Roland Deschain
Ka-tet of the Nineteen and/or Ninety and Nine[edit]
Roland Deschain[edit]
Main article: Roland Deschain
Roland Deschain, son of Steven Deschain, was born in the Barony of Gilead, in In-World. Roland is the last surviving gunslinger, a man whose goal is finding and climbing to the top of the Dark Tower, purported to be the very center of existence, so that he may right the wrongs in his land. This quest is his obsession, monomania and geas to Roland: In the beginning the success of the quest is more important than the lives of his family and friends. He is a man who lacks imagination, and this is one of the stated reasons for his survival against all odds: he can not imagine anything other than surviving to find the Tower.
Eddie …show more content…
Dean[edit]
Main article: Eddie Dean (The Dark Tower)
Eddie makes his debut in The Drawing of the Three, in which Roland encounters three doors that open into the New York City of our world in different times. Through these doors, Roland draws companions who will join him on his quest, as the Man In Black foretold. The first to be drawn is Eddie Dean, a drug addict and a first-time cocaine transporter. Eddie lived with his older brother and fellow junkie Henry, whom Eddie reveres despite the corrupting influence Henry had upon his life. Roland helps Eddie fight off a gang of mobsters for whom he was transporting the cocaine, but not before Eddie discovers that Henry has died from an overdose of heroin in the company of the aforementioned mobsters (after which the mobsters decide to chop off Henry's head). It is because of Eddie's heroin addiction that he is termed 'The Prisoner', and that is what is written upon the door from which Roland draws him.
Roland also acquires medicine for his infection during the trip to Eddie's world, but this only temporarily quells the fever.
Eddie passes through the door into Roland's world, and faces heroin withdrawal symptoms, but despite his suffering, he also shows an affinity for the ways of the gunslinger. Unwillingly at first, and somewhat under duress, Eddie becomes Roland's companion through Mid-World, and he soon falls in love with Susannah, the next member of Roland's ka-tet. Eddie and Susannah consider themselves husband and wife, although they never formally marry.
In the final novel, during the attack on Algul Siento, Eddie is shot and killed by Pimli Prentiss, the master of the establishment.
Roland also notes that Eddie's character strongly resembles that of Cuthbert, a gunslinger of Roland's past, and one of Roland's greatest friends. The character of Cuthbert is mentioned in Browning's poem and is described most fully in The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass, although he is first mentioned in The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
Susannah Dean[edit]
Main article: Susannah Dean
Also hailing from New York City, Susannah is an African-American (although as a woman of 1964, she prefers the term "Negro" over the term considered appropriate in Eddie's time, "Black") woman with two major afflictions: her legs below the knees were severed in a subway accident, and a childhood head injury left her with dual personalities, which Eddie incorrectly labels schizophrenia. She is "The Lady of Shadows", the second companion predicted by Walter to be drawn into Roland's world via the mysterious doors.
Initially, her dominant personality is that of Odetta Susannah Holmes, a well-mannered but priggish woman active in the civil rights movement. At times, however, she is taken over by Detta Susannah Walker—murderously psychotic, incredibly crafty, completely unbreakable—whom neither Eddie nor Roland can control. Roland manages to resolve these personalities by forcing her to look through the third door while he himself looks out of it, forcing her to see herself as she really is; thereafter, her personalities are integrated into a single, far more balanced individual, known as Susannah Dean, Eddie's wife, although they were never formally married. Susannah has access to the memories and personalities of both Holmes and Walker, and can call upon their skills and temperaments at will.
During the drawing of Jake, she submits to sex with the demon of the doorway in order to distract it and afterwards, she becomes pregnant. Susannah shares the experience of her pregnancy with a demon-turned-mortal named Mia, resulting in Susannah housing yet another personality in her mind. Mia takes over Susannah's body (and melds with it, giving her legs for a short while) and runs in it to yet another when of New York, this one circa 1999, to give birth to the demon child.
Susannah is the last member of Roland's ka-tet to leave him (and the only one to survive in a Keystone world), having been given the chance to return to another form of Eddie and Jake in a parallel world.
Jake Chambers[edit]
Jake Chambers, an eleven-year-old boy from the New York of 1977, is the symbolic (and later adopted) son of Roland. Jake's given name is John, but he prefers to be known by Jake, and is called "'Bama" by his housekeeper, who is far closer to him than his parents. In his home world, he dies at the hands of Jack Mort (who Jake initially believes is Walter) and ends up in Roland's world as a result. The gunslinger and the boy travel together in pursuit of the Man in Black, developing a strong bond along the way. However, in order to reach the Man in Black, Roland lets Jake fall to his death.
