This is a list of characters belonging to the various non-human races from Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. Please beware of spoilers. If you haven't finished the series you're probably best off not reading past the character descriptions.
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Imass / T'lan Imass
Imass / T'lan Imass in General
Baudin: 'T'lan Imass were never nothing but trouble. Always two sides to whatever they did, maybe more than two. Maybe hundreds.'
The T'lan Imassnote are what remained of the Imass — considered one of the Four Founding Races — after they rose up against their Jaghut oppressors and enacted a ritual that turned every one of them into walking corpses, all to better be able to pursue their avowed genocide against their former rulers. They are seldom seen anymore and feared whenever they do show themselves, yet may actually be the ancestors of humans.
- Age Without Youth: The T'lan Imass are a whole race that went through a ritual to make every member of it immortal so they could exterminate their sworn enemies. They forgot to include the 'eternal youth' sub-clause, though. Subverted in that being walking mummified skeletons makes them even more effective in combat. However, they cannot die. Ever. When any one gets damaged enough to be unable to fight, they are either left where they fell or, given sufficiently heroic deeds, placed in a place with a nice vista they can admire for rest of eternity.
- Animorphism: The T'lan Imass Bonecasters are able to turn into their respective spirit animal at will. It is implied that the transformation may affect them mentally as well; for example, Monok Ochem, having turned into what amounts to a prehistoric gorilla, loses his shit on the spot in House of Chains despite being an emotionless walking corpse otherwise.
- BFS: Anyone who's not a Bonecaster among the T'lan Imass is a warrior, and the majority of them seem to prefer the sword as their weapons. These swords tend to be almost as tall as their wielders, made of flint stone and get handled one-handed.
- The Dead Have Eyes: Despite having completely dried up eyes hidden deep within their sockets as befits walking desiccated corpses, the T'lan Imass are perfectly able to see. Onrack claims it's magic, the same kind that keeps them upright and mobile.
- Dem Bones: The T'lan Imass are somewhere between skeletons and zombies, as they still retain their skin and other tissue, but never were dead so weren't actually raised from the dead. No, instead a couple hundred thousand years ago they enacted a ritual which made their entire race into walking dried-up corpses to better be able to take revenge upon the Jaghut. They retained their conscience but their identities suffered some, creating an atmosphere in which anyone not heeling or toeing to the cause becomes an outcast and is to be hunted down and destroyed. During the Malazan conquest of Quon Tali and the subcontinent of Seven Cities, the Logros T'lan Imassnote were Emperor Kellanved'snote dreaded undead mooks but disappeared again after his deathnote . The T'lan Imass also can turn into dust to travel over long distances, but cannot reform above or within water, which some use as a convenient way to effectively commit suicide.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Some members of the Jaghut, who later became known as the Jaghut Tyrants, enslaved the mortal Imass and demanded to be worshipped as gods. Upon discovering that to not be true, the Imass vowed to exterminate the entire race, not just the ones responsible.
- The Dog Bites Back: The war between the Imass and the Jaghut is a species-wide example. The Imass rebelled against the Jaghut Tyrant warlocks, and drove the Jaghut to near extinction. To ensure they were thorough, almost the entire species enacted a ritual to turn them into undead, and the T'lan Imass have spent the last 320,000 years hunting the Jaghut.
- The Dreaded: One morning, when the citizens of Unta woke up to greet the day, they found a bunch of undead manning the palace's walls. Thus the Emperor-to-be Kellanved conquered Unta, giving every ruler on the continent nightmares in which hoary undead would sneak into their palace and murder them in their sleep. By the beginning of the main series, the T'lan Imass have gained a reputation as Kellanved's advance forces and are feared for simply cutting down everyone in their way without missing a step. Add to that their ability to turn into dust at will and the empire's ruthless expansionism and make sure to bring your brown pants.
- The Empire: Subverted. The T'lan Imass are very particular about having founded the true First Empire — which is not to be confused with the human First Empire — and dislike the human arrogance of claiming the title for themselves. However, in contrast to the human First Empire that truly was an empire, albeit a benevolent one, the Imass First Empire was nothing but a loose collection of allied tribes claiming to have founded the first organized civilization.
