| 1 | Here is a list of characters and character tropes appearing in [[Literature/GauntsGhosts Gaunt's Ghosts]], broken down into folders for ease of use. |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Note that the article contains '''unmarked spoilers''' and, per Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers, '''trope names will not be marked'''. |
| 4 | ---- |
| 5 | |
| 6 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 7 | |
| 8 | [[folder: Ghosts (non-specific worlds)]] |
| 9 | |
| 10 | !!Colonel-Commissar, Lord Militant Commander & First Lord Executor Ibram Gaunt |
| 11 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9d709df9b55fc1b952630c089deace6d.jpg]] |
| 12 | Commanding officer of the regiment. Before its founding he served in other units, most famously at Balhaut with the late Warmaster Slaydo, who granted him his special dual rank. At the regiment's founding, the planet was beset by Chaos and he chose to take the men with him rather than let them die defending it, something not all of them were happy with. |
| 13 | ---- |
| 14 | * AbsurdlySharpBlade: Gaunt receives an ancestral power-weapon from the grateful survivors of Vervunhive. This technological relic is capable of ripping through the armor of a ''Venerable Chaos Dreadnought'' (essentially, a zombie tank). |
| 15 | * AFatherToHisMen: Without doubt. |
| 16 | * BerserkButton: As an honorable man in a CrapsackWorld, there are several ways you can set him off. Although some would say he's too ''easygoing'' for a member of the Commissariat. |
| 17 | ** Don't ever threaten or kill his troops. He won't like that at all if you're an enemy of the Empire, but you will die horribly if you're supposed to be on the same side. |
| 18 | ** He slaps a lady ''Inquisitor'' when she muses that Gaunt rescued Milo from Tanith for pederasty. |
| 19 | ** Gaunt is very protective of his soldiers. He's even ''more'' protective of his [[TheMedic medics]], Tolin Dorden and Ana Curth. [[ShootTheMedicFirst Trying to hurt his medics]] or trying to take advantage of them in any way is the one instance in which Gaunt will IMMEDIATELY take the lethal option, as some Aexe PDF soldiers learned the hard way in ''Straight Silver'': |
| 20 | ---> ''"I am Imperial Commissar Gaunt. I am known to be a fair man, until I am pushed. '''You have just pushed me.'''"'' |
| 21 | ** [[spoiler: Don't try and make fraudulent cash off his dead troopers either. He will get beyond pissed.]] |
| 22 | * BadassBureaucrat: As a Commissar, paperwork is part of his job. |
| 23 | * BadassCape: Tanith camo-cloak, in many a picture. |
| 24 | * BadassLongcoat: His Commisarial greatcoat, though he usually wears a Tanith camouflage cape over it. |
| 25 | * BewareTheHonestOnes: In ''Warmaster,'' Gaunt [[spoiler:foils a coup against Warmaster Macaroth simply by telling him about it. The conspirators were planning to make Gaunt the new warmaster, but Gaunt's loyalty surpasses his ambitions.]] |
| 26 | * TheChainsOfCommanding: Gaunt is a capable commander, but since he cares for his troopers, their inevitable deaths always weigh heavily on him. |
| 27 | * ChekhovsSkill: Gaunt is an [[InterserviceRivalry unusual]] Astra Militarum officer who is willing to bond and discuss tactical knowledge with Imperial Navy staffs throughout his career. All of those come in really handy during the events in [[spoiler:The Warmaster]]. |
| 28 | * ColonelBadass: A literal example; he retains his rank of Colonel through most of the series. He's turned down brigadier rank, and regained his colonel rank after a brief suspension. |
| 29 | * ComicBookFantasyCasting: An amusing recursive example. In the books the descriptions of him are pretty blatantly meant to make readers think of Sean Bean, the actor who portrayed ''Series/{{Sharpe}}''. The cover art, on the other hand, depicts him with darker hair and generally looking like Sharpe was described as in his own books. |
| 30 | * CommissarCap: So iconic it's a minor plot point in His Last Command, where troopers refuse at first to follow the orders of Commissar Ludd when he lost his cap in a firefight. |
| 31 | * ElectronicEyes: [[spoiler:Got blinded under Chaos torture in ''Only in Death'', but was promised replacements that he has received by ''Blood Pact''.]] |
| 32 | * FourStarBadass: [[spoiler: after some complicated politics, Gaunt is promoted not once, but twice; first to Lord Militant and then to First Lord Executor, effectively becoming second in command of the entire Sabbatt Crusade.]] |
| 33 | * FireForgedFriends: With Rawne, eventually. In Gaunt's backstory, he fought alongside the Chapter Master of the Silver Guard, Veegum, during the war on Balhaut, and his [[BadassNormal Hyrkan troops]] managed to win more glory than the [[SuperSoldier Space Marines]] . This is the reason Veegum accepts Gaunt's request for one of the Silver Guard accompany the mission to Salvation's Reach, and he even manages to get two more Astartes from different chapters as well. |
| 34 | * GoodIsNotSoft: Gaunt is an exceptional warrior who has killed Chaos Space Marines and daemons in melee combat. While he does not employ his authorization to perform executions wantonly, he can and will employ it without hesitation if he regards someone as treacherous or wilfully incompetent. |
| 35 | -->'''Ibram Gaunt''': I have a reputation, Modile, a reputation as a fair, honest man who treats his soldiers well and supports them in the face of darkness. Potentially, that reputation makes me soft. It seems I understand failure and forgive it. Some, like Kowle, believe me to be a weak commissar, not prepared to take the action my rank demands. Not prepared to enforce field discipline where I see it failing. I am an Imperial commissar. I will enflame the weak, support the wavering, guide the lost. I will be all things to all men who need me. But I will also punish without hesitation the incompetent, the cowardly, and the treasonous. |
| 36 | * TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: The overarching theme of Gaunt's life. Ultimately, Gaunt and his Ghosts are a small recon unit in a billion strong army. Through his leadership, they win key individual battles that ''are'' important, and protect the lives of crucial commanders... but in the history books they are barely a footnote compared with the public heroes of the Crusade like Sabbat, Slaydo and Macaroth. In the prologue recaps, the Ghosts' accomplishments are usually listed alongside a dozen other battles just as brutal, if not more so, and the Ghosts are too few in number to do anything but support the advance of actual armies. |
| 37 | ** Warmaster Macaroth even promised Gaunt the right to have the first planet that he conquered, and Gaunt promised to share that world with the Tanith... but since the Tanith First barely has two thousand men, it's highly unlikely that the Tanith will ever be able conquer a planet on their own. |
| 38 | * GunsAkimbo: Frequently when not using his sword. |
| 39 | * HandCannon: Favors bolt pistols. Two of them. Though he does use autoguns on occasion. |
| 40 | * HandicappedBadass: Toyed with in ''Necropolis'', when Gaunt [[spoiler: despite having been near-fatally shot by Heritor Asphodel days before, gets out of his sickbed and marches out in time to save Dorden and Curth from being killed by Guilder Worlin, a corrupt Vervunhive businessman who wanted to murder the medics to cover his tracks, as they were investigating a series of murders he had committed. Gaunt manages to kill Worlin with a headshot before passing out from his injuries]]. |
| 41 | * HonestAdvisor: His willingness to tell Macaroth about the plot to replace him (instead of joining the plot or simply avoiding the subject like many others) earns him enough respect that Macaroth [[spoiler: makes Gaunt his second-in-command and chosen successor.]] |
| 42 | * HonorBeforeReason: Gaunt will always try to do the moral thing, protecting civilians, wounded, never leaving soldiers behind. The rest of the Crusade leadership views Gaunt as an anachronism in the grimdark future of the 41st millennium. |
| 43 | --> '''General van Voytz:''' A code of honor like that will get you killed. |
| 44 | --> '''Gaunt:''' I always assumed that was the point. Sir. |
| 45 | * IllPretendIDidntHearThat: Gaunt often overlooks actions such as drinking and smoking when his men are off duty. Subverted in Straight Silver when he almost executes a trooper when he got most of his squad killed after taking a drink in the middle of a recon patrol. |
| 46 | * KnightInSourArmor: ''Especially'' after Gereon, though he slowly recovers. In the future there is only war, but that doesn't mean that there aren't things worth fighting for. |
| 47 | * MilitaryMaverick: About as maverick as you can get in 40k without being summarily executed. While Gaunt is usually proven right, his attitude and lack of respect for superior officers gets him and his Ghosts in far more trouble than they need to at times. |
| 48 | |
| 49 | !!Commissar Viktor Hark |
| 50 | |
| 51 | A commissar assigned to the regiment in the fourth book, Honour Guard, initially to police Gaunt but as a proper member by the end. Often does most of the actual commissaring while Gaunt colonels it up. |
| 52 | ---- |
| 53 | * 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.''. [[RunningGag Happens a third time]], again the prosthetic, during the events of ''Anarch''. |
| 54 | * BadassLongcoat: Like all good Commissars. |
| 55 | * TheChainsOfCommanding: Picked up this tendency from Gaunt. In ''His Last Command'', he yells at some fleeing soldiers, but refuses to shoot them when they ignore his orders. Instead, he waits until after the battle, and executes their commanding officer for his incompetence and lack of battlefield leadership. |
| 56 | --->'''Commissar Hark''': "If they’re scared enough to ignore me, my rank and my weapon, then they’re too scared to be of any use." |
| 57 | * CommissarCap: Naturally. |
| 58 | * TheMole: Originally sent by Lugo to spy on Gaunt. Gaunt deduces it immediately, and Hark doesn't bother to deny it. He remains with the unit after Lugo's discomfiture because Gaunt's come to realize he ''does'' [[WhoWatchesTheWatchmen need a political officer]], as he's too busy with his command duties to handle the political ones. |
| 59 | * PlasmaCannon: Unlike most of the Ghost officers he carries a plasma pistol rather than a [[HandCannon bolt pistol]]. He's the only member of the regiment to carry a weapon of this extremely-effective-but-not-particularly-safe-to-hold type. |
| 60 | * ThePoliticalOfficer: To contrast with Gaunt, who holds a dual rank. |
| 61 | * RevolversAreJustBetter: His backup gun is an ordinary revolver, albeit one of [[HandCannon such size and power]] that it's rounds prove useful against the laser-resistant scales of loxatl. |
| 62 | |
| 63 | !!Commissar Nahum Ludd |
| 64 | |
| 65 | Originally a commissar cadet assigned to police Gaunt (notice a pattern?) but eventually joins properly as Hark's apprentice. |
| 66 | ---- |
| 67 | * DeadpanSnarker: As his competence increases, so to does his propensity for sarcasm. |
| 68 | -->'''Ludd:''' ''Excuse the interruption, sir, something’s going on.''\ |
| 69 | '''Hark:''' ''Ludd, you realise your sole use to me is to supply meaningful and intelligible nouns and adverbs in place of the word ''something'' in sentences like that?''\ |
| 70 | '''Ludd:''' ''Yes, but sometimes they don’t issue me with enough nouns from stores.''\ |
| 71 | '''Hark:''' ''Was that a joke, Ludd?''\ |
| 72 | '''Ludd:''' ''Like a joke, but smaller, sir.'' |
| 73 | * DopeSlap: Gets three in a row from Hark when Hark sees him acting too friendly with an injured, doped-up Twenzet in ''Only In Death''. Then he explains that Ludd has to maintain authority and professional distance from the men so they will take him seriously, especially now that he has to act as regimental commissar, since Hark himself is injured. |
| 74 | * EnsignNewbie: He's fortunate to live long enough to outgrow the trope. |
| 75 | * ThePoliticalOfficer: From his perspective things are especially awkward since he does admire Gaunt, but has orders to keep tabs on him. |
| 76 | * TookALevelInBadass: In ''Salvation's Reach'', he gives orders to [[spoiler:three Space Marines. And gets them to obey.]] |
| 77 | |
| 78 | !!Ayatani Zweil |
| 79 | |
| 80 | A wandering Hagian preacher who joins the Ghosts after Honour Guard. Looks after the Ghost's spiritual needs. |
| 81 | ---- |
| 82 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: Has a very unconventional preaching style, but still manages to do quite well at his job. |
| 83 | * DyingAlone: Gaunt observes that one of Zweil's greatest talents is to avert this trope and comfort the dying and fatally injured. |
| 84 | * GoodShepherd: He's a crotchety old fart that often speaks in riddles, but he's still an effective priest. Though he doesn't have a military rank, he is quite good at influencing the Ghosts to do the right thing, usually by pestering them until they relent. |
| 85 | * GrumpyOldMan: And quite proud of it. |
| 86 | * LoveableRogue: Was one in the past, and still gets up to an impressive amount of petty mischief for a man of his age and profession. |
| 87 | * PluckyComicRelief: As he's old, non military, and doesn't really care what others think, he's able to speak his mind without fear. HilarityEnsues. |
| 88 | * PreacherMan: Of Saint Sabbat. |
