One of Logen's Named Men - the best scout in the North, a man who can track anything across any terrain and who has survived longer than most by knowing when to run. The Dogman is quieter and more thoughtful than most Northern warriors, less interested in reputation than in keeping himself and the people he cares about alive. He becomes a POV character in the later books and proves to be one of Abercrombie's most sympathetic perspectives on the North - someone who has seen what the endless fighting produces and has clear-eyed views about its value.

A former slave from the Gurkish Empire with golden eyes, exceptional combat ability, and a hatred of the Gurkish so deep and consuming that it has become her entire identity. Ferro does not trust anyone, does not want anyone's help, and is not interested in friendship or alliance - she is interested in killing Gurkish. She joins Bayaz's group reluctantly and remains reluctant throughout. Her arc is about what happens when the thing that keeps you alive - pure, focused hatred - is also the thing preventing you from living. She is one of Abercrombie's most uncompromising characters and one of his most affecting.

A Named Man from the North and one of Bethod's most feared warriors, Black Dow is everything the North respects - brutal, honest about what he is, and capable of surviving anything. His arc extends through the standalones and Age of Madness, where he becomes a significant power in his own right. The North's opinion of him is complicated: he is hated and followed in roughly equal measure.

A vain, lazy, self-regarding nobleman whose talent with a sword is the only thing he has worked for, and even that mostly because it offers social advancement rather than out of any love for the craft. Jezal begins the trilogy as one of the least sympathetic protagonists in fantasy and ends it as something more complicated. His arc is the most conventionally structured of the three - the journey that should make him a better person - but Abercrombie's refusal to let the journey deliver its expected payoff is one of the trilogy's most pointed observations. What happens to Jezal is not what the story of Jezal suggests should happen to Jezal.

The First of the Magi, one of the most powerful practitioners of the Art in the world, who arrives in Adua claiming to be the legendary founder of the Union and demanding access to the royal library. He is old, irritable, occasionally charming, and completely accustomed to getting what he wants. Bayaz announces himself as a figure out of legend, but a thousand-year absence has left even those closest to the crown uncertain how much of the wizard's history is true and how much has accreted around the name.

A sickly, gaunt apprentice sent by Bayaz to find Logen. He is knowledgeable about history and the Magi but physically frail and frequently unwell.

An exuberant, self-aggrandising Navigator hired by Bayaz. He claims remarkable talents in languages and travel, and talks about himself with boundless enthusiasm.

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.

A near-silent, excellent archer. He is the crew's man of fewest words, communicating mostly through nods and grunts.