia.
26	* TheMentor: Briefly to several young Rangers, and eventually to [[spoiler:Maddie]]
27	* ThePollyanna: In the first couple of books, and to a lesser extent afterwards, he's famous among his friends for his cheerfulness.
28	* StealthHiBye: Does this occasionally to scare people into talking.
29	* TerrorHero: He does this in Book 12, using the full force of [[TheDreaded his reputation as a Ranger]].
30
31	!'''Halt [[spoiler: O'Carrick]]'''
32
33	A veteran Ranger and Will's mentor for most of the books.
34	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/halt.jpg]]
35	----
36
37	* BadassTeacher: Punished a group of bullies, who were attacking Horace and Will, ruthlessly.
38	* BerserkButton: ''Do not'' insult Lady Pauline. If you're lucky, you'll get thrown out of a window.
39	* CharacterDevelopment: Becomes less grim as [[ThePollyanna Will]] cheers him up over time.
40	* CoolOldGuy: As an aging man somewhere between his 40's and 50's, he seems to be one of the oldest (active) Rangers in the order. He's still very dangerous, however.
41	* CowboyCop: ToBeLawfulOrGood? For Halt, that's not even a choice: He'll choose Good every time.
42	* DeadpanSnarker: Boy, is he ever.
43	* DestinationDefenestration: Pulls this a couple of times in Book 2.
44	* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: This is generally the reaction people have to meeting [[LivingLegend Halt]] the first time around, which annoys him to no end.
45	* HappilyMarried: To Lady Pauline, starting in Book 7.
46	* TheLastDJ: He uses a copy of Duncan's seal to get his way, which would be a capital crime for anyone else. Duncan chooses to look the other way.
47	* MentorInSourArmor: To Will.
48	* MustHaveCaffeine: And passes this on to Horace and Will.
49	* PapaWolf: Towards Will.
50	* ParentalSubstitute: To Will, even calling him "son" at one point.
51	* PrankPunishment: One of his favourite teaching methods is to let the over-eager Will try a task on his own before telling him the correct way to do it. Most notably, he allows Will to mount a "ranger's horse" before telling him how.
52	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Halt is actually [[spoiler: the rightful king of the Hibernian kingdom of Clonmel,]] his twin brother more or less having run him out of the kingdom in secret. [[note]] Ferris repeatedly tried to kill him, and when Halt realized it was either kill his brother or eventually be caught off guard and die in one of Ferris's schemes, he more or less said "Fine. If you want it so bad, take it. It's not like I really wanted to be king in the first place." and fled the country[[/note]]
53	* ScarilyCompetentTracker: As a master Ranger, this is a given.
54	* ShroudedInMyth: He's an in-universe MemeticBadass. This causes his apprentices some grief, as they at first feel that they have to live up to his reputation.
55	* SingleTargetSexuality: He never seems to display any interest in women other than Pauline, though admittedly, he may have been interested in others before we met him.
56	* TheStoic: Though this gets somewhat downplayed in later books.
57	* TerrorHero: Halt has absolutely zero compunctions about scaring people into doing what he needs them do.
58	* TricksterMentor: To an extent with both Will and Horace (and presumably towards Gilan as well, back in the day).
59	* TheUnfavorite: While talking to Will and Horace in book eight, he implies that his younger twin brother was their parent's favorite child.
60	* VitriolicBestBuds: He and Crowley can never exchange more than a few sentences without snarking at each other.
61
62	!'''Horace Altman'''
63
64	A friend of Will and Alyss' from the Ward, he starts out as a JerkJock but takes some levels in humility and becomes VitriolicBestBuds with Will. Eventually, he, Will, and Halt form a [[BadassCrew Special Task Group]] and deal with many problems together, snarking all the way. He eventually marries Cassandra and becomes the Prince Consort.
65	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/horace.png]]
66
67	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Asks one in Book 7 to defuse Selethen's distrust of the Araulens and Svengal, as a subtle but marked piece of CharacterDevelopment.
68	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Horace is what happens when NiceGuy meets MasterSwordsman.
69	* BigEater: His "mighty prowess at the dinner table" is actually how he earns his nickname of "Kurokuma" (Black Bear) while they're in Nihon-Ja.
70	* BookDumb: Halt wonders if they teach any geography in Battleschool. He starts to grow out of this some in later books.