| 89 | |
| 90 | !!Eszrah ap Niht |
| 91 | |
| 92 | One of the Nihtgane partisans from Gereon, he was given to Gaunt as a bodyguard and has stuck by the other man since. |
| 93 | ---- |
| 94 | * TheBigGuy: Sort of; he is taller than even Bragg and Corbec but lanky. |
| 95 | * MagneticWeapons: His reynbow. To elaborate, it looks like a crossbow with long bow arms pulled farther back than the back of the weapon's barrel. These arms have little magnetic balls at their ends which change polarity. Until the trigger is pulled, the polarity pulls the projectiles towards the butt of the gun, but when fired, the magnets hurl the projectile out of the business end of the weapon. It's noted that the weapon itself isn't all that powerful, and the darts it fires don't have much penetrating power, but this is compensated for by an extremely deadly moth poison that will kill a man almost instantly. In ''Traitor General'', a poisonous moth (that the Nihtgane make the poison from) lands on a man, and the mere ''touch'' kills the man within a few seconds. |
| 96 | * NobleSavage: The Nihtgane practically have this [[PlanetOfHats hat]] stapled to their heads. Ironic since their tribe's spoken language is actually derived from aristocratic High Gothic. |
| 97 | * RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Honor-bound to go on one should Gaunt be killed. It's called the "daeda waeg", or "corpse road" in Low Gothic. |
| 98 | * TheStoic: He doesn't speak low Gothic very well so it limits his interaction with others. |
| 99 | * SunglassesAtNight: Varl gives him a pair of sunshades in ''Traitor General'' and he wears them pretty much constantly. Justified, as he spent all of his life living in a marsh that had foliage so thick that sunlight never penetrated into it. Varl gave him the shades when he realized that Eszrah's eyes weren't used to direct sunlight. |
| 100 | * UnskilledButStrong: When using [[spoiler:Gaunt's power sword]] he finds himself outclassed by a Chaos officer who actually knows how to fight with a sword, though said Chaos officer was not wanting for strength either since he was using an [[ChainsawGood Evis]][[{{BFS}} cerator]]. |
| 101 | |
| 102 | !!Commissar Vaynom Blenner |
| 103 | |
| 104 | A friend of Ibram Gaunt. The two met when they were students at the schola progenium on Ignatius Cardinal. |
| 105 | ---- |
| 106 | * AFriendInNeed: He has risked himself and his career to help his old friend, Gaunt, even when he may not know everything about the situation. |
| 107 | * BigFun: Is rather fat, and pretty easygoing for a commissar. |
| 108 | * BlatantLies: When they were kids in schola, he told Gaunt that his father was a Space Marine, which is patently ridiculous -- Space Marines are sterile and usually asexual, and their utter devotion to Emperor and Imperium leaves little time for the procreative act. Besides that they are usually too young to have kids when they start transitioning to their super soldier bodies. When Gaunt re-tells the story to one of the Schola instructors, he is informed that Blenner's parents were actually Administratum clerks who died when the planet they were serving on was virus-bombed to deny it to the Tyranids. |
| 109 | * CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's not as weak as he looks, though he does have some inner turmoil about not being good enough for his job, as his last assignment was with a regiment that never saw combat. |
| 110 | * FaceHeelTurn: In 'The Warmaster', [[spoiler:an honest attempt at discussing Curth's feelings for Gaunt lead to a tongue-lashing that has him fearing removal from the Ghosts and posting to a unit on the front lines. To manage the stress, he asks Wilder for contraband pills, which Meryn uses to blackmail him into compliance. Blenner goes on to participate in the attempted kidnapping of Felyx and help Meryn cover up the resulting deaths of Eszrah, Gendler, and Wilder.]] |
| 111 | * KavorkaMan: Manages to attract the attentions of [[spoiler:Surgeon Ana Curth, though she may have been on the rebound from seeing Gaunt with Maddalena. The relationship ultimately comes to nothing, with Curth thanking him for companionship but refusing to take it further.]] |
| 112 | |
| 113 | !!Commissar Usain Edur |
| 114 | * BlackDudeDiesFirst: The first named character to die in Salvation Reach. |
| 115 | * WeHardlyKnewYe: [[spoiler: Killed by Sirkle early on in ''Salvation's Reach'', with the dubious honor of being [[BlackDudeDiesFirst the first named character to die in that book]]. At least he put up a decent fight...]] |
| 116 | |
| 117 | |
| 118 | [[/folder]] |
| 119 | |
| 120 | |
| 121 | [[folder: Ghosts (Tanith)]] |
| 122 | |
| 123 | The founding members of the regiment. |
| 124 | |
| 125 | |
| 126 | !!Colonel Colm Corbec |
| 127 | |
| 128 | The Ghost's much beloved main CO along with Gaunt. |
| 129 | ---- |
| 130 | * AFatherToHisMen: As much as, if not more so, than Gaunt himself. Since nearly all of the Ghosts lost their fathers during the fall of Tanith, Corbec became this in their eyes. |
| 131 | * AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Is a crack shot with a lasgun and rocket launcher. |
| 132 | * BoisterousBruiser: Remarkably free of the angst that dogs the other Ghosts, Corbec does have emotions, but he's unshakable in combat situations and his sense of humor didn't die on Tanith which is saying something. |
| 133 | * TheBigGuy: Overshadowed in this respect by Bragg, he is still tall and hefty. |
| 134 | * ColonelBadass: Though Gaunt is in overall command. |
| 135 | * KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Dammit, Cuu...]] |
| 136 | * MadeOfIron: Frequently takes horrible, maiming wounds and nonetheless survives to fight another day. [[spoiler:until Heredor]]. |
| 137 | * NumberTwo: The second in command of the Ghosts, and one of their most affable, and effective leaders. |
| 138 | * OldSoldier: 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. |
| 139 | |
| 140 | !!Major/Brevet Colonel Elim Rawne |
| 141 | |
| 142 | Corbec's second in command. Hates Gaunt with a vengeance for abandoning Tanith to die. |
| 143 | ---- |
| 144 | * AllergicToRoutine: Rawne is an excellent Guardsman and officer, but if he sits around without anything to do for too long he'll stage a casino heist just to stave off boredom. |
| 145 | * CombatPragmatist: All the Ghosts are, but Rawne merits a special mention. At one point in melee combat with the veteran Blood Pact, a young soldier is more horrified by Rawne's butchery of the enemy soldiers than the actual battle. |
| 146 | ** Being an ex-criminal before joining Imperial Guard helps. |
| 147 | * FireForgedFriends: Became closer to Gaunt after Gereon. Immediately evident when they refer to one another as 'Bram' and 'Eli' with absolutely no implied malice. |
| 148 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Elim Rawne is not a nice man. He knows and admits he is not a nice man. He may or may not have done some very not nice things before joining the Imperial Guard. But there is a reason that the Heartwarming section for this series features him with astonishing regularity. |
| 149 | * TheLancer: An icy, murderous contrast to Gaunt. |
| 150 | * MajorlyAwesome: And willing to do whatever is necessary to survive, anything. |
| 151 | * SociopathicHero: Described as one of the more vicious Ghosts. |
| 152 | * SourSupporter: He will never forgive Gaunt for abandoning Tanith, friend or not. |
| 153 | * TeethClenchedTeamwork: Starts the series by openly stating that he plans to kill Gaunt for abandoning Tanith to die on numerous occasions, and generally barely manages to tolerate being on the same side as him. However, over the course of the series, specifically after being given the last stand Gaunt took away from them by defending Vervunhive and going on a suicide mission with Gaunt, Rawne takes the role vacated by Corbec. |
| 154 | * TookALevelInKindness: Due to Gereon, of all places. Considering the angry ball of spite he started his career as, Rawne mellowed and is much friendlier, even borderline affectionate, to his fellow Gereon 12. Emperor help anyone else, though. |
| 155 | ** His attitude towards female soldiers also took a level in kindness. He goes from stating that he doesn't trust women, and he doesn't trust men who trust women, to not only choosing a female adjutant but entrusting her with the desperate last-ditch effort to save their lives. |
| 156 | * TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: The reason he cites whenever saving Gaunt's life. |
| 157 | * YouAreInCommandNow: [[spoiler: Gaunt gives Rawne the brevet rank of colonel when the Sons of Sek attack Eltath, to Rawne's consternation. He would have preferred the promotion go to Kolea, since men follow Rawne out of fear, but they follow Kolea out of respect.]] |
| 158 | |
| 159 | !!Hlaine "Mad" Larkin |
| 160 | |
| 161 | The Ghosts' most accomplished sniper. |
| 162 | ---- |
| 163 | * 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.]] |
| 164 | * FriendlySniper: When not in one of his moods. |
| 165 | * FriendshipMoment: [[spoiler: With Rawne of all people. Larks isn’t particularly close to the Major, but during ‘Only In Death’ he and Rawne acknowledge that they’ve been through a hell of a lot together since sharing a row of tents on the Founding Fields.]] It’s one of the most touching scenes in the entire series. |
| 166 | * HeterosexualLifePartners: With Bragg. [[spoiler:It hits him really hard when the latter dies.]] |
| 167 | * ImprobableAimingSkills: Larkin's eye regularly astounds snipers from other regiments. |
| 168 | * OldMaster: One of the oldest Ghosts, described with a face like leather. |
| 169 | * PalsWithJesus: Is actually the first Ghost to receive a visit from Saint Sabbat. |
| 170 | * TookALevelInBadass: after Gereon, Dorden observes that time spent there rid Larkin of many of his tics and peculiarities. He is quite upset by the realization. |
| 171 | * WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Has great prowess as a sniper, but also has a childhood sickness that causes him to go into convulsions and hallucinate [[spoiler: though some of the hallucinations are realer than others]]. |
| 172 | |
| 173 | !!Scout-Sergeant Oan Mkoll |
| 174 | |
| 175 | The Chief of the Ghosts' elite Scouts. |
| 176 | ---- |
| 177 | * BadassNormal: In addition to all the attributes below, Mkoll is personally responsible for the deaths of two Chaos Warlords by sneaking into their headquarters and introducing them to some high explosive. |
| 178 | * GunsAkimbo: Usually uses a lasgun, but on Monthax he uses two laspistols to kill a truly absurd number of Chaos soldiers. |
| 179 | * OldMaster: One of the older Ghosts, but [=MkVenner=] alone of the scouts can even come close to his skills. |
| 180 | * ScarilyCompetentTracker: Second to only [=MkVenner=]. |
| 181 | * ShoutOut: Named for British folksinger Ewen [=MacColl=], who Abnett knew as a kid. |
| 182 | * StealthExpert: |
| 183 | ** 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. |
| 184 | --->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. |
| 185 | --->Skarwael lunged with his sacred knife. The boline stabbed between the railings and speared through lifeless cloth. |
| 186 | --->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. |
| 187 | --->“You’re good,” said Mkoll grudgingly. |
| 188 | --->The single las-round hit the mandrake between the eyes. |
| 189 | ** In the short story ''Killbox'', Mkoll out-stealths three Space Marines. They're tracking him by his scent and heat trace, and they ''cheat'', but he still wins their game of tag. |
| 190 | ** Lampshaded in the short story ''Forgotten'', where Mkoll lures out a Chaos hunter by pretending to be bad at stealth. He says afterwards that deliberately making noises was really hard for him. |
| 191 | * ThinkNothingOfIt: When he ''kills a Chaos Dreadnought using only an overloaded lasgun cell and the local plantlife'', the young trooper he's with expressed his amazement. Mkoll tells him to shut up and not to talk about it. |
| 192 | |
| 193 | !!Tolin Dorden |
| 194 | |
| 195 | The Ghosts' chief medic. |
| 196 | ---- |
| 197 | * ActualPacifist: An impressive feat, considering the sorts of brutal warzones he's almost always working in. However, he does make one exception in order to save Gaunt's life. |
| 198 | ** BadassPacifist: Manages to out-badass several of the fighting characters in a war book. |
| 199 | * CoolOldGuy: Continues serving as the Ghosts' chief medic despite being well past retirement age. As a point of reference: Back on Tanith, he was the doctor who delivered Colm Corbec. |
| 200 | * DoctorsOrders: Has been known to lock horns with Gaunt over his patients. |
| 201 | * HiddenDepths: In better days on Tanith, Dorden was a talented amateur actor. He uses this to improvise his way out of a tight spot in the first book. |
| 202 | * TheMedic: It's fair to say the Tanith Ghosts would be extinct were it not for his medical expertise. |
| 203 | * NotAfraidToDie: [[spoiler:He knows he's dying of leukemia, but he doesn't let it hold him back. Sar Af of the White Scars is particularly impressed.]] |
| 204 | * ThouShaltNotKill: And willing to stand up for it. |
| 205 | * WhatTheHellHero: Never hesitates to call Gaunt out if he ever does anything morally questionable. Or even if he's executing his duties as a Commissar well within his rights such as shooting a soldier responsible for the death of his squad due to negligence. |
