The last of the gunslingers and the sole surviving member of a knightly order sworn to protect the Beams that hold the multiverse together. Roland has pursued the Man in Black across a dying world for years, driven by a singular obsession with the Dark Tower - the nexus of all realities. Trained from boyhood in Gilead, he is one of the finest warriors alive, possessed of an almost supernatural speed and accuracy with his revolvers. He is also ruthless, willing to put the quest above all else - a quality that defines him across eight books.

A monstrous figure born of supernatural circumstances, linked by blood to both Roland and the Crimson King. A shapeshifter capable of taking a spider-like form, Mordred is driven by instinct and inherited hatred.

The Master of Algul Siento (Blue Heaven), a former human named Paul Prentiss from Rahway, New Jersey. He oversees the Breaker operation with a mix of bureaucratic efficiency and wilful ignorance about the cosmic damage being done. He fatally shoots Eddie Dean during the battle of Algul Siento before being killed himself.

The ultimate antagonist of the series - an immortal demon king whose sole purpose is the destruction of the Dark Tower and, with it, all existence. The Crimson King is a presence felt throughout the later books but seen directly only in the final volume, where he has trapped himself on a balcony of the Tower. More cosmic threat than active character, he represents entropy and annihilation given form.

The primary antagonist of the early Dark Tower books and one of Stephen King's most recurring villains across his wider fiction. A sorcerer of vast age and power, Walter has manipulated events across countless worlds and centuries. He is the Man in Black whom Roland has been pursuing since the first line of the series. Devious and theatrical, he is a figure of genuine menace.

Roland's closest childhood friend and fellow apprentice gunslinger in Gilead. Quick-witted, humorous, and brave, Cuthbert is described as more intelligent and talkative than Roland, with a ready grin and a tendency to make jokes even in dire situations. He trains alongside Roland under Cort and witnesses key events including the hawk David's training, the cook Hax's treasonous plot, and Roland's unprecedented early challenge for his coming of age. He goes to his death laughing, blowing a horn.

A young psychic Breaker and Ted Brautigan's closest ally in Algul Siento. Despite his youth and rough exterior, Dinky possesses strong telekinetic abilities and a compassionate nature. He befriended Sheemie and helped form the small resistance group that aids Roland's ka-tet in their assault on the Breaker compound.

A heroin addict from 1987 New York, drawn into Mid-World through one of the doors on the beach. Quick-witted and irreverent, Eddie has a gift for defusing tension through humour that masks a deep well of courage. He becomes one of Roland's most capable and loyal companions.

A former Catholic priest first introduced in King's Salem's Lot, who crosses into the Dark Tower universe and eventually settles in Calla Bryn Sturgis. Callahan failed in his confrontation with the vampire Barlow in Salem's Lot and spent years wandering before finding purpose again with Roland's ka-tet. His backstory occupies a substantial section of Wolves of the Calla.

A wealthy summer visitor to the Lovell, Maine area who becomes Roland and Jake's driver in June 1999. She helps them reach Stephen King's house on Turtleback Lane, takes control of the scene after the van accident, and later drives Roland to New York City to visit the Tet Corporation. Practical and brave, she rises to the occasion despite being thrust into extraordinary circumstances.

A boy from New York who finds himself drawn into Mid-World, where he becomes a companion to Roland and his ka-tet. Perceptive and brave beyond his years, Jake possesses a low-level psychic ability and bonds deeply with the billy-bumbler Oy.

An elderly Maine caretaker and local who helps Roland and Eddie escape the ambush at Chip McAvoy's store. A shrewd, laconic Yankee with a collection of signed baseballs, he provides shelter, medical supplies, and crucial local knowledge, including the location of Calvin Tower and information about walk-ins on Turtleback Lane.

A fourth personality inhabiting Susannah's body, whose name means 'mother' in the High Speech. She exists solely to protect and nourish the demonic chap growing inside her, hunting raw meat in swamps at night while believing she feasts in a grand castle. She ultimately seizes control of Susannah's body and flees through the Doorway Cave to New York to give birth.

A billy-bumbler - a raccoon-like creature native to Mid-World with limited speech ability - who attaches himself to Jake Chambers and becomes inseparable from him. Oy is capable of mimicking words, shows unusual loyalty and intelligence, and serves as both comic relief and emotional anchor for the ka-tet.

A mute young artist with an extraordinary supernatural gift: what he draws becomes real, and what he erases from his drawings ceases to exist. Found imprisoned in Dandelo's basement as a captive food source, Patrick is freed by Roland and Susannah. He plays the crucial role of erasing the Crimson King from the Dark Tower's balcony, clearing Roland's path to enter.

A smooth-talking agent of the Crimson King who operates through the Sombra Corporation. He contacts Mia by phone and orchestrates her journey to the Dixie Pig, making false promises about letting her raise Mordred. He also arranged the ambush against Roland and Eddie in 1977 Maine.

A simple-minded but kind-hearted young man who works as a boy-of-all-work at the Travellers' Rest in Hambry. After Cuthbert saves his life from Depape, Sheemie becomes utterly devoted to the boys, especially Cuthbert. He serves as a go-between for Roland and Susan and helps free the boys from jail on Reaping Night. Despite his limited intelligence, he shows real courage and discretion. His mother was Dolores Sheemer, and the bartender Stanley Ruiz may be his father.

The author himself, who appears as a character in his own story. A young writer living in Bridgton, Maine in 1977, he created Roland and the Dark Tower saga but stopped writing it. Roland and Eddie visit him and realise he is the living twin of the rose, a key figure whose continued writing is essential to the Tower's survival.

A beautiful sixteen-year-old girl from Hambry in the Barony of Mejis. Daughter of the late drover Pat Delgado, she is promised to Mayor Hart Thorin as his gilly in exchange for the return of her family's land and horses. She falls deeply in love with Roland during his time in Mejis and becomes his secret ally against the conspiracy. Brave, intelligent, and spirited, she is ultimately captured by Rhea of the Coos and burned alive on the Reaping bonfire. She is pregnant with Roland's child at the time of her death.

A civil rights activist from 1964 New York with dissociative identity disorder, drawn into Mid-World through one of the doors on the beach. Her two identities - the composed Odetta Holmes and the volatile, dangerous Detta Walker - must find a way to coexist. A wheelchair user who lost her legs below the knee in a subway accident, she becomes one of Roland's most formidable companions.