- Enemies with Death: Hood has a beef with the T'lan Imass as a whole, as is revealed in The Crippled God, who are a race that collectively cheated death by becoming undead. For a long time, he could do nothing about it, but then the T'lan Imass decided to make Dassem Ultor their champion, and since such motions have metaphysical investiture in the series, all Hood had to do was to serve him the information the T'lan Imass had just made him the God of Tragedy on a hot platter. It's never explicitly explained what truly happened, but Onos T'oolan claims that Dassem and his daughter were actually Hood's weapons directed at the T'lan Imass.
- Fantastic Racism: The T'lan Imass really hate the Jaghut for playing them in the past, and would go to great lengths to kill any Jaghut they find. Later on, they also start to dislike the Tiste Liosan quite thoroughly. As Onrack explains it, his people cannot abide arrogance and he's always figured that having something to focus their dislike upon is a good thing, yet single targets are simply not good enough.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The Imass are essentially the Malazan Book of the Fallen equivalent of the Neanderthals, sharing the latter's build and bone structure as well as the budding culture of a cave-dwelling hunter-gatherer society. Like the Neanderthals in the real world, they also interbred with and were hunted as prey by early humans, depending on the location, but unlike the real world Neanderthals, the Imass are strongly implied to have been the ancestors of humans.
- Genocide Backfire: Subverted. The T'lan Imass hunted down and exterminated almost the entire Jaghut race with only a few individuals having escaped their notice and hiding in remote locations. That would be bad news anyway, as the Jaghut tend to be powerhouses capable of destroying armies even when on their own, but actually subscribe to the 'No hard feelings, guys, some of us were real bastards.'-approach and just want to be left alone, not enact revenge upon the T'lan Imass.
- Implacable Man: An entire race of them. When the T'lan Imass decide you need to die, they will follow you and hunt you down even if it takes crossing into other realms, killing demons and gods on their way. They're also immortal and cannot be even wounded, and can turn to dust. Enjoy jumping at every puff of that stuff.
- Mutilation Conga: The T'lan Imass, being already a race of undead walking skeletons, can take quite a lot of damage before they are considered damaged enough to be put to rest somewhere with a nice vista. In House of Chains, Onrack gets half his skull bitten off, chewed by a Deragoth, and loses an arm, but keeps going cheerfully.
- Neglectful Precursors: Their ritual sealing of captured Jaghut and Forkrul Assail proved ineffective in the long-term as any person with sufficient strength and interest could remove the rock and thus release the trapped being. In addition, their actions directly contributed to the destruction of magic at various locations around the world, which continues to this day.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Undead Neanderthals, basically. And the T'lan Imass Bonecastersnote are undead Neanderthal shapeshifters.
- Non-Human Undead: Though humanoid, the T'lan Imass are not and never were human, but rather undead Neanderthals who have turned themselves into undead to better be able to enact their genocide upon the Jaghut.
- Precursors: The Imass were what has become known as one of the Four Founding Races (together with their potentially Recursive Precursors the Jaghut, the Forkrul Assail and the K'Chain Che'Malle]). Having been a hunter-gatherer society, they haven't left any advanced technology behind and besides, the T'lan Imass are still around anyway. Quite literally, the Imass were also the precursors of humans, preceding and in some places co-existing with them much like the Neanderthals did in the real world.
- Species Loyalty: It is mandated by the Ritual of Tellann in the case of the T'lan Imass. They are almost approaching Hive Mind territory and immediately know it when someone breaks away. Thinking differently is a cause to hunt another down and destroy them, never mind not doing what the majority wants.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: The Bonecasters among the T'lan Imass are able to shapeshift into their respective spirit animals at will. They usually wear the skins of their animal to denote their status as Bonecaster and change their names to reflect their affiliated animalnote .
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: The T'lan Imass, zombie neanderthals who stripped themselves of their mortality to better cleanse the world from the Jaghut and now wish nothing more than to be freed from their Vow and just die already.