71	* BullyTurnedBuddy: Horace bullied Will throughout childhood, but after Horace experiences bullying himself at Battleschool and [[FireForgedFriends the two get through a few dangerous situations together]] they become HeterosexualLifePartners.
72	* CharacterDevelopment: Possibly the most marked in the series-goes from a JerkJock to Will's closest friend and almost a second son to Halt.
73	* CombatPragmatist: To a certain extent. While he does fight clean and above-board (he is a knight, after all), he'll only give an enemy one or two chances to surrender at most, and once he decides to get serious, it's rare that anyone can stand against him.
74	* FireForgedFriends: With Will.
75	* GoodIsNotSoft: He may be kind, gentle, and funny, but he is also a trained fighter who's killed his fair share of opponents. Also, what he does to the Genovesan in Book 9 definitely counts, as [[spoiler:recognizing they don't have time to get the info on which flower the Genovesan used to make the poison (as the antidote for the wrong one would be just as fatal as letting the poison take its course) nor can they risk him lying, he outright grabs a poisoned arrow and stabs the Genovesan with it, making sure to dig it around in the wound so it's fully infected, and bluntly tells him to tell the truth or he'll die ''much faster'' than Halt is going to]]. Noticeably, even ''Will'' was surprised at the ruthlessness and he was the one even more openly angry at the Genovesan.
76	* HumbleHero: After some CharacterDevelopment, he matures into this.
77	* {{Hunk}}: He's very well built, something which is noted by several female characters.
78	* KnightInShiningArmor: As well as being a literal case, he really is gentle, polite, humble, and friendly.
79	* MasterSwordsman: One of the best, if not the best, in the series.
80	* RagsToRiches: Goes from a ward (a social nobody in that society), to the First Knight of the realm.
81	* SimpleMindedWisdom: Horace isn't as cunning or quick-witted as Will or many of the other protagonists (although he's far from stupid) but occasionally he'll point out a key bit of information the others miss because they are looking at a problem too complexly. Where Will’s mind is described as a grasshopper jumping from one idea to the next which can bring flashes of brilliance as often as missteps, Horace’s mind is linear and logical, coming to common-sense conclusions (Notably Horace becomes more devious in later installments and cheerfully blames Will and Halt for corrupting him).
82	* TranquilFury: When dealing with [[spoiler: the Genovesan who shot Halt]], he doesn't raise his voice or even look particularly angry-and then he shows his GoodIsNotSoft side. A marked contrast with Will.
83	* UndyingLoyalty: To Will and Halt.
84	* WideEyedIdealist: But eventually wises up a little, even causing Halt and Will to wonder if he's stringing them along at certain points in books eight and nine.
85	* VitriolicBestBuds: Again with Will, with whom they are the StraightManAndWiseGuy (Horace being the straight man).
86
87	!'''Gilan'''
88
89	Halt's former apprentice. He's the only Ranger to fight with a sword, which is most definitely not there for decoration. He also appears in Books 4 and 5 of ''[[Literature/{{Brotherband}} Brotherband Chronicles]].''
90	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/icon_gilan.jpg]]
91
92	* TheAce: As mentioned below, Gilan's just about the stealthiest Ranger in the Corps, a MasterSwordsman, and a more than competent hand-to-hand fighter and archer. Fitting, since he was trained by [[BadassTeacher Halt.]] He still gets surprisingly little time in the limelight, though.
93	* BewareTheNiceOnes: You ''really'' don't want to anger him.
94	* BigBrotherMentor: To Will, Horace, and the Herons.
95	* BowAndSwordInAccord: The only Ranger in the group to use a sword.
96	* ADayInTheLimelight: He gets two short stories in Book 11, and joins [[Literature/{{Brotherband}} the Herons]] in Books 4 and 5 of the ''Brotherband Chronicles.''
97	* DeadpanSnarker: Seems to be standard for the Ranger Corps.
98	* GoodIsNotDumb: He constantly shows strategic aptitude, such as outwitting one of Morgarath's lieutenants and getting a SpotTheThread moment ''even while absolutely exhausted.''
99	* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Downplayed. While consoling Will, who's worried about moving out from under Halt's shadow, Will asks about what would happen if he made a mistake. Gilan's response is to roar with laughter and say that Will ought to consider himself lucky if he makes ''a'' mistake--he made a few on his first day alone!