| 206 | * WideEyedIdealist: In 40k, that's saying something. He's lucky it doesn't get him killed. |
| 207 | |
| 208 | !!Brin Milo |
| 209 | |
| 210 | The youngest of all the Ghosts and originally just a civilian. Gaunt rescued him from Tanith on a whim and he quickly becomes the Ghosts' 'lucky mascot'. |
| 211 | ---- |
| 212 | * LikeASonToMe: Gaunt is implied to think of him like this. [[spoiler: He's certainly hurt when Milo leaves the regiment to follow Saint Sabbat]]. |
| 213 | * {{Mascot}}: Especially in the early books. Though later he becomes a competent soldier in his own right. |
| 214 | * NonActionGuy: At first, being the only civilian rescued from Tanith. Later joins the regiment anyway. |
| 215 | * PalsWithJesus: Hinted to be as important prophetically as she is. |
| 216 | * PsychicPowers: Suspected of being a psyker in Ghostmaker but manages to prove his innocence. [[spoiler:May actually be one if Soric's prediction is true.]] |
| 217 | * PutOnABus: [[spoiler:Accompanies Saint Sabbat on her journeys at the end of Sabbat Martyr.]][[spoiler: It comes back finally in ''Anarch''.]] |
| 218 | |
| 219 | !!"Try Again" Bragg |
| 220 | |
| 221 | * ATeamFiring: Hence 'Try Again'. He makes up for it by using MoreDakka. It usually works. |
| 222 | ** Averted: He always hits on the second try. |
| 223 | * TheBigGuy: Perfectly capable of crushing a man to death with just his hands. |
| 224 | * DumbMuscle: Subverted. Gaunt uses Bragg's deceptive cleverness to flush out a traitor in ''Ghostmaker''. |
| 225 | * KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Once again, Dammit Cuu...]] |
| 226 | * MilitaryMoonshiner: Bragg's sacra was considered to be the best. [[spoiler:Even moreso after he dies and supplies of it become rarer and rarer.]] |
| 227 | * MoreDakka: His immense size means he can easily carry heavy weapons like autocannons or storm bolters into combat. |
| 228 | |
| 229 | !!Sergeant Ceglan Varl |
| 230 | * ArtificialLimbs: An augmented shoulder he received in the first book. It's not a big deal though, since now he can punch heads off. |
| 231 | * DeadpanSnarker: At least until Gereon, though he does eventually recover. |
| 232 | * LovableRogue: Frequently seen running card games, gambling, and other illegal activity to keep the Ghosts' spirits up. |
| 233 | |
| 234 | !!Simen Macharius "Lucky" "Mach" Bonin |
| 235 | * BornLucky: His speciality within the Ghosts, Bonin manages to survive things that would have killed unluckier Ghosts many times over. |
| 236 | * DeadpanSnarker: A good sense of humor for a Ghost, until Gereon anyway. |
| 237 | * HeroicBSOD: After Gereon, he gets better. Gets put through a second one in ''Anarch'' at the hands of a woe machine that leads to him becoming a ShellShockedVeteran. He gets better [[spoiler: when Mkoll returns.]] |
| 238 | * MadeOfIron: His list of injuries he survived would fill a small book on their own, but the most impressive was surviving [[spoiler:falling from a floating battleship and getting ''shot in the head''.]] At separate times of course. |
| 239 | * StealthExpert: His scouting abilities are surpassed only by Mkoll and [=MkVenner=]. |
| 240 | |
| 241 | |
| 242 | !!Flame-Trooper Aongus Brostin |
| 243 | [[quoteright:302:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brostin.png]] |
| 244 | * TheBigGuy: Not on the level of Bragg or Corbec, but still one of the heftier Ghosts. |
| 245 | * CatchPhrase: "Say hello to Mister Yellow." |
| 246 | * KillItWithFire: Comes with the job description. He's extremely good at it. |
| 247 | * MustHaveNicotine: Or whatever is in lho-sticks--Abnett has made it clear that lho is a different and more potent drug than tobacco, although the latter is still the most likely mix with them in the "stick" form, which is weak enough not to affect combat reflexes. At any rate, Brostin constantly smokes when he can, though the drug content isn't the only reason... |
| 248 | * MultipleChoicePast: Brostin claims that he gained his almost preternatural understanding of fire as a firefighter; others say he served a prison term for arson. Either or both may be true, as the records of his past were destroyed with Tanith. It turns out that [[spoiler:he really was a firefighter on Tanith, but that doesn't really disqualify him from having also been a part-time arsonist.]] |
| 249 | * PyroManiac: Treated more seriously than usual. Brostin outright loves fire, has a remarkable understanding of its behavior, considers himself an artist with it, and must struggle ''not'' to burn things. His smoking is largely a relatively safe way to indulge this compulsion when no other way presents itself. Fortunately for the Ghosts, his skills with fire also include knowing the best way to ''put it out''. |
| 250 | * UncertainDoom: the last time he's seen in ''Anarch'' [[spoiler: he ends up buried under a massive pile of rubble. It remains to be seen whether or not he makes it out.]] In the short story ''This is What Victory Feels Like (Forever the Same)'' [[spoiler:he's revealed to have survived, although with the extent of the damage it caused it's uncertain whether he'll ever make a full recovery.]] |
| 251 | |
| 252 | !!Sergeant Murtan Feygor |
| 253 | |
| 254 | * DeadpanSnarker: Already pretty snarky before a throat wound meant he had to be given a prosthetic voice box. This causes him to speak in a monotone, giving everything he says a sarcastic inflection, making it hard for the others to read him on the few occasions he is actually trying to be serious. |
| 255 | * HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Puts himself in the line of fire to detonate the explosives on a warp gate in His Last Command.]] |
| 256 | * KilledOffForReal: Facing impossible odds on Anacreon Sextus. |
| 257 | * NumberTwo: To Rawne. |
| 258 | * SergeantRock |
| 259 | |
| 260 | !![=MkVenner=] |
| 261 | |
| 262 | * IKnowKungFu: He was a master of ''cwlhwl'', the ancient Nalsheen art of hand-to-hand combat. |
| 263 | * LastOfHisKind: Even more so than the other Tanith Ghosts. He is the last of the Nalsheen, an ancient order of warriors who dwelt in the nalwood forests. They overthrew the tyrannical rulers of Tanith in the ancient past, and kept a watch on the government even until the 41st millenium. [=MkVenner=] himself never truly considered himself Nalsheen because he never finished his training. |
| 264 | * McNinja: The word is never used, but the Nalsheen are experts in stealth and unarmed/primitive combat in a very reminiscent way. |
| 265 | * NeckSnap: When Brostin gets sloppy in his stealth in ''Traitor General'', Ven oh-so-gently puts his palm on Brostin's neck. Brostin takes the hint. |
| 266 | * 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 the Untill, he suddenly appears to Eszrah, and then helps to liberate resistance members from the hands of the Inquisition.]] |
| 267 | * ScarilyCompetentTracker: The only real rival to Mkoll. Especially on Gereon where he leads the resistance in Gaunt's absence. |
| 268 | |
| 269 | !!Captain Flyn Meryn |
| 270 | |
| 271 | * BadBoss: He has repeatedly shown no hesitation to [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident indirectly kill]] his lackeys if they become a liability. |
| 272 | * CorruptTheCutie: When he joined the Ghosts he was a fresh-faced and confident young man, earning the rank of corporal and even compliments from Colonel Corbec. Unfortunately, he gravitated to Major Rawne's negative influence and started to style himself as Rawne's protege. After Rawne leaves for Gereon, Meryn started trying to assert himself as essentially the new Rawne (even managing to start a relationship with Jessi Banda, Rawne's main squeeze), but he lacked Rawne's scruples and skill as a leader. |
| 273 | * ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: As mentioned under BadBoss, his goons tend to have a high mortality rate. In addition, he [[spoiler: blackmails Blenner into helping with his extortion scheme and murders Eszrah in cold blood to cover it up when things go south.]] |
| 274 | * DirtyCoward: Events in ''Salvation's Reach'' show that he has become this. [[spoiler: He has a shot at Sirkle when the assassin is using Yoncy as a human shield, but doesn't take it, and near the end of the operation at Salvation's Reach, he gets in cover with his squad and doesn't budge. When the order to return to this ship is given, he just up and runs with his squad instead of falling back in an orderly manner. This continues in ''The Warmaster''. He conspires with Gendler, Jakub Wilder, and Blenner to kidnap Felyx and blackmail him for money. When the attempt goes wrong, he manages to put the blame on Gendler and Wilder, killing Eszrah in the process. And this goes even further in ''The Anarch'', when he leaves his entire squad to die against the Woe Machine, including Jessi Banda, the woman he's sleeping with.]] |
| 275 | * EvilCannotComprehendGood: Due to his one-sided grudge against Gaunt, he just doesn't get the other man and thinks Gaunt's all about ceremony and favour. He could not be further from the truth. |
| 276 | * TheFriendNobodyLikes: As far back as ''Blood Pact'', Rawne's inner circle tends to treat Meryn with disdain. He has some status with them on account of his skill, but his unreliability and a lack of scruples that makes even Rawne look clean mean none of the others really trust him with their backs, and hence, he's treated for the most part with disdain. |
| 277 | * IDidWhatIHadToDo: In ''The Guns of Tanith'', Meryn kills several unarmed and innocent civilians to keep the Ghosts infiltrating Ouranberg from being discovered. |
| 278 | * KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Gets what's coming to him in ''Anarch'', courtesy of Felyx Chass and [[BoomHeadshot two shots to the face]] from a carbine.]] |
| 279 | * 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 or deceased Guard wives.]] |
| 280 | * TokenEvilTeammate: With Cuu dead and Rawne having become more heroic, Meryn steps up to fill the role of "evil Ghost" from the "Victory" arc onwards. Highlights include [[spoiler: running a pension fraud racket using the names of fallen comrades, attempting to extort money from Felyx Chass, and murdering Eszrah when he intervened in the previous incident.]] |
| 281 | |
| 282 | |
| 283 | !!Captain Dohon "Shoggy" Domor |
| 284 | |
| 285 | * BombDisposal: His initial role with the Tanith was as a minesweeper. He is later promoted to sergeant and then captain, but he remains the best at dealing with explosives. |
| 286 | * {{Determinator}}: Carried on with his mine sweeping duties after his... |
| 287 | * EyeScream: Loses his eyes in the action on Menazoid Epsilon. Which leads to him getting... |
| 288 | * ElectronicEyes: They aren't the super-advanced and expensive ones that [[spoiler: Gaunt]] ends up with. They give him [[http://gauntsghostspedia.wikia.com/wiki/Dohon_%27Shoggy%27_Domor a bug-eyed appearance]], leading to his eventual nickname of "Shoggy", referring to the Tanith tree frog. |
| 289 | * GadgeteerGenius: Compared to the other Ghosts. His interest in engineering ends up saving the day in ''Only In Death''. |
| 290 | * InnateNightVision: His ElectronicEyes have a night vision functionality. |
| 291 | |
| 292 | !!Trooper Rhen Merrt |
| 293 | * TheAlcoholic: After losing his jaw, and then his sniper's lanyard, he falls into a deep depression which he tries to drown in alcohol and gambling. Is eventually dragged out of it by Hark and Ludd. |
| 294 | * ArtificialLimbs: He is given an augmetic jaw after an injury in ''Ghostmaker''. It apparently isn't a very good one either, as it occasionally malfunctions and causes Merrt to twitch and stutter. After the injury, he lost his marksman status because of a sudden and inexplicable dip in his shooting ability. [[spoiler: Sar Af of the White Scars watches him shoot and sees that every time he squeezes the trigger, his jaw twitches, throwing off his aim. Sar Af then shows him a way to stop the twitching: injecting a numbing agent next to the implant. It makes him drool and makes it hard to talk, but it also keeps his augmetic jaw from moving so he can shoot as well as he used to.]] |
| 295 | * BornUnlucky: Nothing seems to go Merrt's way. |
| 296 | * 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]]. |
| 297 | * ColdSniper: In the beginning, until he loses his jaw in combat. His replacement prosthetic reduces his accuracy. |
| 298 | * HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Dies in Salvation's Reach, along with Dorden, but in the process takes out a number of enemies as well.]] |
| 299 | * RedemptionQuest: His attempt to re-master sniping. His quest proved futile until the intervention of the White Scar SpaceMarine, Sar Af. |
| 300 | * TrainingFromHell: Goes through R.I.P.[[labelnote:note]]Retraining/Indoctrination/Punishment[[/labelnote]] training with Dalin Criid. It isn't pleasant. |
| 301 | |
| 302 | !!Sergeant Dermon Caffran |
| 303 | |
| 304 | * ASimplePlan: The title of the chapter dedicated to him in Ghostmaker. The 'plan' is actually a pure IndyPloy, and it works without anyone realizing it until well afterwards. |
| 305 | * CruelMercy: His squad encounters and defeats a Khornate Chaos cult, which worships death. As a reward, he gets to execute the cult leader personally - but refuses, saying that since the cultist longs for death, keeping him alive is the real way to punish him. Gaunt agrees. |