- Witch Doctor: The Bonecasters are the shamanic spiritual leaders of the T'lan Imass, of which a few are usually attached to a clan. Even back when the Imass were mortal, the Bonecasters were already able to shapeshift into their respective spirit animals, the skins of which they would wear to show their affiliation. As the name Bonecasters suggests, their magic was the sort that connected with nature and spirits and was aspected to the Warren of Tellann, the Path of Fire. It was also the Bonecasters who enacted the Ritual of Tellann, which turned all Imass undead. As of the beginning of the series, the Bonecasters are the de facto leaders of the T'lan Imass, answering only to the respective clan's leader and keeping everyone else in line.
Onos T'oolan/Tool
Onos T'oolan / Tool
The First Sword of the T'lan Imass and the only one who still serves the Malazan Empire.
- Berserk Button: Tool doesn't have a lot of friends. Don't hurt the ones he has.
- Cool Sword: A huge, enchanted flint sword.
- Deliberate Injury Gambit: As a T'lan Imass, Tool can surive anything short of beheading or total dismemberment. It's not surprising, therefore, that these kind of tactics feature prominently in his playbook.
- Earn Your Happy Ending
- Good Thing You Can Heal: Like most of the T'lan Imass, Tool regularly shrugs off crippling injuries, just to remind us that, yes, he is undead.
- Implacable Man: Comes with being a T'lan Imass, although even by their standards he's pretty damn hard to stop.
- Lightning Bruiser: As the First Sword, he can fight with the best, and as a T'lan Imass, he can basically become dust and travel really fast, and short of decapitation T'lan Imass don't die. However, T'lan Imass cannot materialize over water.
- Loners Are Freaks: Tool is unbound, and unconnected to any clan. Other T'lan Imass tend to view him with a mix of suspicion and awe because of this.
- Master Swordsman: Onos T'oolan used to be the First Sword of the T'lan Imass before the title was transferred to Dassem Ultor. That changed nothing about his sword skills, though, and he is still able to fight off all three members of the Seguleh Punitive Army in Memories of Ice, though not all at once. When he becomes mortal again and marries into the Barghast White Faces, he becomes clan leader based on his martial prowess.
- The Undead: Naturally.
- The Unfettered
Kilava Onass
Kilava Onass
Tool's sister, who refused to join the Ritual of Tellann.
- Loners Are Freaks: Even more so than her brother, Tool. Especially since she was the one who killed their entire tribe...
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Pannion. That is all.
- The Undead: A notable aversion; she refused to take part in the Ritual of Tellann and is now one of the only living Imass still around.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting / Panthera Awesome: As a Bonecaster, she turns into a big black panther.
Onrack the Broken
Onrack the Broken
A T'lan Imass warrior separated from his companions while hunting the Unbound.
- Fluffy Tamer: His two emlava cubs.
- Happily Married: Eventually, with Kilava. Not so much with his first wife...
- Living Forever is No Big Deal: Onrack doesn't mind being a clanless undead who walks the earth, contrary to some of his fellow T'lan Imass. As he puts it, there's always something new to see.
- Power of Friendship: With Trull Sengar.
Olar Ethil
Olar Ethil
'So many names . . . Eran'ishal, Mother to the Eres'al—my first and most sentimental of choices. Rath Evain to the Forkrul Assail. Stone Bitch to the Jaghut. I have had a face in darkness, a son in shadow, a bastard in light. I have been named the Mother Beneath the Mountain, Ayala Alalle who tends the Gardens of the Moon, for ever awaiting her lover. I am Burn the Sleeping Goddess, in whose dreams life flowers unending, even as those dreams twist into nightmares. I am scattered to the very edge of the Abyss, possessor of more faces than any other Elder.'
The First Bonecaster, Olar Ethil was responsible for the casting of the Ritual of Tellann, which turned the Imass into the undead T'lan Imass.
- Boom, Headshot!: She is shot through the eye by Torrent with his Rhivi bow after being restored to life by Fener's blood.
