Logen Ninefingers
A Northman crossing the ruined Old Empire in Bayaz's company, who takes command of the expedition while the Magus lies unconscious. He harbors the Bloody-Nine, a killing trance in which friend and foe look alike, and his wary intimacy with Ferro ends in a silent agreement to part.
Sand dan Glokta
An Inquisitor sent south to hold Dagoska against the Gurkish, armed with a royal writ and, eventually, a dangerous loan from the bankers Valint and Balk. He exposes the council's traitors, escapes the falling city, is rewarded as co-Superior of Adua, and knowingly frames an innocent envoy for a prince's murder.
Collem West
A Union officer promoted to colonel and attached to Crown Prince Ladisla's shambolic division. He survives Bethod's massacre, kills the prince to stop an attempted rape, earns the name Furious among the Northmen, and secretly directs the battle at Dunbrec while the ailing Burr is presumed in command.
Jezal dan Luthar
A vain young fencer traveling west with Bayaz's expedition. A mace blow that shatters his jaw, and the care of companions he once looked down on, strip away his arrogance; he resolves to become a better man and to marry Ardee on his return.
Ferro Maljinn
A former slave whose homeland the Gurkish conquered, driven by hunger for revenge and given unnatural sight by her devil-blood, which also makes her the one traveler able to carry the Seed safely. She slowly lets herself rely on Logen, only to lose both him and the revenge she was promised.
Dogman
A Northern scout serving with Threetrees's band ahead of the Union army. He guides the survivors away from Ladisla's disaster, wins Cathil's affection, and is chosen as the band's new chief because neither Dow nor Tul will accept the other's lead.
Bayaz
The Magus leading the quest for the Seed, a fragment of the Other Side that once destroyed Aulcus. His use of the Art nearly kills him, former lovers and fellow Magi accuse him of ruinous ambition, and the journey ends in failure when the weapon proves to have been hidden elsewhere.
Bethod
King of the North and the war's driving antagonist, who lures Ladisla's division into a trap that annihilates it. Heeding Caurib and allied with the Shanka and with the Feared, a champion no weapon seems to harm, he presses the Union hard but cannot break its line at Dunbrec.
Threetrees
Leader of the Named Men who offer themselves to the Union as scouts, remembered as the Rock of Uffrith. Too canny for reckless gambles and too honest to serve Ladisla's vanity, he fights through the winter campaign until the Feared strikes him down at Dunbrec.
Prince Ladisla
The Union's crown prince, whose vanity carries his hungry, ill-led division across the Cumnur into Bethod's trap in defiance of orders. He blames his soldiers for the ruin, attempts to rape Cathil, and dies falling from a cliff after West shoves him.
Carlot dan Eider
A member of Dagoska's ruling council who forms a wary partnership with Glokta even as she plots to open the city to the Gurkish, hoping to spare its people a slaughter. Glokta falsely reports her execution and instead puts her on a ship into exile.
Cathil
A young woman West takes from an Inquisition prison camp along with the convict Pike, whose daughter she pretends to be. She saves West's life with a smith's hammer during the rout, chooses Dogman over him, and dies when the Shanka strike the line at Dunbrec.
Lord Marshal Burr
Commander of the Union army in Angland, who takes the Northmen on as scouts and plans the stand against Bethod. Illness fells him in the middle of the battle, and he returns just long enough to hide the fact that West has been giving the orders.
Black Dow
One of the Named Men of Threetrees's band, quick to propose murder as the simplest answer and the one who gives West the name Furious. Finding West standing over Ladisla's body, he decides he is starting to like the man; his rivalry with Tul later leaves Dogman leading the crew.