100	* IAmNotLeftHanded: PlayedWith. He is a MasterSwordsman with his right hand, [[HeroicAmbidexterity but only "very good" with his left.]] Occasionally, he will start out with his right hand, then switch to his left hand and use the moment of surprise to defeat an opponent.
101	* LaserGuidedKarma: PlayedForLaughs. He starts out MildlyMilitary, enjoying snarking at his Commandant. Then he is bemused when he becomes the Commandant and other Rangers show him just as much respect.
102	* MasterSwordsman: Gives ''Thorn'' a pretty good fight in a sparring match.
103	* TheMentor: While he never trained an apprentice (that we know of), he teaches Horace some of the finer points of swordsmanship, and helps Will both with a few Ranger skills and also with dealing with the legacy of being Halt's apprentice.
104	* MildlyMilitary: Like all Rangers, he is this by nature. As Halt's apprentice, he has absolutely no problems snarking at senior Rangers, even when they outrank him.
105	-->"Halt teaches us to respect authority. We just ignore it from time to time."
106	* MustHaveCoffee: He's picked this up from Halt.
107	* NiceGuy: Is glad to work with the Heron brotherband, and helps Will with his nervousness about leaving [[MemeticBadass Halt's]] tutelage.
108	* PairTheSpares: He and Jenny are close, but not yet married as of Book 12.
109	* PassingTheTorch: He replaces Crowley as the Corps Commandant when the latter retires.
110	* SixthRanger: {{Pun}}s aside, he joins the Brotherband crew for a couple of books.
111	* StealthExpert: Considered to be the best Ranger in the Corps at moving invisibly, high praise for an organisation that places so much emphasis on stealth as a skill.
112	* UnderestimatingBadassery: Is sometimes the recipient of this, due to his youth and cheerful nature. He warns Horace against doing this, noting that while Horace may one day be able to beat all but a handful of warriors, he needs to know who those handful are.
113
114	!'''Alyss Mainwaring'''
115
116	Will's oldest friend, a Courier and apprentice to Lady Pauline, and his eventual wife.
117	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alyss.jpg]]
118	----
119	* ActionGirl: Downplayed because she's not a fighter, but in book five, she draws a knife on John Buttle to distract him, and in book ten she is shown to have some skill with a light sword.
120	* {{Ambadassador}}: Being a Courier seems to require this.
121	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler: Thanks to Sir Keren, she tries to kill Will.]]
122	* CannotSpitItOut: Neither she nor Will can. [[spoiler: It takes Keren hypnotizing her into trying to kill Will (and almost succeeding) to get him to do so. Fortunately, this snaps her out of it.]]
123	* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Running into a burning building to save a girl definitely counts.
124	* {{Courier}}: Literally one.
125	* DamselInDistress: Imprisoned for the last part of Book 5 and almost all of Book 6.
126	* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Literally no one is surprised when she and Will fall for each other.
127	* FirstGirlWins: Will's earliest friend and eventual wife.
128	* GreenEyedMonster: Gets pretty obnoxious to Cassandra when she thinks the latter is into Will.
129	* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Downplayed; she can certainly be sweet and kind, but also very obnoxious to Cassandra.
130	* HypnotizeTheCaptive: Falls prey to this in Books 5 and 6, effectively becoming a DamselInDistress.
131	* OfficialCouple: With Will. [[spoiler: She doesn't live through the series.]]
132	* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: She runs into a burning building to [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl save a girl]]. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, it kills her]].
133	* ParentalSubstitute: Has one in Pauline, mirroring Will's relationship with Halt.
134
135	!'''Princess Cassandra, aka Evanlyn'''
136
137	Duncan's daughter and Princess of the Realm. First appears as a simple serving girl, but is far more than that. She has significant ShipTease with both Will and Horace, but eventually chooses [[spoiler: the latter.]]
138	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cassandra_39.jpg]]
139	----
140	* ActionGirl: With her slingshot. She's also pretty good with a sword.
141	* BabiesEverAfter: She is pregnant at the end of Book 11, and gives birth to a daughter.
142	* BetaCouple: With Horace.
143	* DeadpanSnarker: She does enjoy doing this.
144	* {{Determinator}}: As the narration notes, she will never give up. She will always find a way. This earns her respect from Erak.
145	* HappilyMarried: [[spoiler: To Horace.]]
