The most feared mercenary general in Styria, commander of the Thousand Swords, who is thrown from a cliff and left for dead by the Duke Orso she has served loyally and made very rich. She survives, barely, and the entirety of Best Served Cold is her working through the list of seven men responsible. Monza is not a hero - she is driven by revenge, capable of considerable ruthlessness, and honest about both. Her arc is about what vengeance actually costs and whether it delivers what it promises. She is one of Abercrombie's best protagonists: a woman in a man's world who got there through genuine ability and is not interested in being liked for it.

A crippled Inquisitor who was once the most celebrated swordsman in the Union - winner of the Contest at eighteen, celebrated throughout Adua, the kind of young man who expects the world to keep giving him things. Then he was captured by the Gurkish, spent two years in their prisons, and came back unable to walk properly, unable to eat solid food, in constant pain, and in possession of a very clear understanding of what people will say under sufficient duress. He applies the same methods to his work for the Inquisition with a mixture of professional efficiency and caustic self-awareness that makes him one of the most compelling POV characters in fantasy. Glokta knows exactly what he is. He just can't see a way to be anything else.

Grand Duke of Talins and the most powerful man in Styria. He ordered the murder of Benna Murcatto and the attempted murder of Monza, setting in motion the events of the entire novel. Cold, pragmatic, and utterly ruthless.

Monza's beloved younger brother and co-commander of the Thousand Swords. Charming and reckless, he is murdered by Duke Orso in the opening chapter, setting in motion Monza's campaign of revenge.

Magister of the Guild of Spicers and a member of the ruling council in Dagoska. Beautiful, confident, and politically astute, she navigates the city's conspiracies with skill.

A brilliant, paranoid, self-important poisoner hired by Monza for her revenge mission. He insists on the scientific basis of his work and despises being called a sorcerer. His vanity and suspicion make him a volatile ally.

A Northman who tries to go south and be a better man - to leave the violence of the North behind and become something else. He fails, but the manner of his failure and what it costs him make him one of the most interesting characters in the series. Shivers appears first in Best Served Cold as Monza's hired muscle and grows into a recurring presence across the standalones and Age of Madness, each appearance showing him further from who he wanted to be. His arc is the purest expression of the series' central theme: people do not change, and the things that happen to them tend to make them more themselves rather than less.

Morveer's young, pretty, deceptively innocent-looking apprentice poisoner. Her nimble hands and forgettable face serve her well in the trade, though her loyalty to her master has limits.

The Prince of Prudence, Grand Duke of Ospria and Orso's chief rival. A shrewd political schemer who leads the League of Eight against Talins and ultimately crowns Monza as Duchess.

Interim captain general of the Thousand Swords mercenary company after Cosca's removal. One of Monza's revenge targets for his role in Benna's murder.

A former convict from Safety - the Union's prison island - who counts everything and has strict rules about how things must be done. Friendly is one of the most consistently surprising characters in the series: apparently simple, actually precise, occasionally terrifying. He appears first in Best Served Cold as part of Monza's crew and recurs across the standalones. His comfort with violence and his discomfort with social interaction are presented without judgment and without explanation, and the result is one of Abercrombie's most original supporting characters.

Duke Orso's cultured, art-loving military commander. One of the finest swordsmen in Styria, he led the siege of Visserine and is one of Monza's revenge targets.

A Styrian mercenary captain of considerable charm and negligible reliability, Cosca appears across nearly every book in the First Law World. He is funny, self-aware, genuinely skilled when sober, and almost never sober. His arc is one of Abercrombie's long games - a man whose capacity for self-destruction is matched only by his capacity for survival, and whose final trajectory is deeply unpleasant.

A red-haired Practical assigned to work with Glokta later in the story. Her loyalties and motives are not immediately clear.

A mysterious, soft-spoken assassin with supernatural abilities who carves wooden birds. He pursues his own agenda regarding Monza's targets, operating outside the power structures of both Bayaz and the Gurkish.

A flamboyant, chain-wearing mercenary captain in the Thousand Swords who becomes a siege commander under Monza's forces in the war for Styria.

A mysterious servant of Bayaz with mismatched eyes - one blue, one green. He heralds Bayaz's return to the Agriont and serves as his advance agent.

Duke Orso's fat, brutal bodyguard who tortured Monza and threw her from the mountain. The first target on her revenge list.

A Gurkish supernatural woman - an Eater - who can appear from nowhere. Associated with the Gurkish power structure and connected to Shenkt's world.

Duke Orso's eldest son. A debauched prince who frequents Cardotti's House of Leisure, he is one of the first targets on Monza's revenge list.