| 306 | * KilledOffForReal: In the retaking of Gereon. |
| 307 | * 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 children she was caring for just because he could. |
| 308 | * NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[spoiler:He's killed by a child with a lasgun because he chose to try and get the gun away from him rather than just kill him.]] |
| 309 | |
| 310 | [[/folder]] |
| 311 | |
| 312 | [[folder: Ghosts (Verghast)]] |
| 313 | |
| 314 | !!Major Gol Kolea |
| 315 | |
| 316 | A miner from Vervunhive who helped to organised the resistance in the chaos-held parts of the city. Joins the Ghosts after Vervunhive is abandoned, and is seen as a hero by the ex-hivers in the regiment. |
| 317 | ---- |
| 318 | * TheBigGuy: While not as big as Bragg, he's noted to be taller than most other characters, and was able to kill Chaos soldiers with a single hit from his [[PowerfulPick axe-rake]]. |
| 319 | * CannotSpitItOut: Can't bring himself to tell his children he is still alive, despite the urgings of pretty much everybody. Even his son is in on it, as of the later books. |
| 320 | ** He can't bring himself to tell Gaunt or anyone else the full truth about the [[spoiler:Chaos message and portents he encountered on Aigor Nine Nine One, understandably given that it could easily lead to his children being executed.]] |
| 321 | * EasyAmnesia: Downplayed ; he loses all personal memories but can still walk/talk/pull a trigger, although with nothing like as much skill as he could before. |
| 322 | * 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''.]] |
| 323 | ** [[spoiler: And again, fatally, in ''Anarch'' whilst trying to stop a Woe Machine.]] |
| 324 | * LeeroyJenkins: [[spoiler: Combined with UnstoppableRage. When he sees Baskevyl get killed in ''Salvation's Reach'' he is overcome with anger and charges the attacking Sons of Sek, with many Ghosts following him. Miraculously, he survives, the Sons are forced to retreat for the moment, and it turns out Baskevyl wasn't dead, it was the soldier standing next to him.]] |
| 325 | * 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.]] |
| 326 | |
| 327 | !!Captain Ban Daur |
| 328 | * GroinAttack: Possibly subjected to this following a terrible but vague injury to his lower body in ''Salvations Reach''. Following his recovery his wife indicates that they will not be able to have children. In an aversion of common stereotypes, no-one treats him with any less respect following his injury. |
| 329 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: If not for him standing up for [[spoiler:Cuu's defense and guilt-shaming Gaunt into getting him off a murder-rape charge that Cuu is in fact guilty of, several major Ghost characters would still be alive.]] |
| 330 | * OfficerAndAGentleman: Noted to be fair and rule-abiding. [[spoiler: Which is why Rawne and co. try to convince him to join in on their scamming of Zolunder's gambling den, because no one would ever suspect him of participating in such activities.]] |
| 331 | * OvershadowedByAwesome: He's not a bad officer, and is respected by both the men and the upper ranks as a reliable and trustworthy leader, but he doesn't command the sheer devotion given to Corbec, Soric or Kolea. |
| 332 | * ShutUpKiss: Does this to Elodie in ''Blood Pact'', after she [[WhatTheHellHero rips into him]] for [[spoiler: saying he was apparently willing to shoot her in order to take down a gangster holding her hostage. Daur tries to explain that he was merely calling the villain's bluff, but quickly realises she's too angry and in shock to listen, so decides kissing her is a far better way to defend himself]]. |
| 333 | * WartimeWedding: He marries Elodie, whom he met in ''Blood Pact'', just before the Salvation's Reach mission. [[spoiler: He's wounded but he makes it back to her.]] |
| 334 | |
| 335 | !!Sergeant Agun Soric |
| 336 | |
| 337 | '''WalkingSpoiler ahead!''' |
| 338 | |
| 339 | 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. 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. |
| 340 | ---- |
| 341 | * BlindSeer: [[spoiler: A semi-example, since his psychic powers manifest after losing one of his eyes.]] |
| 342 | * TheBusCameBack: [[spoiler:Winds up playing an important role in ''Only in Death'', thought the reader only finds out about it after TheReveal. More disturbing when one realizes that Gaunt was hearing screams in his head (along with premonitions among his squad) as back as the Gereon mission. Soric was in agony for a ''long'' time.]] |
| 343 | * CombatClairvoyance: [[spoiler:His psychic powers generally manifest by giving him helpful information mid-battle. He also effectively gives several of the other Ghosts this during ''Only in Death''.]] |
| 344 | * EyeScream: Lost one of his eyes at the start of the Zoican War when his factory is shelled, in ''Necropolis''. |
| 345 | * EyepatchOfPower: Averted; his missing eye is never replaced or covered. |
| 346 | * MercyKill: [[spoiler: Hark winds up giving him one in ''Only in Death.'' ]] |
| 347 | * PutOnABus: [[spoiler:After his psychic abilities come to light Soric is taken by the Black Ships in ''Sabbat Martyr''.]] |
| 348 | |
| 349 | !!Captain Tona Criid |
| 350 | [[quoteright:166:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/criid.png]] |
| 351 | An ex-hive ganger from Vervunhive who joins up with the Ghosts after Necropolis. Later proves herself to be a particularly badass ActionGirl. |
| 352 | ---- |
| 353 | * ActionGirl: Unquestionably the best overall female soldier in the regiment, and the highest ranking. |
| 354 | * BattleCouple: With Caffran. |
| 355 | * BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Subverted. She gets a rather nasty facial scar after Gereon and grows her hair down in order to hide it. |
| 356 | * MamaBear: Adopts two children she presumed to be war orphans during the battle in Vervunhive, and spends much of the war taking care of them. |
| 357 | ** Also, when one of her adopted children grows up and joins the Guard, she offers to kill the DrillSergeantNasty in charge of his training. It's not entirely clear if the offer was earnest or not. |
| 358 | * TheSquadette: Averted; there are many females in the First and Only, and she ''leads'' the squad she's assigned to eventually. |
| 359 | * SweetTooth: Starts to develop one when the regiment is spending a long stretch away from the front on Balhaut. She happened across a bakery while in town and started remembering the times when she was a dirt-poor hive kid and never being able to afford any treats. Now that she's a sergeant in the Guard with a metric ton of back pay coming in, she can walk in and buy whatever she wants, which leads to a near-obsession with taking long runs so she can have some sweets but avoid gaining weight. |
| 360 | * UpThroughTheRanks: Begins as a recruit taken into the regiment while they fight for Vervunhive, eventually gets promoted all the way to captain. |
| 361 | |
| 362 | !!Jessi Banda |
| 363 | |
| 364 | A Verghastite marksman. |
| 365 | |
| 366 | * DistaffCounterpart: Often acts like a female version of Rawne. |
| 367 | * ColdSniper: Noticeably hardens over the years. |
| 368 | * EtTuBrute: [[spoiler: Is absoultely furious when Flyn chooses to save his own life over saving her from the first Woe Machine. For all of the few seconds before it grinds her into pulp, that is.]] |
| 369 | * FriendlySniper: At first. |
| 370 | * {{Jerkass}}: On Jago especially, where she drinks on duty, shoots her mouth off to Larkin, and nearly gets herself and others killed when her aim is off during a Blood Pact assault. |
| 371 | * LadyMacbeth: She's described as a woman who will pursue a relationship with a powerful man if it benefits her, first Rawne and then Meryn after his promotion. When Rawne returns from Gereon, she rips into Meryn that if he lets Rawne reassert his authority, he's essentially useless to her. |
| 372 | * NotEnoughToBury: [[spoiler: Gets torn to shreds by the first Woe Machine in ''The Anarch''.]] |
| 373 | |
| 374 | !!Nessa Bourah |
| 375 | |
| 376 | Like Banda, another Verghastite sniper, and a former member of the Scratch Companies during the Siege of Vervunhive. |
| 377 | ---- |
| 378 | * ActionGirl: Big time. |
| 379 | * DisabilitySuperpower: She's deaf as a result of Chaos artillery fire at Vervunhive, yet one of the regiment's best snipers. |
| 380 | * FriendlySniper: Quite cheery and easy going consider how much she's endured. |
| 381 | * HandicappedBadass: Having only four working senses does not make her any less awesome. |
| 382 | * LadyOfWar: Elegant and precise. |
| 383 | * RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Banda's red. |
| 384 | * SniperDuel: Engages in one during the events of ''Sabbat Martyr,'' saving the Saint's life in the process. |
| 385 | * TookALevelInBadass: Before joining the Ghosts, Nessa was merely a trainee nurse. Now, she's one of the regiment's most skilled snipers. |
| 386 | |
| 387 | !!Lijah Cuu |
| 388 | |
| 389 | A decidedly unpleasant ex-hive ganger who joins the Ghosts after the defense of Vervunhive, and generally the cruelest and most vicious member of the Ghosts. |
| 390 | ---- |
| 391 | * AxeCrazy: To enemies and friends. |
| 392 | * 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. |
| 393 | * DiabolusExMachina: [[spoiler: Manages to kill Bragg, Muril and Corbec, and almost killed Gaunt and Saint Sabbat before Larkin finally took him down.]] |
| 394 | * GoodScarsEvilScars: Has a scar running down the middle of his face. |
| 395 | * InTheBack: His favourite tactic. |
| 396 | * KarmaHoudini: Nearly brought to justice in ''Guns of Tanith'' when evidence implicates him in a murder-rape. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Then Gaunt, thinking there's enough evidence to clear him, and aware of the perceived favouritism towards the Tanith, 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.]] |
| 397 | * KickTheDog: His favourite hobby. |
| 398 | * KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: By Larkin on Herodor.]] |
| 399 | * ObviouslyEvil: Pretty much every character who meets Cuu comments that he's a nasty piece of work. [[spoiler: And then he is turned into a Chaos Meat-Puppet.]] |
| 400 | * 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]]. |
| 401 | * ShapedLikeItself: His CatchPhrase is saying that something is "X as X", such as "Sure as sure" or "Nice as nice." |
| 402 | * SociopathicSoldier: In spades. |
| 403 | * TokenEvilTeammate: So evil. |
| 404 | * WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Is a very good marksman, at least once taking successful shots that a witnessing Larkin admits he wouldn't be confident of. The insane part... is obvious. |
| 405 | |
| 406 | !!Ana Curth |
| 407 | |
| 408 | * 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. |
| 409 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: In desperation on Gereon, she helps kill a daemonic wirewolf[sic] by dousing it with holy water from a Shrine World. |
| 410 | * HeadTurningBeauty: Regarded InUniverse as being quite attractive. |
| 411 | * IgnoredEnamoredUnderling: ''Salvation's Reach'' implies that she's been attracted to Gaunt for quite a while. [[spoiler: She doesn't take it well when she inadvertently discovers he's having an affair with Maddelana]]. |
| 412 | * TheMedic: The most skilled of the Ghosts in medicine besides Dorden. |
| 413 | * MustHaveNicotine: The stresses of [[DestroyedHometown losing her home]] and military life drive Curth back to lho-sticks after quitting years before. |
| 414 | * TheyCallMeMisterTibbs: Her first meeting with Dorden had her snapping that she was Surgeon Curth. At the end of that novel, she tells him that after all that, [[FirstNameBasis he may call her Ana]]. |
| 415 | * NothingButSkinAndBones: Gaunt notices this after her return from the Gereon mission, where Curth had suffered many hardships while fighting the Chaos occupational forces. He still finds her attractive, though. |
| 416 | |
| 417 | !!Dalin Criid |
| 418 | |
| 419 | A Vervunhive war-orphan (though actually the biological child of Gol Kolea) adopted by Tona Criid. Once he reaches adulthood, he chooses to join the Ghosts. |
| 420 | ---- |
| 421 | * AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Tends to see his parents as this once he joins the Guard, since they don't treat him like an ordinary soldier. |
| 422 | ** To add to that, several other Ghosts played some role in his rearing, and none of them can quite see him as just another soldier. |
| 423 | * EnemyWithin: [[spoiler: And one that is only revealed at the very last moment, with no previous suspicion.]] |
| 424 | * HappilyAdopted: Good parenting means Dalin and his sister have little leftover trauma from their childhood. |
| 425 | * IJustWantToBeNormal: Occasionally resents the fact that many of the Ghosts don't treat him like any other ordinary soldier. |
| 426 | * KillAndReplace: [[spoiler: 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]]. |
| 427 | * LaserGuidedTykebomb: [[spoiler: 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]]. |
| 428 | * {{Mascot}}: Similar to Milo, his status as the youngest member of the Ghosts, as well as being the first second-generation Ghost, makes many of the troopers see him as this. |