- Dracolich: Being the First Bonecaster, Olar Ethil is also a Soletaken. However, since she is undead, her Soletaken form is that of an undead dragon.
- Fantastic Racism: She despises the Jaghut, and it is implied that her own prejudices were responsible for spurring the Imass to their genocidal wars against them.
- Too Dumb to Live: The more screentime she gets, the more it becomes clear that she has incredibly poor judgement. Torrent has to prevent her from getting herself killed by Ryadd and Silchas Ruin and she dramatically misjudges Tool in her scheming.
- Villainous Crush: It is revealed shortly before her final defeat that she desires Tool romantically. She denied him permission to pass Hood's Gate and stole his children to this end, intending to give him a number of gifts (including his own children) to win his affections and rule the Imass alongside him.
Jaghut
Jaghut in General
Seguleh Second: 'The dour Tiste Andii and the suicidal Edur, they are as nothing to the miserable madness of the Jaghut!'
The Jaghut are considered one of the Four Founding Races and as mostly extinct by the time of the main series, although a few remain in remote, isolated locations. Their magic is ice-aspected due to their access to Omtose Phellack, the Elder Warren of Ice.
- Endless Winter: The Jaghut were fond of bringing about ice ages. Elder God Mael calls ice 'the Jaghut answer to everything'. When the Imass, whom some Jaghut Tyrants had enslaved, declared war on their masters and put themselves to the task of hunting down and killing every last Jaghut, the Jaghut called down an ice age so that the Imass — who were hunters and gatherers — would starve. The continent Lether still sports geographically unusual glaciers and ice wastes as a result of Gothos freezing the place at the request of Mael, effectively blocking the way for the dead to pass on and making the creation of undead easy-peasy on Lether.
- Evil Overlord: In the setting's prehistory, the Jaghut were a race of precursors who were immensely powerful, nigh-immortal mages, but generally peaceful hermits. The exceptions to this rule were Jaghut Tyrants, who used their vast powers to enslave other races and rule as god-kings. The Tyrants caused such damage that another race of precursors, the T'lan Imass, swore an eternal oath to wipe out the Jaghut to prevent any more tyrants arising. Though Tyrants are referenced many times throughout the series, the only one who is named is Raest.
- God-Emperor: Some Jaghut, who would later become known as the Jaghut Tyrants, used to get a kick out of enslaving the then mortal Imass and rule over them, demanding to be worshipped as gods. They had the power to back it up, though eventually the Imass caught on and decided that clearly, the only way to end that nonsense would be to kill all Jaghut, tyrant or not.
- An Ice Person: The Jaghut can access the warren of Omtose Phellack, the Path of Ice, also known as the Ice Hold. They are fond of calling down ice ages to protect themselves from, e.g., the Imass, and Elder God Mael calls ice 'the Jaghut answer to everything'. In Midnight Tides, Gothos is seen freezing the entire continent of Lether at the request of Mael. Ice is also associated with death, what with Hood, Lord of Death, being a Jaghut.
- Kill It with Ice: The Jaghut way to get rid of enemies was to call down an ice age to starve them. Or to simply freeze them and walk away.
- The Maker: Those old enough to remember claim that the Jaghut used to dabble in the creation of other, minor races, both sentient and not. It can be said with certainty that they were responsible for the creation of the Jhag horsesnote , the Nachtsnote and the Boleadnote .
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: The Jaghut are an ancient Proud Scholar Race who view civilization as being inherently exploitive and corrupt (they built a nation long ago; it didn't work out) and mostly live as hermits to the point that other races typically consider them either mythical or extinct. Every so often, however, a Jaghut would succumb to the lure of power and become a Jaghut Tyrant; being effectively immortal and immensely powerful mages, they would set themselves up as God Emperors among other races. Notable Tyrants include Raest and the Pannion Seer. Though very few Jaghut became Tyrants, the threat of them was considered so great that another ancient race, the T'lan Imass, dedicated their lives (and undeath) to exterminating the Jaghut just to be on the safe side.
