Logen Ninefingers
, called "the Bloody-Nine," is a famous, weary Northman warrior with a monstrous reputation, separated from his crew and presumed dead. His refrain — you have to be realistic about these things — masks a man who periodically loses control to a berserker killing persona. His chapters are written in blunt, earthy prose with a sardonic edge.
Inquisitor Sand dan Glokta
is a former fencing champion and war hero who was captured and tortured for two years by the Gurkish and returned a crippled wreck. He now tortures prisoners for the Union's Inquisition. His chapters are famous for their self-loathing interior monologue rendered in italics, punctuated by the constant refrain why do I do this?
Captain Jezal dan Luthar
is a vain, lazy, self-absorbed young nobleman officer training for the Contest, a national fencing tournament. His arc across the book is the slow puncturing of his vanity.
Bayaz, First of the Magi
, is an ancient, bald, bad-tempered wizard who arrives to claim a seat on the Union's Closed Council owed to his order by law, and who quietly engineers events around every other character in the book.
Major Collem West
is a principled, common-born officer with a temper, friend to both Glokta and Jezal.
The Dogman
is the scout and tracker of Rudd Threetrees's crew of Named Men in the North.
Ferro Maljinn
is a vengeful escaped Gurkish slave introduced in Part Two, persuaded by Yulwei to travel to Adua and join Bayaz.