| 429 | * {{Nepotism}}: Fears this is the reason behind his FieldPromotion to Meryn's adjutant. It's not entirely clear if this was the case or not, since Meryn does point out that Dalin is well-suited to the position, even if he is relatively young, but it is still possible that who his parents are played some role in Meryn's decision. |
| 430 | * NewMeat: Currently the youngest member of the Ghosts proper, although not the greenest now that Felyx Chass has joined. |
| 431 | * OvershadowedByAwesome: Both of his parents were quite respected members of the Ghosts, leaving Dalin feeling like he has a big legacy to live up to. |
| 432 | * TakeUpMySword: [[spoiler: Officially joins the Ghosts shortly after the death of his adoptive father, Caffran. Not an entirely straight example, since he was planning to join the Ghosts anyway.]] |
| 433 | * TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler: 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.]] |
| 434 | |
| 435 | !!Major Yve "Pasha" Petrushkevskaya |
| 436 | |
| 437 | A former scratch-company hero from Verghast, commanding six companies sent to reinforce the Ghosts just prior to their mission to Salvation's Reach. |
| 438 | ---- |
| 439 | * AMotherToHerMen: Gaunt recognizes the solidly maternalistic presence she brings to the regiment. |
| 440 | * OverlyLongName: She recognizes that her last name is difficult to spit out in a pinch, and so answers to "Major Pasha" (or just "Pasha"). |
| 441 | |
| 442 | !!Captain Ornella Zhukova |
| 443 | |
| 444 | A veteran of the Verghast war who joined the regiment with Pasha's influx. Previously served in the planetary defense force with Ban Daur. |
| 445 | ---- |
| 446 | * SoBeautifulItsACurse: Zhukova's reputation, both on Verghast and in the regiment itself, is that her rank was more a result of [[HeadTurningBeauty 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. |
| 447 | * StealthExpert: Although a capable leader of troops, Zhukova shows a natural talent for stealth and scouting operations during the Salvation's Reach mission and its aftermath. Mkoll believes her talent to be wasted as a company commander and instead recruits her into the scout cadre, keeping her rank but answering to him. |
| 448 | |
| 449 | [[/folder]] |
| 450 | |
| 451 | [[folder: Ghosts (Belladon)]] |
| 452 | |
| 453 | !!Colonel Lucien Wilder |
| 454 | |
| 455 | A native of Belladon, placed in command of the Ghosts during Gaunt's time on Gereon. He has a younger brother, Captain Jakub Wilder, whose unit finally manages to catch up with the Ghosts in ''Salvation's Reach''. |
| 456 | ---- |
| 457 | * HeroicSacrifice |
| 458 | * OvershadowedByAwesome: He feels this way after Gaunt returns. Gaunt even acknowledges during 'Blood Pact' that Wilder was a good officer and a good man that he wished he'd known better. |
| 459 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Puts up with an awful lot from the Gereon survivors, and is hugely respected by the rank and file Ghosts for holding them together after Gaunt was presumed dead. |
| 460 | * WeHardlyKnewYe: Like many 40k heroes. |
| 461 | |
| 462 | !!Major Braden Baskevyl |
| 463 | |
| 464 | * FireForgedFriends: By ''Blood Pact'', he and Kolea are this -- during the lockdown they engage in random chitchat that they know just expresses their friendship. |
| 465 | * LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: [[spoiler: Seemed to die a gory death in Salvation's Reach: in actuality it was a luckless RedShirt mistaken for him.]] |
| 466 | * TheWatson: Since he only became part of the Ghosts just before ''His Last Command,'' he's sometimes a target of useful exposition. |
| 467 | * WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Develops a sudden phobia on Jajo, but eventually he discovers that his 'terrible visions' are attempts to tell him something. |
| 468 | |
| 469 | !!Scout Trooper Wes Maggs |
| 470 | |
| 471 | A Belladon scout. |
| 472 | ---- |
| 473 | * DeadpanSnarker: He talks too much, and is fairly light-hearted in comparison to the badly-jaded Tanith. |
| 474 | * SanitySlippage: Works in his favor during 'Blood Pact.' The Blood Pact witch [[spoiler:had a sample of his blood and tried to use him to kill Mabbon, which failed...but during her initial contact, she associated herself with the deep trauma he'd sustained from Agun Soric's psychic pain. When she attempts a RoaringRampageOfRevenge after her brother's death, Maggs riddles her with his entire lasgun charge.]] |
| 475 | * StealthExpert: One of the best Belladon scouts, but nowhere near as good as Mkoll. Maggs realizes this and tries to learn as much as he can from him. |
| 476 | ** Even Mkoll admits however - in his thoughts at least - that Maggs is a damned good scout, but he's so awed by the Tanith that he undersells his own abilities. |
| 477 | |
| 478 | [[/folder]] |
| 479 | |
| 480 | |
| 481 | [[folder: Other Imperials]] |
| 482 | |
| 483 | !!Saint Sabbat |
| 484 | |
| 485 | The Imperial Saint after whom the Sabbat Worlds are named. Six thousand years ago she was a humble peasant girl on Hagia who received a vision from the Emperor, inspiring her to set off on a journey to bring the systems around her under Imperial control. After the Sabbat Worlds are overrun by Chaos in the 41st Millenium, Saint Sabbat returns to aid the imperials [[InItsHourOfNeed in their hour of need]]. |
| 486 | ---- |
| 487 | * AbsurdlySharpBlade: Her sword is sharp enough to effortlessly sever the barrel of a Baneblade superheavy tank, and pierce through its armor plating to kill the driver. |
| 488 | * ArcNumber: The number nine is very symbolic, since it was the number of wounds suffered by the Saint when she was martyred six thousand years ago. |
| 489 | * AttackDrone: She has nine armed servoskulls that follow her into combat. Considering how vast the armies of Chaos are, it lets her focus her attention on true threats. |
| 490 | * BigGood: So much so that her death would almost assuredly result in the collapse of the entire Crusade. |
| 491 | * BattleAura: A passive one, it improves the morale of any loyal, non-Chaotic human. Combined with her powers of inspiration it's enough to cause even terrified civilians to pick up a weapon and fight for their world. |
| 492 | * BodySurf: Implied. [[spoiler: Appeared to have been reincarnated in a girl named Sabbatine, whose random death triggered a sudden drop in morale for the Imperial forces. Then became incarnated in Sanian's body]]. |
| 493 | * ChosenOne: An odd variant. In Sabbat Martyr, [[spoiler:Sanian claims to be the Saint reincarnated, but Gaunt realises that she is just being used by Lugo in an attempt to regain his prestige. After the death of the girl Sabbatine however it becomes apparent that she really is the ChosenOne. Even Gaunt comments on how weird it was.]] |
| 494 | * CurbStompBattle: Takes on and effortlessly defeats a Baneblade superheavy tank by herself. |
| 495 | * {{Expy}}: Of [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Joan]] [[JoanOfArchetype of Arc]]. Slightly less unfortunate than her model, dying (the first time) heroically towards the end of a highly successful crusade, rather than being executed by her nominal co-religionists. |
| 496 | * InItsHourOfNeed: For the Crusade itself. |
| 497 | * KingInTheMountain: The reincarnation of Saint Sabbat is a major plot point in the series, and her return signals the end of the second major story arc with the fall of the Chaos Fortress Worlds. |
| 498 | * LadyOfWar: Enough that her six-thousand year old previous incarnation had an order of Battle Sisters named after her. In combat she's inhumanly precise. |
| 499 | * OneManArmy: Subverted, whilst the Saint herself is an order of magnitude more powerful than regular soldiers, she is still vulnerable to enemy fire. Half of Sabbat Martyr is about protecting her from various assassins. |
| 500 | * PresentAbsence: In ''The Warmaster'', the Saint is present on Urdesh battling the Archenemy, but in a theater far from Eltath, the major forge city where the Ghosts are stationed and thus doesn't appear. [[spoiler: The Lord Generals using her as bait to draw out Sek, without the Saint's knowledge, is a source of conflict between them and Gaunt.]] |
| 501 | * SuperSpeed: Her ace in the hole; Sabbat is ''unnaturally'' fast, bordering on a FlashStep. Despite that, she's not bullet proof. |
| 502 | * SuperStrength: Limited, but still ridiculous for a biologically human girl. When dueling Enok Innokenti, her sword blows cause shockwaves that throw soldiers around like rag dolls. |
| 503 | |
| 504 | |
| 505 | !!Lord Militant General Hechtor Dravere |
| 506 | |
| 507 | The general in command of retaking Fortis Binary in First & Only. Actually much more cunning than he seems. |
| 508 | ---- |
| 509 | * BigBad: [[spoiler: Of ''First and Only''.]] |
| 510 | * ChestOfMedals: Dravere makes it a habit to wear the full complement of his campaign and valor medals on his coat at all times, regardless of the occasion. His superior, Warmaster Slaydo, who despised him, scornfully called Dravere "The Old Gong" behind his back (and quite possibly to his face). |
| 511 | * GeneralFailure: His incompetence is referenced by several characters. |
| 512 | * TheNeidermeyer |
| 513 | * ObfuscatingStupidity: Despite his bad battlefield record he is far more cunning than he seems. |
| 514 | * TheStarscream: [[spoiler:Plans to use the STC on Menazoid Epsilon to manufacture an army of Iron Men, kill Macaroth with them and then take over the entire Crusade and possibly the Imperium itself.]] |
| 515 | * WeHaveReserves: Strategy's not working? Throw more men into the meat grinder! In his first appearance in ''First and Only'' he even refers to the men dying in the trenches during an attack as ants. This even extends to non-military matters. He has a man go and get more caffeine (40K's version of coffee) because the ''nearly full decanter'' is "stale". The guy he tells this to waits to leave the room before spitting in disgust at the man. |
| 516 | |
| 517 | |
| 518 | !!Lord Militant General Barthol Van Voytz |
| 519 | |
| 520 | The general who oversaw the Ghost's actions on Phantine, as well as in many other theatres afterwards. Notable in that he actually gives the Ghosts the respect they deserve. |
| 521 | ---- |
| 522 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: Gaunt very nearly forces Voytz's hand at one point by breaking protocol and apparently threatens Voytz after Gereon. It nearly gets him executed. |
| 523 | * BrokenPedestal: Becomes one for [[spoiler:Gaunt by the end of '' Only in Death'' after he orders the Ghosts into a brutal siege position on Jago, since he largely knew how bad things would be from the get-go along with a good helping of faulty intel.]] |
| 524 | * {{Foil}}: To Generals Dravere, Ludo, and Sturm. The former was a traitor who tried to kill Gaunt and destroy the Ghosts because they got in his way, the second blamed them for his own incompetence, and the latter saw the Ghosts as dirt-born rabble and stole all of their glory in each of their shared theatres. Van Voytz is a loyal officer who genuinely appreciates and celebrates Gaunt and the Ghosts' successes, to the point where a chapter header quote in ''Guns of Tanith'' is from Gaunt saying he ''doesn't know how to deal'' with the fact Van Voytz ''isn't'' a bastard. |
| 525 | * OfficerAndAGentleman: An actual gentleman, which is rare in 40k. But... |
| 526 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: One of the only generals who actually appreciates the Ghosts' talents and sees them for the assets that they are. |
| 527 | * TookALevelInJerkass: By the end of ''The Warmaster'', the positive impression readers had of him will have faded considerably after he tries to recruit Gaunt into a plot to replace Macaroth and reacts violently when Gaunt doesn't go along. |
| 528 | ** RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Personally leads a group of troopers to save Gaunt and the Ghosts when the second woe machine becomes active, but dies from wounds incurred during the fight.]] |
| 529 | |
| 530 | |
| 531 | !!Lord Militant General Noches Sturm |
| 532 | |
| 533 | Another of the generals serving under Warmaster Macaroth. Sturm sees the Ghosts as savages and barbarians. Needless to say, he and Gaunt do not get along well. |
| 534 | ---- |
| 535 | * AmnesiacDissonance: Prior to the mindlock falling away he was polite, meek, and willing to follow orders. After it comes back he returns to his true personality, an arrogant blowhard. |
| 536 | * BlueBlood: Most of the soldiers under his command are drawn from planetary nobility such as the Volpone Bluebloods. |
| 537 | * DirtyCoward: At Vervunhive. |
| 538 | * KickTheDog: Calling down an artillery strike on the Ghost's position out of spite when they captured the objective before his own men. |
| 539 | * MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:His reaction in Traitor General when he realises how close he came to revealing everything he knew to Chaos.]] |
| 540 | * TheNeidermeyer |
| 541 | * NeverMyFault: When the mindlock is broken on Gereon he says that him being given up for court martial was Gaunt's fault, and says Gaunt "manipulated him", rather than the truth, that he was a DirtyCoward while Vervunhive's defense was collapsing and Gaunt had him arrested because he wanted to run rather than fight for the hive. |
| 542 | * RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Remembering his earlier cowardice, and how much he enjoyed helping the forces of Chaos as a traitor, he finally takes Gaunt up on his offer of a pistol for suicide.]] |