146	* OnlySaneWoman: She sometimes feels this way amongst the {{Bunny Ears Lawyer}}s who are her husband and the Rangers.
147	* OutOfFocus: Sadly, she disappears for books 5, 6, 8, and 9. This is a JustifiedTrope, though; her CharacterDevelopment is mostly done and the author can focus on Will and Alyss, and afterwards the relationship between Will, Horace, and Halt.
148	* ShipTease: With Will for the first couple of books, and later with Horace.
149	* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Both Will and Horace are genuinely sweet and kind men who bring out the best in her. She ends up with Horace in large part because, while Will is befuddled by her change in rank, Horace always treats her with simple respect and friendship.
150	* RebelliousPrincess: Doesn't have much time for fancy clothes or ceremonial stuff like wine tasting and party planning. This is hinted to be one reason she gets on so well with Will and [[CowboyCop Halt]].
151	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: She's been on numerous adventures with Horace, Halt, Will, and Alyss by the end of book 10. This is actually invoked, because a somewhat sexist society respects an ActionGirl much more than a ShrinkingViolet.
152
153	!'''King Duncan'''
154
155	TheGoodKing of Araulen, respected by all for his fair, but firm, position. Definitely not a weak man, in any sense of the word.
156	----
157	* ActionDad: To Cassandra.
158	* TheGoodKing: He lives and breathes this trope, enough to make even Halt respect him.
159	* MasterSwordsman: He's described as one of the best knights in his own kingdom. Both prequels show us that this reputation is well-deserved.
160	* PapaWolf: He is very protective of his daughter.
161	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Oh so very much. He even looks the other way when Halt uses his (forged) seal, which ought to be an automatic death penalty.
162	* TakeAThirdOption: When faced with a choice between either death or banishment for [[spoiler: Halt]], he chooses banishment...for the period of one year. After all, it's never stated that banishment must be for life.
163	* ToBeLawfulOrGood: As a king, he must always be Lawful, even if he would rather be Good.
164	* WithGreatPower: As much as Duncan enjoys the privileges that come with his position, he's very well aware of the responsibilities as well, and does his best to uphold them.
165
166	!'''Madelyn Altman'''
167
168	The daughter of Cassandra and [[spoiler: Horace,]] Princess Regent, and main character of Book 12. Due to her role, there will be spoilers.
169	----
170	* ActionGirl: She's as good as, if not better than, her mom with a sling, and is [[spoiler: a Ranger to boot]].
171	* CharacterDevelopment: Takes several levels in kindness once she [[spoiler: is temporarily removed as princess]].
172	* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Played to the hilt. While Will was a poor ward of the state, Maddie's the daughter of royalty. Will was a decent enough person to start out, if irresponsible, while Maddie is a RoyalBrat who becomes much nicer after having been in training for some time. PlayedForLaughs at one point, when she successfully bypasses a prank Will had fallen for in the first book, much to his chagrin.
173	* DeadpanSnarker: Comes by it honestly.
174	* {{Foil}}: To her mom. Both are {{Action Girl}}s in different ways, and both are {{Rebellious Princess}}es who share the same behaviors, but whereas Cassandra eventually settles into her position, for Maddie it takes [[spoiler: time in the Ranger Corps and getting demoted.]]
175	* LikeMotherLikeDaughter: Like her mother, she fits the RebelliousPrincess trope to a T. Unlike her mother, this isn't necessarily a good thing.
176	* RebelliousPrincess: Deconstructed, as her behavior on top of her parents' other responsibilities leads them to send her [[spoiler: into the Ranger Corps.]]
177	* RoyalBrat: Is quite the {{Jerkass}} at first.
178	* SpoiledBrat: What she starts out as.
179	* TookAlevelInKindness: Lampshaded by Will after she's been in training for a while.
180
181	!'''Seley el'then'''
182
183	The Wakir (local ruler) of Al Shabah, he first appears in Book 7, and again in Book 10 and Book 5 of ''Brotherband''.
184	----
185	* ActionHero: Doesn't shy away from getting his hands dirty, and indeed seems to prefer it to doing paperwork.
186	* TheCaptain: Although not actually a Captain of anything, he is a senior Wakir (local ruler), and is overall very much this.
187	* CulturedBadass: Fits this trope to a t.