- Neglectful Precursors: The Jaghut themselves weren't slacking off in that regard. Known for having created some other races just for fun (they didn't need them for anything in particular), some of those sentient or semi-sentient killing machines (the Boles, the Nachts), they then just up and left them to do whatever they pleased, which includes looking for new things to hate and kill because, well, that's what they do best.
- Our Orcs Are Different: The Jaghut are greyish-green skinned and tusked. By the time of the main series only a few Jaghut remain, but they are considered one of the four Founding Races and have a strong affinity to ice-aspected magic. Jaghut prefer to live in solitude, although some have been known as Jaghut Tyrants — powerful Jaghut who pretended to be as gods and enslaved the Imass, causing the latter to rebel and eventually to vow to hunt the Jaghut into extinction. Later books reveal that the Jaghut used to have a thriving civilization, which they simply gave up and walked away from because the Lord of Hate, aka Gothos, convinced them that civilization is pointless. A trait common to most Jaghut is their dry as dust sense of humour.
- Recursive Precursors: Even though the T'lan Imass claim to have founded the First Empire — which is not to be confused with the human First Empire —, later information reveals that the Jaghut had a thriving civilization in which all the concurrently existing races intermingled even before the Imass; they just went and decided that civilization is not worth the trouble, gave up on it and became hermits. And that's not even mentioning the Azathanai, who were around before everyone else.
- Shout-Out: The Jaghut are based on the Green Martians from John Carter of Mars.
- Soul Jar: A so-called Finnest is an object used as a repository of power (and occasionally actual souls) by the Jaghut, although some non-Jaghut have taken up the practise as well. Thus far, the most often seen use for this in the series has been to store the power/soul of someone dangerously powerful and vicious in a Finnest in order to be able to imprison them, as such beings tend to be nigh unkillable if not outright immortal. Objects used for the purpose can be as varied as an acorn and a dagger.
Gothos
Gothos
- An Ice Person: Par of the course for the Jaghut. In fact, this one in particular froze the whole Lether continent.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Like most Jaghut, shows a rather... weird sense of humor.
- "I greet you as guests and so will not crush the life from you and devour your souls with peals of laughter. No, instead, I will make some tea.""Ah, I despair, or I would if I cared enough. No, instead, I will make some ashcakes. Which I will not share."
- Famed In-Story: He's famous In the Malaz world for, among other things, writing texts such as Gothos' Folly.
- The Hermit: Like most non-Tyrant Jaghut. To the point where he willingly lives in an Azath house.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The Lord of Hate.
- Nietzsche Wannabe: Oh yeah. His work, Gothos' Folly, is described as a suicide note dozens of volumes long.
- Parental Neglect: To his son Icarium, a rather screwed up individual.
- Person of Mass Destruction: When you can casually freeze an entire continent...
- Really 700 Years Old: He's thousands of years old, and doesn't look like it.
- Troll: Really enjoys jerking Kilmandaros and Mael around.
Raest
Raest
- A God Am I: Like many Jaghut Tyrants, Raest took perverse delight in being perceived as a god by the Imass.
- Arc Villain: For Gardens of the Moon.
- Armour Is Useless: You don't even find out he was wearing it until several books after the fight. To be fair, he was fighting Dragons, so it probably didn't make all that much difference.
- Deadpan Snarker: Is evolving into one as the series progresses. His sense of humour is definitely an odd one though.
- Morality Pet: Has several Malazan soldiers find him a dead cat. He brings it to life so that it can keep him company inside the House of Azath and names it Tufty.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: The Jaghut loathed community and avoided it as though it were a disease, believing it led only to horror and violence. Raest is a Tyrant, who gets his kicks out of enslaving weaker species.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Well, sealed in a barrow anyway, and by his own species no less. His Finnest, which contains most of his power, is also an example.
- Soul Jar: The Finnest has most of Raest's power in it.
- Summon Bigger Fish: The Malazans's goal in releasing him is to set him against Anomander Rake in order to weaken the Lord of Moon's Spawn enough that their mages can finish him off. Fortunately for Rake, Kruppe, Tool, and K'rul catch wind of the plot and make their own plan to reseal him.