| 543 | * UpperClassTwit: Like many of the other BlueBlood Imperial Guard forces he thinks of the Ghosts as "barbarians" and actually thinks he's doing Macaroth a ''favor'' by killing them all. |
| 544 | * WeHaveReserves: One of his first actions in-series is to order an artillery strike right on top of the Ghost's assault line. The kicker? The Ghosts had already captured the location and Sturm knew it. |
| 545 | * YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord: [[spoiler: While a prisoner of the Archenemy on Gereon, he is only referred to as "pheguth", which essentially means "traitor".]] |
| 546 | |
| 547 | !!Lord Militant General Cybon |
| 548 | |
| 549 | A general who was one of Warmaster Slaydo's most trusted subordinates. Described as a conqueror of worlds, Cybon has fallen out of the spotlight after Macaroth took over. |
| 550 | ---- |
| 551 | * {{Cyborg}}: Augmented and physically intimidating, to go with a voice to chill the blood. |
| 552 | * GeneralRipper: Is regarded as this InUniverse, with his disregard for the lives of the soldiers under his command winning him few friends. This is at least part of the reason he was sidelined by Macaroth, and passed over for consideration as Warmaster-apparent by Slaydo. |
| 553 | * LargeAndInCharge: When we finally see him in ''The Warmaster'', he is heavily augmented, though not to the extent of most Techpriests. |
| 554 | |
| 555 | !!Warmaster Slaydo |
| 556 | |
| 557 | The previous Warmaster and the man who began the first push to reclaim the Sabbat Worlds from the forces of Chaos. Killed in action on Balhaut. |
| 558 | ---- |
| 559 | * AFatherToHisMen: Gaunt specifically cites this as a reason why he was better than his replacement, since Slaydo actually cared about his officers and listened to them when they had concerns. |
| 560 | * DyingMomentOfAwesome: He dies fighting a Chaos Warlord who was rapidly mutating in single combat. After being shot. |
| 561 | * FourStarBadass |
| 562 | * TheMentor: To Gaunt, along with Oktar. Gaunt inherited his devotion to Saint Sabbat from him. |
| 563 | * OldSoldier: 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. |
| 564 | * ReligiousBruiser: He isn't a priest or anything, but he is totally devoted to Saint Sabbat and considers it the greatest honor of his life to be able to fight for her worlds. |
| 565 | * PosthumousCharacter: Died in combat just before the beginning of the series. Though gets a good bit of attention in ''Regicide'' of the ''Sabbat's World Anthology''. |
| 566 | |
| 567 | !!Warmaster Macaroth |
| 568 | |
| 569 | The second Warmaster who takes control of the Crusade after Slaydo's death. Unfortunately does not hold Gaunt in nearly the same regard as his predecessor - or so it seemed, anyway. |
| 570 | ---- |
| 571 | * ActuallyIAmHim: First time meeting him, Gaunt only sees a tired, unkempt mess of a character who speaks of the Warmaster in third person. It takes a little while for Gaunt to catch up. |
| 572 | * DaChief: He exists ''primarily'' so that Gaunt can rage at the so called stupidity of his large scale strategies and how much suffering they cause to the historically neglected second front. The second front is important, but it is called the ''second'' front for a reason. |
| 573 | * DeathOrGloryAttack: On a theater level. His strategies are commonly described as something that will either make or break the crusade. Very often he only ends up succeeding by the skin of his teeth. |
| 574 | * {{Expy}}: Of Napoleon. Specifically, he is a bold and brilliant commander who is not afraid to take risks. He's greatly criticized by the book's protagonists because they're not physically at the war's ''even more intense'' primary front. |
| 575 | * GeneralFailure: |
| 576 | ** How Macaroth ''appears'' to Gaunt. Whilst Macaroth is not incompetent ''per se'', the preface quotes before each book underlining the status of the Crusade always mention how he constantly overstretches his forces and leaves massive gaps in his space fleet's defensive lines, allowing Chaos forces to slip through and pillage retaken worlds, and [[DoomedHometown Tanith]]. |
| 577 | ** Turns out that while Warmaster Macaroth is cunning in his maneuvering, he's also oblivious to the thought of [[spoiler:the Chaos forces [[ItCanThink attempting their own headshot strategy]]]]. If not for Gaunt's action in ''The Warmaster'', the entire crusade could've collapsed right then and there. |
| 578 | * TheGhost: Macaroth is mentioned in every novel in the series in his capacity as leader of the Crusade, but does not make an appearance until (appropriately) ''The Warmaster'', the thirteenth book in the series. |
| 579 | * HeroOfAnotherStory: Without Macaroth's leadership after Balhaut, the entire Crusade would have failed, making all of the Ghosts' sacrifices pointless, and without his relentless attacks, the Sabbat Worlds Crusade would have lasted hundreds of years instead of decades. We never hear, at all, about the battles Macaroth led and won such as Morlond: a Chaos held fortress world that saw more bloodshed than all of the battles the Ghosts were involved in ''combined''. |
| 580 | * OverrankedSoldier: Was quite young to be named Warmaster. Averted in that he is not a backstabbing, aristocratic idiot like many of the Generals in the Crusade. |
| 581 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: What he's ultimately presented as in ''The Warmaster''. [[spoiler: It turns out he keeps tabs on ''everything'' that goes on on all fronts, Gaunt's regiment included; while the generals who plot to overthrow him accuse him of being distant and uncaring, it's mostly because he implicitly trusts them with day-to-day running of the crusade so that he can focus on the bigger picture; he acknowledges their grievances and vows to rectify them; and promotes Gaunt to his direct second-in-command, and anoints him as his successor, because Gaunt had the balls to seek him out and bring the generals' grievances directly to him rather than skulk and plot in the shadows.]] By [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Warhammer 40,000]] standards, the man is pretty much a living saint. |
| 582 | * SeriouslyScruffy: After months and years of spending all his time in a private library developing plans against the enemy while rarely talking to his subordinates, he has taken to going about his day sporting a grubby nightshirt, patched old socks, and an unshaven beard. |
| 583 | * YouAreInCommandNow: To Slaydo. |
| 584 | |
| 585 | !!Felyx Chass |
| 586 | |
| 587 | The son of Lady Merity Chass of Vervunhive, growth accelerated, and sent to the front lines to meet the famous hero of Vervunhive. He's also Gaunt's son. |
| 588 | ---- |
| 589 | * CommonalityConnection: Is assigned Dalin Criid to show him the ropes; partly because they are both (roughly) the same age but they also have similar experience of absent families. |
| 590 | * DysfunctionalFamily: A mild example. His mother had him growth accelerated so he could assume his hereditary title sooner. She also shipped Felyx off to a dangerous warzone to meet his completely unaware father and get some life experience. Said father is far from thrilled about finding out he has a son just as they are about to launch an incredibly dangerous covert mission. At the same time, Feylx's only companion for much of this is his lifeward Maddalena, a bodyguard / servant, who had her face engineered to resemble Lady Merity Chass. If that wasn't weird enough, Gaunt slept with her too, although whether Felyx knew about this is debateable. |
| 591 | ** [[spoiler: After being discovered to be girl, Felyx admits that she thinks her mother is a pretty awful person, namely using her only child as a political tool. Her opinion of Gaunt isn't much higher after Maddalena is killed and Gaunt can't attend the funeral due to his duties]]. |
| 592 | * HiddenDepths: Revealed to have been trained in logistics and organisation in preperation to ruling Vervunhive. As it happens, this transfers pretty well to millitary logistics too. |
| 593 | * IJustWantToBeNormal: Played with. He knows that as the son of the commanding officer (and famous war hero) he would never be treated normally by the rest of the regiment. Even so, he still asks to be treated like another one of the troops, undergoing the same training regimen as them. |
| 594 | * LukeYouAreMyFather: His relationship with Gaunt is complex, having been raised all his life being told how great his father is without ever having met him. Gaunt, likewise had absolutely no idea that Felyx ever existed. Felyx is aware of how awkward the revelation is for both of them. |
| 595 | * OvershadowedByAwesome: Considering his father is a famous war hero (and the commanding officer of the regiment), he knows that he a lot to live up to. Unfortunately, everyone back home in Vervunhive is expecting this too. |
| 596 | * SweetPollyOliver: [[spoiler: 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.]] |
| 597 | * YoungerThanTheyLook: Literally. Due to a combination of warp travel time dilation and growth acceleration, he looks like a teenager but is actually much younger. |
| 598 | |
| 599 | !!Clemensew Spika |
| 600 | |
| 601 | The shipmaster of ''Highness Ser Armaduke'', tasked with shipping the Ghosts on to the Salvation's Reach operation. His career has been in steep decline, more because of politics than any lack of competence on his part. |
| 602 | ---- |
| 603 | * TheLastDJ: Has a deep insight to the workings of Chaos and how to do battle with them, but a lot of this insight and his ensuing opinions clash with the official Imperial narrative and have consequently stifled his career advances. |
| 604 | * SelectiveObliviousness: Downplayed. He initially likes to think that their mission is meant as an opportunity for his newly refitted ship and inexperienced crew to taste combat before being certified back on the Imperial Fleet. Simple silence on Gaunt's part, when he says this, has him silently admit that it's most likely just a SuicideMission and that he's considered expendable. |
| 605 | |
| 606 | !!! The Adeptus Astartes |
| 607 | |
| 608 | The following tropes apply to all of the three Marines seconded to the Tanith First. |
| 609 | ---- |
| 610 | * {{BFG}} Each of them carry bolters, the signature firearm of the Astartes, and so heavy the average human has trouble just picking one up, let alone aiming and firing it. |
| 611 | * JerkAss: They're incredibly [[BrutalHonesty blunt and unfriendly]] because they don't often interact with regular humans. As Gaunt says, they operate at a higher level. |
| 612 | * LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: When engaged aboard Salvation's Reach, they carried boarding shields which served well to deflect the flechette rounds of the Loxatl. |
| 613 | * OneManArmy: The fact that there are ''three'' of them coming tells the Ghosts that this mission is going to be hell. Eadwine, Holofurnace, and Sar Af kill nearly three hundred Loxatl Xenos mercenaries and are so terrifying, they force archenemy troops to run into Tanith fire zones. |
| 614 | * PowerArmor: Par for the course with the Astartes. Each of the three Marines brings two suits: A standard Imperator Mark suit and a Mark III "Iron" suit for boarding actions. |
| 615 | * ProHumanTransHuman: In most of Abnett's works that feature Space Marines, it's emphasized that the Space Marines are humanity's greatest champions despite not truly being human themselves. Mercure mentions that they operate on a totally different level from the Imperial Guard, facing challenges the Guard can scarcely attempt, even though their goals (the survival of the Imperium and the human race) are the same. |
| 616 | * SuperSoldier: So super that they'd rather be on the Crusade's primary front where the ''real'' action is, but they know the Salvation's Reach mission is important as well. |
| 617 | |
| 618 | !!Brother-Sergeant Eadwine, of the Silver Guard |
| 619 | |
| 620 | One of three Space Marines ceded to Gaunt's strike force in ''Salvation's Reach''. |
| 621 | ---- |
| 622 | * CreepyMonotone: Has a throat mounted augmetic which renders his voice as a monotone rasp. |
| 623 | * TheLeader: Because the three Astartes all practice different styles of combat and strategy, he was given direct command. |
| 624 | * PurpleIsPowerful: Despite the name of his chapter, the majority of his armour is purple and he's an Astartes. |
| 625 | * SwordAndGun: When boarding he carried a boltgun, boarding shield and [[ChainsawGood Chainsword]]. |
| 626 | |
| 627 | !!Brother Sar Af, of the White Scars |
| 628 | |
| 629 | One of three Space Marines ceded to Gaunt's strike force in ''Salvation's Reach''. |
| 630 | ---- |
| 631 | * ButNowIMustGo: Just as he was the only one of the three Astartes to form a connection with any of the Ghosts, Sar Af is the only one to actually stick around long enough to say goodbye to any of them after they return from the Salvation's Reach mission. Eszrah finds him when he's watching the servitors packing up the Astartes equipment, and Sar Af bids Eszrah farewell with a handshake: |
| 632 | -->"Follow your path, Eszrah Ap Niht. Only you can walk it." |
| 633 | * TheLancer: Acted as this to Eadwine. |
| 634 | * TheGunslinger: Unlike the other two Astartes accompanying the Ghosts, he only carries a bolter. |