188	* DeadpanSnarker: And loves his SnarkToSnarkCombat.
189	* MasterSwordsman: Downplayed a little. He's not a master, exactly, but he is ''very'' good with his scimitar.
190	* TheSmartGuy: As well as being an expert swordsman, Selethen, as he's usually known, pulls a BaitAndSwitch gambit on the Araulen delegation, and proves his strategic skills multiple times afterwards.
191	* TeamDad: He's shown to be this towards his men, taking care of and encouraging them.
192	* TrueCompanions: With Will, Gilan, Svengal, Umar, and Halt after Book 7.
193
194	!'''Crowley'''
195
196	The Ranger Corps Commandant, he is a close friend of Halt, having known him for a long time. Very much not to be underestimated.
197	----
198	* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: He wasn't elected just because of his combat skills, but it's undeniable that he's a very dangerous man.
199	* BewareTheNiceOnes: A kind, good-natured man, but one who is also a highly dangerous Ranger.
200	* ExperiencedProtagonist: Providing a foil to Halt in the prequels, Crowley is already a fully-trained and qualified Ranger.
201	* FieryRedhead: Lampshaded by Crowley himself, who notes that he has a bit of a temper.
202	* TheGadfly: Occasionally, such as flirting with Lady Pauline just to annoy Halt, or sneaking up on Will to startle the other man.
203	* TheHeart: The true reason why he's elected to be Commandant.
204	* TheLeader: Has a bit of all four types, but is this trope enough that the vast majority of Rangers either automatically defer to him, or else agree to do so after only a little while.
205	* LifeWillKillYou: Dies in his sleep at a ripe old age.
206	* MarriedToTheJob: Name-drops the trope, stating that it's a combination of this and that he never found the right woman (he's also carried a torch for Lady Pauline for a long time, but knows she's not interested in him).
207	* NiceGuy: Although a FieryRedhead, he is fair, a HumbleHero, and puts up with his subordinates snarking at him.
208	* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Several, including the case of Arndor of Crewse, a giant and bully whom Crowley chained to a mill wheel as a form of penance.
209	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Anyone who can put up with [[CowboyCop Halt's]] antics for a few decades straight certainly deserves this title.
210	* ShipperOnDeck: Despite being at least somewhat interested in Pauline, he encourages Halt to go after her, and is very happy for his old friend when they get married.
211	* TheStealthExpert: Said to be the Ranger Corps' master of silent movement, which he uses to sneak up on enemies and friends alike. When other Rangers consider you to be the best of the best...
212	* VitriolicBestBuds: Exchanges a constant flow of snark with Halt, and gives as good as he gets. However, it's very clear that they care about each other deeply.
213
214	[[/folder]]
215
216
217	[[folder: Antagonists]]
218
219	!'''Morgarath'''
220	The Big Bad of the first two books (and the prequels).
221	----
222	* BadBoss: He shows very little concern about his underlings.
223	* BigBad: His revolt against Duncan is the cataclyst for just about everything in the prequels and through Book 4, save the Temujai invasion, which would have happened anyway.
224	* CombatPragmatist: Breaks the rules of his tournaments for the sake of ensuring his win and keeping control of his minions.
225	* ComplexityAddiction: His grand plan for taking down the protagonists' kingdom had way too many moving parts, as the Skandian mercenaries under his employ point out. If just one aspect of it fails, the whole thing falls apart. [[spoiler: Which is exactly what happens when Will and "Evanlyn" torch a certain bridge before being captured.]]
226	* DeadpanSnarker: Snarks at the Rangers and Duncan in the prequels, and his subordinates in the present.
227	* DudeWheresMyRespect: It's hinted that part of the reason he rebelled is because, as a senior baron, he wasn't getting the respect he felt he deserved.
228	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness[=/=]OutsideGenreFoe: Has an army of inhuman minions whom he controls with telepathy and is able to hire assassins from a second non-human race in a setting that otherwise has absolutely zero fantastical or paranormal elements.
229	* EvilOverlord
230	* GeniusBruiser: A highly intelligent and strategic plotter, who's also an expert warrior.
231	* MasterSwordsman: In the first prequel, it's repeatedly stressed that Morgarath is one of the best knights in the kingdom.
232	* TooCleverByHalf: If not the trope namer, then certainly heavily lampshaded by his Skandian mercenaries when they're undertaking his warplan against the protagonists' home kingdom.