The child Roland allowed to die reappears in Roland's mind in The Waste Lands, however, due to a paradox. Since Roland (in The Drawing of the Three) prevented Mort from shoving Jake into traffic, he never died, therefore he never appeared in Mid-World and was never left to die under the mountains. Jake and Roland, however, can remember both timelines, and the knowledge is slowly driving them insane.
In the first half of The Waste Lands, Roland's ka-tet figure out a way to draw Jake into Mid-world, where he belongs (an action which finishes the real Drawing of the Three, Jack Mort never having been intended to join the ka-tet). Eddie is driven to whittle a key out of wood as they approach a Speaking Ring, where Eddie draws another door into the ground, this one guarded by an invisible demon. Susannah distracts the demon by allowing it to copulate with her, while Eddie perfects the key and uses it to open the door. On the other side, Jake has been led by the younger version of Eddie who lived in that when to a haunted house (indeed, Eddie has vague memories of the encounter himself), filled with evil spirits and a horrendous gate-keeper. Jake, with some timely assistance from Roland, fights through them to reach the door. Once the boy is in Mid-World again, Roland's and Jake's memories are merged and their descent into insanity abated.
While crossing the desolate city of Lud, Jake is kidnapped by a deranged resident of the city. He allows himself to be taken in exchange for the rest of the group's safe passage, and Roland promises to come for Jake, despite having to abandon him temporarily. Despite the danger it poses, he rescues Jake, reaffirming the father-son bond that has grown between them. Like Eddie and Susannah, Jake shows amazing aptitude to the way of a gunslinger.
Jake is the second member of the ka-tet to die, when he sacrifices himself to save Stephen King (as a character in the series) from certain death by putting himself between King and the van meant to take his life. By the end of the tale Jake has died a total of three times. An alternate version of Jake is encountered later by Susannah Dean.
Roland also notes that Jake strongly resembles Alain, another gunslinger, in his stable, reserved personality and talent with a psychic skill referred to as "the touch." Alain is described mostly by his time with Roland as a teen in The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass.
Oy[edit]
Oy is a "billy-bumbler," a strange creature found in Roland Deschain's world. King describes Oy in the "Argument", or foreword, of the fourth book, Wizard and Glass - "Bumblers, which look like a combination of badger, raccoon, and dog, have a limited speaking ability".[1] Elsewhere, bumblers are described as "a combination raccoon and woodchuck, with a little dachsund thrown in."[2] At one point, Eddie calls Oy "a fucked-up weasel".[3] Oy's voice is described as "low and deep, almost a bark; the voice of an English footballer with a bad cold in his throat."[4]
King seems to base Oy's appearance on the Tanuki, also known as the raccoon dog, or the Coati. Regarding Oy's appearance, by far the most frequently described feature throughout the series is his large, "bright"[5] almost glowing, "intelligent,gold-ringed eyes",[6] though King also frequently refers to the creature's "disproportionately long,[7]" "surprisingly graceful neck".[8] The creature has "black- and grey-striped fur[9]" and a "furry corkscrew tail".[10]
At the time of their meeting, Roland concedes that Oy may quite possibly be meant as another member of their ka-tet. Later, in the 6th book, this is confirmed when the Tet Corporation forms as the association of "Deschain, Dean, Dean, Chambers, and Oy."
Oy develops emotions and even a sense of humanity beyond that of his ability to replicate some words that the others speak. Oy is often referred as the smartest bumbler that characters have seen since the world had moved on. Oy provides a much-needed shelter from the harsh adultness of the quest for his master, often playing with Jake or providing moments of lightheartedness to the ka-tet. Together, the two are sometimes able to recall the innocence they have lost.
Oy is killed in the last Dark Tower book. He saves Roland's life by attacking Mordred, who came to kill Roland in his sleep. Mordred snaps Oy's back and impales him on a tree limb while the bumbler is defending his friend, but Oy finds enough strength to lick Roland's hand one time before he dies. Stephen King hints that Oy will be found in the same universe that Susannah travels to and will be in some form of a dog with "odd, gold-ringed eyes and a bark that eerily resembles human speech."
Roland's original Ka-tet[edit]
Cuthbert Allgood[edit]
Main article: Cuthbert Allgood
Cuthbert is Roland Deschain's childhood best friend, and a member of his original ka-tet.