- The Undead: He's not Undead like the Imass are, but it's clear that Raest and his body no longer share a particularly intimate connection, and the destruction of the latter causes him few difficulties. A straight example now that he's inside the Azath House.
Pannion
Pannion
... see Pannion Domin
Forkrul Assail
Forkrul Assail in General
A supposedly extinct Elder race, the Forkrul Assail were said to be formidable warriors obsessed with justice, standing against foes like the T'lan Imass in their self-assigned role as arbiters of order. Their warren was Akhrast Korvalain.
- Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: The Forkrul Assail have far more joints than humans do, with even their sternums being hinged, allowing them an abnormal ability to maneuver themselves in combat that befuddles unprepared opponents.
- Arch-Enemy: To the K'Chain Che'Malle. When they fought in ancient times, the Forkrul Assail even turned on their own god and used it as a source of power so they could destroy them.
- Compelling Voice: The Forkrul Assail can use Akhrast Korvalain to infuse their voices with power that allows them to bend others to their will. The entirety of the Forkrul Assail's armies in Kolanse are forced to fight by the Assail's magic.
- Eco-Terrorist: They're a very powerful and grandiose variant, but this is ultimately what they are. Their ultimate goal is to use the power of the Crippled God to unseal Akhrast Korvalain to cleanse the earth of humanity as punishment for its destruction of the environment.
- Knight Templar: They are all fanatically devoted to their notion of justice, one which involves ruthlessly murdering anyone who they believe violate it.
- Spare Body Parts: They have two hearts, and stabbing through only one won't kill them.
- Telepathy: The Forkrul Assail Pures communicate with each other through telepathy.
- Words Can Break My Bones: In addition to its aforementioned use to empower a Compelling Voice, the Forkrul Assail can also use Akhrast Korvalain to directly assault opponents, performing such visceral actions as crushing skulls.
Sister Reverence
The eldest Forkrul Assail seen in the series, guarding the Spire.
- Big Bad: She is the closest the series has to an individual one, serving as the informal leader of the Forkrul Assail in Kolanse who are the the final obstacle to the Bonehunters as they try to free the Crippled God.
- Climax Boss: She is the final guardian of the Crippled God's heart, and her defeat marks the end of a lengthy battle sequence, but there's still work to be done once she is defeated, and several other Forkrul Assail serve as the enemies of the Bonehunters in the final chapter.
- Evil Cripple: She is missing an eye thanks to an encounter with a Jaghut and walks with a pronounced limp as a result of injuries received from a T'lan Imass, at least until Fener's blood restores her.
- Large and in Charge: Tall even by the standards of her race.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Hood lifts her from the ground and smashes her repeatedly into the ground like a ragdoll, showing no mercy in shattering her.
Hood: I have had enough of your justice!
- Throwing Off the Disability: She is one of the beneficiaries of Fener's blood raining on the battlefield around the Spire, being restored to her younger self without her injuries in time to face down Gesler.
Other Individual Forkrul Assail
Various other Forkrul Assail encountered throughout the series.
- Eye Scream: Nom Kala kills Sister Freedom with a harpoon to the eye.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard: Repeatedly. Despite channeling their magic through their voices, multiple Forkrul Assail are on the receiving end of vocally delivered magic by their enemies. Badalle uses her poetry to drive off the party that hunts the Snake into the Glass Desert and later to summon the Forkrul Assail's god to the battlefield in Kolanse to consume Brother Aloft. She's not the only one who gets in on the action; Brys immobilizes Brother Diligence by speaking the names of the forgotten gods from the dolmens in depths of the ocean.
- Eaten Alive: Brother Aloft is eaten alive by the Soletaken insects that are all that remains of the Forkrul Assail's own god.
- Noodle Incident: Brother Serenity says that he has experience with the Malazans, but this interaction is not elaborated on and has yet to be described in any of the books.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Sister Calm in the Laederon Plateau and Brother Serenity in Lether.