| 635 | * TheMentor: Acts as this to Merrt, assisting him in overcoming his inability to shoot straight. Also shows the closest thing to respect to the Guard, regarding both Eszrah and Mkoll as great scouts, and is impressed by [[spoiler: Dorden's lack of fear regarding his fatal cancer.]] |
| 636 | |
| 637 | !!Brother Kater Holofurnace, of the Iron Snakes |
| 638 | |
| 639 | The last of the three Space Marines ceded to Gaunt's strike force in ''Salvation's Reach''. |
| 640 | ---- |
| 641 | * BackForTheDead: [[spoiler: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.]] |
| 642 | * ContinuityNod: His chapter appears in ''Brothers of the Snake'', which remains Abnett's ''only'' novel purely about Space Marines. |
| 643 | * DeadpanSnarker: Of the three Astartes, he is the most irreverent, claiming that he is old enough to remember some of the Imperium's glory, but is too young to care. [[SmugSuper He also wonders why the Guard are unable to keep up with the three of them, wondering if they're all dead.]] |
| 644 | * OffhandBackhand: During the assault on Salvation's Reach, a loxatl attempts to leap on him from behind, and Holofurnace just turns slightly and gives it a facefull of boarding shield. |
| 645 | * PetTheDog: [[spoiler: After the mission is over, a ceremony is held to honor those who fought, many posthumously, and as Gaunt begins to read off the list of names, the usually smug, irreverent Holofurnace raises his halberd in salute to the fallen.]] |
| 646 | |
| 647 | |
| 648 | [[/folder]] |
| 649 | |
| 650 | [[folder: Chaos]] |
| 651 | |
| 652 | !!Archon Nadzybar |
| 653 | |
| 654 | Chaos overlord who commanded the resistance against the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Killed by the Imperials in a raging battle on Balhaut, the same battle where Slaydo was killed. His death left a power vacuum, which was eventually filled by Urlock Gaur. |
| 655 | ---- |
| 656 | * DecapitatedArmy: Nadzybar's death causes this, as the subordinate warlords under his command either pull back to secure territory, or begin fighting amongst themselves to fill the power vaccuum left by his death. |
| 657 | * EldritchAbomination: Likely due to the influence of Chaos. He is described in appearance as having been "a hunched, mutated figure whose limbs were so twisted as to appear insectile. His head had three faces, none of which had eyes in their sockets". |
| 658 | * LongDeadBadass: Has been dead for a long time before the start of the novels. |
| 659 | * TakingYouWithMe: Was killed by Warmaster Slaydo on Balhaut, but fatally injured his Imperial counterpart in that final battle. |
| 660 | |
| 661 | |
| 662 | |
| 663 | !!Archon Urlock Gaur |
| 664 | |
| 665 | 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 it is taken by Imperial forces in ''Sabbat Martyr''. |
| 666 | ---- |
| 667 | * AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Though never the first in anything among Nadzybar's lieutenants--charisma, tactical ability, or strategic genius--he came out on top for the simple reason that his EliteArmy, the Blood Pact, was large and disciplined enough to dominate the other warlords' hosts. |
| 668 | * EliteMooks: The Blood Pact. |
| 669 | * EvilCounterpart: The Blood Pact is explicitly patterned on the Imperial Guard, making them much more effective than typical Chaos rabble. |
| 670 | * TheGhost: He gets talked up a lot starting in Book 5, but has yet to make an on-page appearance. |
| 671 | * GreaterScopeVillain: In overall command, and therefore above all the Chaos warlords and generals the Ghosts have yet encountered. |
| 672 | * OrcusOnHisThrone: The vast majority of Gaunt's Ghosts has little to do with the war's primary front, meaning the most powerful Chaos warlord has done very little witnessed by the audience. |
| 673 | * PoweredArmor: While never described in detail, it is known that he wears a set and that the edges of its plates are jagged and sharp. The Blood Pact take their name from an initiation ritual where they cut their hands on his armor to seal their devotion to him and each other as fraternal warriors. |
| 674 | |
| 675 | |
| 676 | !!Enok Innokenti |
| 677 | |
| 678 | 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. He dies in combat against Sabbat herself, at the end of ''Sabbat Martyr''. |
| 679 | ---- |
| 680 | * AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Par for course with Chaos. [[spoiler: It isn't enough to save him]]. |
| 681 | * BigBad: Of ''Sabbat Martyr''. |
| 682 | * DecapitatedArmy: Both used and averted. [[spoiler: His army doesn't ''surrender'' when Sabbat cuts his head off, but they are enormously demoralized, while the Imperials go into [[UnstoppableRage Righteous Fury Overdrive]]. In the end, they're hunted down and annihilated.]] |
| 683 | * FlunkyBoss: Sends out assassins to try to kill Saint Sabbat before facing her in a duel. |
| 684 | |
| 685 | |
| 686 | !!Anakwanar Sek |
| 687 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sek_3.png]] |
| 688 | |
| 689 | 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 Enok Innokenti is KIA. |
| 690 | ---- |
| 691 | * AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Zigzagged for those looking at him. Sek appears to use his powers to appear more threatening than he actually is. We aren't told what chaos followers see when they look at him, but the Imperials looking at him see something different; variously - a daemonic juggernaut, a power-armoured giant, a eldritch husk dripping in warp power. His real appearance is that of a comparitively fragile looking old man, albeit one with an endless void where his mouth ought to be. |
| 692 | * AmbiguousSituation: Whilst the being known as Anakwanar Sek is very definitely dead, the short stories around the Sabbat Worlds Crusade suggest that the "Voice" so often alluded to by Sek's follower's is still around.. |
| 693 | * BigBad: Of most of The Lost, especially ''Traitor General'' and ''The Armour of Contempt''. As the title villain, also naturally appears in ''Anarch'' |
| 694 | * DragonWithAnAgenda: [[spoiler: While he serves Gaur, it is noted that Sek feels the title of Archon should have come to him after Nadzybar's death, and wants to supplant his master]]. |
| 695 | * TheDreaded: To The Imperium, though Gaur is in overall control of the Chaos forces in the Sabbat World, it's felt that Sek is a far more tactically capable and strategically dangerous enemy than his master, and that if Sek were to succeed in supplanting Gaur, it would prove an extreme danger to the success of the Imperial crusade. |
| 696 | * TheGhost: Much like his master, he's yet to make a direct appearance in the novels. We do get to see his picture in the ''Sabbat Worlds'' background book. It's....[[{{Squick}} not pretty.]] |
| 697 | ** Finally appears in ''Anarch.'' |
| 698 | * EliteMooks: The Sons of Sek are modeled after the Blood Pact, and as equally ruthlessly efficient. The Quiramah are even more dangerous and rarer, with only 64 existing at any one time. Deploying one is a rarity. All 64 is unheard of. |
| 699 | * KeystoneArmy: Zigzagged. Sek's death results in the great victory at Urdesh and an immediate weakening of his operations. However the "Voice" so often mentioned around Sek's mystique is very much still around and looking for sucessors. |
| 700 | * TheEvilGenius: Feared as Chaos's most capable strategist within the Sabbat Worlds, with the possible and posthumous exception of Heritor Asphodel. |
| 701 | * LargeHamTitle: Read ''Traitor General'' and take a shot every time his name is mentioned and followed with "Whose Voice Shall Drown Out All Others." We'll brew some coffee for your eventual hangover. |
| 702 | * RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler: It takes a ''lot'' to finally put him down for good. At the time, Sek is still recovering from grievous injuries sustained by the feedback of the failed Warp Vortex trap unleashed to kill the Saint; and being set to address his followers, is unarmoured and unshielded. Getting shot several dozen times by small arms and a heavy weapon, caught in the explosion of an anti-tank mine, skewered through with a power lance as wide as a meat cleaver, and getting stabbed through the heart with a serrated dagger is little more than a series of minor inconveniences. Thankfully, shoving another anti-tank mine down his throat '''finally''' does the job.]] |
| 703 | * TheStarscream: Intends to train up his elite Sons of Sek, then kill Archon Gaur and take over. His scheme may or may not account for the bit where they're both at war with the Imperium. |
| 704 | |
| 705 | |
| 706 | |
| 707 | !!Nokad the Blighted |
| 708 | |
| 709 | 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. Killed in action on Bucephalon, courtesy of a headshot from "Mad" Larkin. |
| 710 | ---- |
| 711 | * BoomHeadshot: Dies to one of these. |
| 712 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Possibly. The bulk of the Chaos troops and leaders throughout the series seem to be Khornate, while Nokad appears to follow Nurgle; it's rare that Chaos troops following different patrons get along. |
| 713 | ** Khorne's arch-rival in the Chaos pantheon is Slaanesh (martial prowess and blood-spilling versus sadistic hedonism and prolonged torture). While none of the Chaos gods can stand each other, their followers, if not diametrically opposed to one another, will on rare occasions team up to battle a common foe. So it's possible, but certainly not the norm. |
| 714 | * KeystoneArmy: [[spoiler: Without their beloved leader, his army pretty much falls apart, and the Ghosts are able to destroy them]]. |
| 715 | |
| 716 | |
| 717 | !!Sholen Skara |
| 718 | |
| 719 | 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. 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. |
| 720 | ---- |
| 721 | * BloodKnight: To be expected from a follower of Khorne, though Skara is said to be so obsessed with death, regardless of whether it is of his forces or his enemies (as any death is an offering to Khorne) to the point that he will order his own forces to commit mass suicide rather than be captured. |
| 722 | * CruelMercy: Gaunt offers [[spoiler: Caffran]], the one responsible for the victory over Skara, the honour of executing him. [[spoiler: Caffran]], however, recognizes that Skara is so obsessed with death that killing him would be giving the warlord what he wants, urges them to keep him alive, knowing that it would be a far more fitting punishment. |
| 723 | * FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler: Handed over to the Inquisition after his capture]]. |
| 724 | |
| 725 | |
| 726 | !!Pater Sin |
| 727 | |
| 728 | 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. Reappears in ''Sabbat Martyr'' as one of the assassins tasked with killing the Saint, and is killed by Corbec. |
| 729 | ---- |
| 730 | * AndThisIsFor: Corbec kills Sin in revenge for the death of [[spoiler: Yael, a Tanith trooper tortured to death by Sin and his lackies on Hagia while Corbec was helpless to stop them]]. |
| 731 | * CreepyChild: [[spoiler: In ''Sabbat Martyr'']], he has twin psyker-children who he uses to amplify his powers. |
| 732 | * DemotedToExtra: He appears to be kicked downstairs after serving as the BigBad in ''Honour Guard''; in [[spoiler: Sabbat Martyr]] he's merely a hired gun for another warlord, albeit a very powerful one. |
| 733 | |
| 734 | |
| 735 | !!Sagittar Slaith |
| 736 | |
| 737 | 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 surviving several attempts by Ghost snipers to kill him, Slaith perishes when a bomb planted by Mkoll detonates inside his command centre. |
| 738 | ---- |
| 739 | * BaldOfEvil |
| 740 | * BigNo: Shouts one when he sees [[spoiler: the bomb Mkoll planted in his command centre]]. |
| 741 | * BloodKnight: To be expected from a Khorne worshipper. |
| 742 | * BloodMagic: In the prelude to the battle for the city of Ouranberg, Slaith intends to symbolically renew his pact to Urlock Gaur. The ritual involves sacrificing captured Imperial prisoners and using their blood to fill an enormous brass cauldron, enough to hold fifty litres of blood. |
| 743 | * DecapitatedArmy: [[spoiler: Slaith's death just as the Imperial assault on Ouranberg gets underway destroys the morale of the Blood Pact on Phantine and heavily contributes to the Imperial victory]]. |
| 744 | * ImmuneToBullets: [[spoiler: Has an energy shield built into his power armour, making him impervious to las-fire. Unfortunately, it's not proof against other things...like explosives]]. |
| 745 | * IsThatTheBestYouCanDo: [[spoiler: Invokes this trope when confronted by Mkoll in his command centre, pointing out that he and his loxatl bodyguards are immune to fire from Mkoll's lasgun. Mkoll [[InsultBackfire retorts]] that he isn't planning to kill Slaith with the gun...he's just keeping him distracted for a few minutes to run down the timer on the bomb he planted]]. |
| 746 | * LargeAndInCharge: Is described as being massive, enough to wear a suit of Space Marine power armour (though it's not specified in text whether he actually is a Chaos Space Marine or is just wearing a cannibalised suit of power armour. |
| 747 | |
| 748 | !!Heritor Asphodel |
| 749 | |
| 750 | 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. Killed in single combat by Gaunt, though not before very nearly killing him. |
| 751 | ---- |