Roland and Cuthbert are described as having been playing together since they were toddlers. Cuthbert, often called Bert, is first featured in The Gunslinger, but he does not play a major role in the series until Wizard and Glass, the fourth volume in the series. Cuthbert is characterized by his outwardly flippant, care-free view of the world. He constantly makes jokes, often testing the nerves of his companions. He is notably skilled with a sling-shot, it is said that he could 'take a bird on the wing at 50 yards' with his slingshot. This is a skill that comes in handy on many occasions in Mejis, when the boys cannot openly carry their guns. Cuthbert is quick-witted and sometimes has a highfalutin way with words — His proclivity for words can be noticed as he often stops to repeat and muse over phrases he finds to be nice and 'round'. Physically, Cuthbert is described as being trim and short with shoulder length dark hair and dark eyes. During the battle of Jericho Hill, Cuthbert is shot through the eye by an arrow fired by Randall Flagg. In Song of Susannah, Eddie Dean is revealed to be a reincarnation, or at least a "twinner" of Cuthbert …show more content…
Allgood.
Alain Johns[edit]
Main article: Alain Johns
Alain is one of Roland's original ka-tet, and along with the gunslinger and Cuthbert is evacuated to Mejis in Wizard and Glass for safety, due to the ongoing war against John Farson. Alain is strong in the 'touch', which is the mid-world term for a combination of telepathy, pre-cognition and hyper-sensitivity to the guiding hand of Ka).
Alain is described as being stout with blond hair. He is calm, reserved and often plays the role of level-headed mediator between ever pragmatic Roland and ostensibly care-free Cuthbert — particularly when Susan Delgado is seen to be interfering with Roland's decision making.
After Mejis, Alain joined Roland, Cuthbert and Jamie on their quest for the Dark Tower.
Shortly before the battle of Jericho Hill, the last stand by the gunslingers of Gilead against Farson's men, Alain was accidentally killed by Roland and Cuthbert, who mistook him for an assassin in the night.
Jamie De Curry[edit]
Main article: Jamie De Curry
Jamie De Curry was a member of Roland Deschain's original ka-tet. He grew up and trained with Roland under Cort and Vanny in Gilead. He was the first to discover Roland's plan to attempt to finish his training (by fighting Cort, their veteran teacher) at the unprecedented age of 14. He is characterized by a birthmark on his face — Even being referred to by some in Gilead as "Jamie of the marked face". He was killed by a sniper at the Battle of Jericho Hill, while pushing Roland from the line of fire. It's stated by Roland that as a child he excelled in archery — the use of bow and 'bah'(crossbow) - far more so than Roland himself, although by the time of the Battle of Jericho Hill he is a Gunslinger, like the rest of Roland's ka-tet.
Jamie figures prominently in the novel The Wind Through the Keyhole, traveling with Roland to investigate rumors of a shape-changing "skin-man" that is attacking a frontier town.
Thomas Whitman[edit]
Not much is known about Thomas Whitman. He is only briefly mentioned in The Gunslinger as one of Roland Deschain's childhood friends who studied under Cort. He is shown in several installements of the Gunslinger comics. He is shown to have a lean build with short, black hair. In the Battle of Jericho Hill, he and several other Gunslingers are killed by a flamethrower.
Allies of the Ka-tet[edit]
Susan Delgado[edit]
Susan Delgado appears in Wizard and Glass, the fourth book of the series. She is a resident of Hambry in the Barony of Mejis, where the 14-year-old Roland and his ka-tet have been sent for their own safety. Her father was killed in a horseback riding "accident", actually a murder, and Susan has been cajoled by her aunt Cordelia into becoming a "gilly", essentially a concubine, for Mejis mayor Hart Thorin. Although Susan is to be paid for her services, she is a recognized consort and any heir she bears to the heretofore-childless Thorin will be legitimate. Before her relationship with Thorin is allowed to begin, however, she falls in love with Roland and becomes involved in his plans to prevent John Farson from using an oilfield near Hambry to supply his troops with crude oil. When Roland and his friends are framed for Thorin's murder and arrested, she breaks them out of jail and helps them escape Hambry. Before she can flee, though, she is captured, brought back to town, and publicly burned at the stake as an alleged accomplice in the murder. At the time, she is already pregnant with Roland's first child. Roland is devastated by her death — not just because of his love for her, but because, when confronted with the choice of returning for her or setting out for the Dark Tower and thus saving all of creation, he chose the Tower, thus condemning her to death.
Roland believes that Susan Delgado was the only true love of his life.
Ted Brautigan[edit]
Ted Stevens Brautigan (19 letters) was introduced in the Stephen King novella "Low Men in Yellow Coats" from Hearts in Atlantis. He is a powerful "Breaker", a psychic, whose extraordinary powers as a facilitator are sought by the Crimson King so he can hasten the destruction of the beams and Dark Tower. Ted arrives in the Devar-Toi, the prison camp where the Breakers are held, in 1955, and with help from Roland's old friend from Mejis, Sheemie Ruiz, soon escapes the Devar-Toi and enters the Connecticut of 1960, which is when the story of "Low Men in Yellow Coats" takes place. After his adventure in Connecticut, the low men capture and smuggle him back to the Devar-Toi via the Dixie Pig and Thunderclap Station. Ted meets Roland and his ka-tet in the final novel of the series, and he, "Everything's Eventual"'s Dinky Earnshaw, and the newly revealed psychic Sheemie assist the ka-tet in the attack on the Devar-Toi and ultimately succeed in obliterating the low men and the taheen. After Roland, Jake, and Oy travel to the Maine of 1999 to prevent Stephen King from dying, Ted and his friends escort Susannah Dean to Fedic Station, and Ted, along with a handful of the other psychic Breakers depart for the Callas, where they hope to first find redemption from the Calla folken and then return to America via the Doorway Cave.