233
234	!'''Sir Keren'''
235	The nephew of Lord Syon and knight who wants to take control of Macindaw to allow the Scotti passage into Araluen. To this end, he poisons both his uncle and his cousin Orman to try and claim the title of Lord.
236
237	* AbhorrentAdmirer: He asks Alyss to be his wife.
238	* AffablyEvil: Enough to (at first) fool Will and Alyss. He uses his affability to sway many of Macindaw's warriors and people to his side over his much more dour and visually sinister (but good-hearted) cousin Orman, to the point he was able to convince them ''Orman'' was the one to poison Syon.
239	* ApologeticAttacker: He doesn't really want to be the bad guy, and feels bad (at first) about imprisoning Alyss. As things start going against him, however, that apologetic nature starts to crack and culminating with him trying to use a brainwashed Alyss to kill Will.
240	* BitchInSheepsClothing: He comes off as a warm and friendly man with good looks, able to convince nearly everyone he's a good guy and he's working against his shady cousin Orman. The reality is he's a man who was willing to poison both his uncle ''and'' cousin in order to become a Lord and was willing to collaborate with an enemy kingdom to betray his own. He ''does'' express some regret about it, but he doesn't change his course and tries to kill the heroes when it becomes clear he's going to lose.
241	* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: He's AffablyEvil, markedly different from Morgarath and the Temujai. In fact, he's the only villain in the whole series who actually seems to have any respect for his followers.
242	* DisneyDeath: Falling out a window after getting splashed with acid? Yeesh.
243	* DudeWheresMyRespect: The reason for his FaceHeelTurn, believing he was far more worthy of being the lord of Castle Macindaw over Orman.
244	* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: His cover persona is like this. See AffablyEvil above.
245	* IveComeTooFar: When Alyss pleads with him to stop this and not betray Araluen, he admits she might have swayed him had his uncle not died from his poisoning.
246	* VillainousBreakdown: As Macindaw is falling.
247
248	!'''Yusal'''
249	The leader of the Tualaghi, who holds Erak hostage in Book 7.
250
251	* BadBoss: Even his Tualaghi don't like him too much.
252	* CombatPragmatist: He has no regard for the flag of truce, and when his first assault fails, he lets dehydration take its toll.
253	* FateWorseThanDeath: He gets a concussion from Cassandra's sling, and will probably spend the rest of his life "as a mindless, babbling idiot." No one (except his brother) minds too much.
254	* ForTheEvulz: He doesn't seem to have much of a motivation beyond gaining as much power as he can, and hurting others.
255
256	!'''Tennyson'''
257	The leader of the Outsiders cult, offering happiness in exchange for gold.
258
259	* BadassNormal: Averted, unlike just about every other villain in the series. Tennyson's only weapons are his money and his charm.
260	* BatmanGambit: The way the Outsiders work. To summarize: he comes into a country along with a cult of friendly-seeming individuals singing the praises of Alseiass, "The Great Golden God", and make nice with the people while there. Some time later, a group of bandits claiming to serve Balsennis, Alseiass's longtime enemy, and start tearing through the country. Tennyson's group then offers to push away the bandits using Alseiass's power... which, of course, is derived from gold. No points for guessing what happens next...
261	* BigBad: He's the villain of Books 8 and 9.
262	* DisneyDeath: A classic.
263	* FatBastard: He's described as being overweight, which initially contributes to a friendly persona, but in reality, he's this trope.
264	* FauxAffablyEvil: He presents himself as a kind man. He’s not.
265	* KickTheDog: His murder of [[spoiler: Ferris]] was unnecessary, and seems to have been out of spite more than anything else.
266	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: It's necessary to the whole charade.
267
268	!'''Jory Ruhl'''
269	An Araulen criminal, [[spoiler: Alyss's murderer,]] and the leader of a slaving trade.
270
271	* BadBoss: A standard for RA villains; he shows no respect for his subordinates.
272	* KarmicDeath: He gets killed the way he planned for Will to die, which was itself a cruel reference to [[spoiler: Alyss' death]].
273	* SmallRoleBigImpact: He doesn't show up until over halfway through the book, and unlike other antagonists leads only a criminal gang rather than a whole army, but he's indirectly the reason pretty much everything happens.
274

Context Characters / RangersApprentice