| 752 | * AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: In addition to his armies and machines, Asphodel is enormous; more to the point, he [[spoiler: comes the closest anyone ever has to killing Gaunt, Blood Pact included]]. |
| 753 | * AwesomeButImpractical: Most of his war machines are ludicrously designed; while deadly, they were much less efficient than they could have been. [[spoiler: The key word here is "most of them". His more subtle creations were incredibly dangerous and effective.]]. |
| 754 | * DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Invoked by Gaunt when arguing the evidence for Asphodel's return, pointing out that the tactics being used by the Zoican forces are ones Asphodel is known to favour. |
| 755 | * TheDreaded: One of the pre-chapter quotes after he's introduced is a quote from an Imperial Guardsman ''begging'' for the Imperial forces to kill them before Asphodel does. |
| 756 | * EldritchAbomination: Heavily implied to have either already become or be well on the way to becoming a daemon prince. |
| 757 | * TheEvilGenius: Master of baroque and complex mechanical designs. According to the ''Sabbat Worlds'' guidebook, he required Titan Legions to destroy most of his mechanical army, as regular infantry and tank regiments were little more than fodder. And according to the anthologies, he wasn't Mechanicus or Dark Mechanicus trained; ''he was entirely self-educated and designed all his war machines himself''. |
| 758 | ** 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. If the use of the term Mechanicum (as in the pre-heresy organisation) is accurate, then it's likely he's millenia old. |
| 759 | * HumanoidAbomination: Take a good long look at his picture, just look. Most of his features are obscured by armor, but he towers far above a normal man, he emits electrical sparks of Chaos energy and his eyes glow. If he is still human or Astartes by this stage, it’s a fair bet to say he won’t be any longer. |
| 760 | * KeystoneArmy: The Zoican troops were controlled by the transmissions of his massive command vehicle, The Spike. [[spoiler: Gaunt infiltrates the Spike with a small force and disables it, then kills Asphodel, freeing the Zoicans from his control.]] |
| 761 | * KillItWithFire: After the battle, [[spoiler: Asphodel's corpse is ritually incinerated by the Imperial Fists, and Ferrazoica Hive, along with its entire population, is destroyed by orbital bombardment]]. |
| 762 | * LargeAndInCharge: Stands at 6 meters or damned near 20 feet. |
| 763 | * NeverFoundTheBody: Asphodel was presumed killed on Balhaut, but Gaunt notes to his fellow commanders when Asphodel's presence on Verghast is revealed that it was never confirmed that he (along with a great many of the Archon's lieutenants) perished along with their master. |
| 764 | * TakingYouWithMe: At the same moment [[spoiler: Gaunt fatally stabs him through the chest with his powersword, Asphodel shoots Gaunt point-blank in the heart with a bolt pistol. Gaunt is lucky to survive and takes several months of intense medical treatment to recover]]. |
| 765 | * VillainousLegacy: As seen in The Anarch and Sabbat War short story Armaduke, Heritor Asphodel’s [[spoiler: woe machines]] continue to kill a colossal number of people even after is death, and almost tilt the balance of the war. May even qualify as a posthumous {{Took a Level in Badass}}, as in life he was just another {{Villain of the Week}} but in death we realize what a brilliant and cross-disciplinary {{Mad Scientist}} he really was. |
| 766 | * WorthyOpponent: Gaunt, the only one amongst the Imperials on Verghast to have encountered Asphodel before, makes it plain just how dangerous Asphodel is. |
| 767 | -->'''Gaunt''': His ruthlessness is immeasurable, his brutality staggering and the charismatic force of his personality as a leader cannot be underestimated. And, with the possible exception of Sek, he is probably the most tactically brilliant of all Nadzybar's commanders. |
| 768 | -->'''Sturm''': It almost sounds like you admire the bastard. |
| 769 | -->'''Gaunt''': I don't underestimate him. |
| 770 | |
| 771 | !!Nine |
| 772 | |
| 773 | [[ArcNumber Nine]] assassins raised by Enok Innokenti to kill Saint Sabbat in ''Sabbat Martyr''. They include three alien loxatl, deadly mercenary triplets with armored skin; Pater Sin, a warlord himself, and two of his psykers; a Dark Eldar Mandrake; the best sniper in the second front Blood Pact; and a Chaos Space Marine Dreadnought. |
| 774 | ---- |
| 775 | * ArcNumber: There are nine assassins because Sabbat suffered Nine Holy Wounds when she was martyred. |
| 776 | * ColdSniper: Saul, the Blood Pact sharpshooter. |
| 777 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: Most of them get a short introductory scene against some RedShirts. |
| 778 | * FlechetteStorm: The primary weapon of the loxatl mercenaries. |
| 779 | * HeroKiller: The whole point of The Nine. Counting [[spoiler: Cuu, who is mind controlled by them]], they bag a number of Imperial officers, dozens of Ghosts and other infantry, [[spoiler: Corbec]], and ''almost'' the Saint herself. |
| 780 | * LivingShadow: Skarwael, the Dark Eldar Mandrake. |
| 781 | * NoSell: The loxatl can take multiple las hits without even slowing down. |
| 782 | * SiblingTeam: The loxatl brood are triplets. |
| 783 | |
| 784 | !!Desolane |
| 785 | |
| 786 | A tall, horned, sexless daemonoid lifeward, charged with guarding General Noches Sturm while Sturm is being held on Gereon. |
| 787 | ---- |
| 788 | * AbsurdlySharpBlade: Wields dual ketra blades, and he's very good with them. |
| 789 | * AmbiguousGender: Appears to be sexless, and its voice isn't fully male or female. |
| 790 | * BadassCape: Wears one that flows with its movements and seems to be not quite attached to its body. |
| 791 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: even Desolane, warped creature of Chaos and all, seems to think that [[spoiler: the real Noches Sturm]] is a pompous windbag, and can barely tolerate being near him/ |
| 792 | * HornedHumanoid: And with cloven hooves rather than feet. |
| 793 | * HumanoidAbomination: A Daemonic, humanoid mess with cloven hooves, horns and a cape that reflects its otherworldly nature. |
| 794 | * NobleDemon: Desolane is a warped creature of Chaos, but never shows anything less than devotion to his duty and his charge. |
| 795 | * OurDemonsAreDifferent: It seems to have daemonic traits, but it isn't outright stated whether or not it actually is a daemon. Actual daemons don't tend to stick around for very long in realspace, so it may be some sort of humanoid that has been possessed by a daemon or "blessed" at some point in its life by the Ruinous Powers. |
| 796 | * NoMouth: Its head is covered with a bronze mask that seems welded on, with slits for its horns and eyes. [[spoiler: Sturm, while still the amnesiac pheguth]], wonders how it eats, or ''if'' it eats. |
| 797 | * PetTheDog: Desolane comes to genuinely care for the pheguth's well-being, but [[spoiler: he doesn't like the pheguth's transition back into Noches Sturm.]] |
| 798 | * WhatBeautifulEyes: Its eyes are blue, and very humanlike, as the pheguth notes, but positioned a bit too low on its face. |
| 799 | |
| 800 | !!Mabbon Etogaur |
| 801 | |
| 802 | A former Blood Pact officer working for Anakwanar Sek; "Etogaur" is a Blood Pact rank equivalent to general. |
| 803 | ---- |
| 804 | * 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.]] |
| 805 | ** [[spoiler:Ultimately averted, he remains defected to the Imperium to his death. The revelation of him being a Quiramah highlights his sincerity - he could have easily transformed and escaped or assassinated numerous important officers at any moment if he had truly wanted to]]. |
| 806 | *** Lampshaded in the short story "You Never Know." [[spoiler:Mabbon complains about having his cell and body cavities searched every six hours, telling Varl it's pointless. Varl explains it's to make sure Mabbon isn't trying to summon a daemon to sicc on them. In ''Anarch'', Mabbon is revealed to be a daemonic entity himself.]] |
| 807 | ---->[[spoiler:'''Mabbon:''' "It's pointless because if I wanted to escape, I would have done so by now. And I ''could'' have done so."]] |
| 808 | * DeadpanSnarker: He has a dry sense of humor, often drawing on his own status as a former Chaos soldier and defector. At one point in 'The Warmaster', he directly translates a Chaos message caught on vox, then explains: |
| 809 | --> "What it actually means,’ he said, ‘is that we are, to use Sergeant Varl’s vernacular, spectacularly fethed.’" |
| 810 | ** Also in 'Salvation's Reach': |
| 811 | --> '''Larkin, looking at the religious pamphlets Mabbon is reading:''' "Good read?" |
| 812 | --> '''Mabbon:''' "I enjoy the subject matter." |
| 813 | --> '''Larkin:''' "A doctrine of conversion to the Imperial Creed?" |
| 814 | --> '''Mabbon:''' "Fantasy." |
| 815 | * DeathSeeker: if his words in 'Anarch' are to be taken at face value then this is what a lifetime of fighting first for the Imperium and then for Chaos basically turned him into. He tells one of his prison guards that basically he's been on both sides and seen that neither side is any closer to ending the conflict - nor do they seem particularly eager to do so; so he might as well die to escape the whole debacle. How much he can be trusted is an exercise left to the reader but he definitely has a point. |
| 816 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: Mabbon's reason for defecting back to the Imperium. [[spoiler: The Sabbat Worlds has an ancient super-weapon hidden somewhere in it, something so terrible that an avowed Chaos supporter like Mabbon found the idea of unleashing it to be abominable. His defection was to ensure the Imperium either destroyed it or rendered it impossible to operate.]] |
| 817 | * 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. He later saves Rawne's life, after attempting to sacrifice his own life to the Quiramah sent to hunt them down]]. |
| 818 | * EnemyCivilWar: He leaves the Blood Pact and trains the Sons of Sek on Gereon, who will presumably be used by Sek to overthrow Urlock Gaur. |
| 819 | * HumanoidAbomination:[[spoiler:He's Quiramah, a pseudo-daemonic supersolder and notably one of the greatest ever created. He finally unleashes his true form during the end of Anarch.]] |
| 820 | * OldSoldier: Of Chaos, and formerly the Imperial Guard. |
| 821 | * PleaseDontLeaveMe: Inverted at the end of ''Salvation's Reach'', where he asks Gaunt, "Aren't you going to leave me?" believing he's outlived his usefulness and will be left behind when the Ghosts pull back. Gaunt replies, "I'll decide when your duty ends." |
| 822 | * TheAtoner: Appears sincere in his desire to help the Imperium. As of ''Anarch'', [[spoiler:his HeelFaceTurn is genuine.]] |
| 823 | --> '''Mabbon:''' "Every effort I make is to reclaim my humanity. To purge the blood. To make amends. To become again the person I once was." |
| 824 | * SuicidalPacifist: After [[spoiler:finishing his mission to give the Imperium the key to an ancient superweapon so Chaos won't use it]] in 'Salvation's Reach', Mabbon swears an oath of non-violence. In 'Anarch', [[spoiler: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.]] |
| 825 | --> [[spoiler:'''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."]] |
| 826 | --> [[spoiler:'''Rawne:''' "Well, I've seen some things. Now I've met the only fething pacifist objector in this whole fething galaxy."]] |
| 827 | ** [[spoiler:Subverted.]] In 'Anarch', [[spoiler: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.]] |
| 828 | * TheStoic |
| 829 | |
| 830 | !!Handro Rime and the Sirkle |
| 831 | |
| 832 | A deadly agent of Anarch Sek, who use a combination of augmetic surgery, psyker tricks and 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'. |
| 833 | ---- |
| 834 | * HeroKiller: In 'Salvation'''s Reach' he is responsible for the deaths of several named characters and comes horrifically close to killing [[spoiler: Etogaur Mabbon]]. Twice. |
| 835 | * InspectorJavert: Initially appears to be [[spoiler: an Inquisitor too eager to see Gaunt dead as a Chaos agent. How ironic.]] |
| 836 | * WouldHurtAChild: When his attempt on [[spoiler:Mabbon]] fails he takes Yoncy as a human shield. |
| 837 | |
| 838 | !!Yoncy Criid |
| 839 | |
| 840 | 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. |
| 841 | ---- |
| 842 | * ChildrenAreInnocent: [[spoiler:It's not very clear how much she is aware of her purpose and it seems to frighten her, at least at first.]] |
| 843 | * HumanoidAbomination: [[spoiler: She's a Woe Machine. Although, unlike the titan-sized monstrosities created for assaulting Vervunhive, she was made for a far more insidious purpose. She is completely human in appearance and undetectable until she uses her powers. Then she becomes the "Bad Shadow".]] |
| 844 | * KillAndReplace: [[spoiler: Quite likely the fate of the original Yoncy Criid by whatever is inhabiting the name now. Some suspicion is thrown on her, albeit too late to change anything, because a few of the Verghasite troopers and camp followers claim that Gol never had a daughter.]] |
| 845 | * LaserGuidedTykebomb: [[spoiler:Her final goal is to decapitate the chain of command of the entire crusade.]] |
| 846 | * WalkingSpoiler: [[spoiler: Considering she is a character appearing since the third book.]] |
| 847 | [[/folder]] |
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