Sheemie Ruiz[edit]
Main article: Sheemie Ruiz
Sheemie, introduced in Wizard and Glass, was a mildly mentally retarded tavern boy at a saloon in Hambry.
Sheemie assisted Roland and his first ka-tet in preventing the followers of John Farson, and more specifically, the Crimson King, from reviving the Great Old Ones' war machines, later following the group back to Gilead. Sheemie joined Roland's ka-tet briefly and helped the gunslingers ward off the Crimson King's followers until he and his mule Capi mysteriously disappeared. However, while Roland assumes Sheemie is dead, he is not; he had been captured by the low men and taken to the Devar-Toi, the Breaker prison, because of his telepathic abilities, which remained unknown to Roland's ka-tet. He reappears in the series' final novel and assists the new ka-tet in defeating the low men and the taheen. However, during the battle, he steps on a piece of glass, causing an infection (accelerated by the "poison air" around Thunderclap). While escorting Susannah to Fedic on the train, he dies of blood poisoning. Ironically, though Susannah never learns this, she is indirectly responsible for his death, as it is her bullet that breaks the glass out of his window, causing it to be there for him to step
on.
Dinky Earnshaw[edit]
Main article: Dinky Earnshaw
Richard "Dinky" Earnshaw is the psychic assassin from Stephen King's short story "Everything's Eventual." He was hired by a man named Mr. Sharpton who was the head of a North Central Positronics subsidiary. However, when Dinky discovered what Sharpton was truly using him for, he killed Sharpton. Unfortunately, the low men captured him and transported him to the Devar-Toi, where he later met Ted Brautigan and Sheemie Ruiz. The three joined forces with Roland and his ka-tet in the final novel of the series and they helped to defeat the Devar-Toi's guards.
Pere Donald Callahan[edit]
Main article: Father Callahan
Donald Frank Callahan (19 letters) is the "damned" priest who first appeared in the novel 'Salem's Lot. He makes his first appearance in the Dark Tower series in Wolves of the Calla, although his involvement in the series was hinted at in the afterword to Wizard and Glass. After being marked by the vampire Kurt Barlow, and therefore forced out of his church, Father Callahan spends time volunteering in a homeless shelter. Callahan made it a goal to get even with the vampires for what they did to him and his friend, who contracted HIV after being bitten by a vampire. He is aided in this by his ability to spot the vampires; since Jerusalem's Lot (and the forced taking of some of the vampire Barlow's blood) he has been able to recognize vampires at a glance. Like Jake Chambers, Callahan enters Mid-World after dying in his own world, although in Callahan's case the death is his own doing; he jumps from a window to escape agents of the Crimson King, then arrives at the Way Station from The Gunslinger, shortly after Jake & Roland left it. He becomes a partial member of the ka-tet, assisting the ka-tet in the Battle against the Wolves and Susannah's rescue mission from 1999 New York, and sacrificing himself so that Jake may live in the final stand in The Dark Tower VII against the can-toi (low men) and vampires. For the second time, Callahan kills himself before allowing himself to fall at the hands of the vampires.
Patrick Danville[edit]
Main article: Patrick Danville
Patrick appears in Insomnia as a promising child artist, then again at the end of the Dark Tower series as a young adult artist with enough talent to shape the real world as he sees fit. As a young boy, he was prophesied to save two men in the future. He drew pictures of Roland and the roses as well. In the Dark Tower series, he was kept imprisoned for an unknown amount of time by the psychic vampire Dandelo and was rescued by Susannah and Roland. Patrick draws a door that allows Susannah to enter a parallel world, and later draws and erases a picture of the Crimson King, causing him to disappear from the Tower so that Roland can safely enter it.
Aunt Talitha Unwin[edit]
"Aunt" Talitha Unwin is a resident of River Crossing, near the city of Lud. When Roland Deschain came to River Crossing, she was 105 years old. She and the people of River Crossing provided food and shelter for the ka-tet while they were on their way to Lud. Talitha gave her cross to Roland to lay at the base of the Dark Tower. It was given to John Cullum to act as a sigul and was later returned to Roland by Moses Carver.
When Roland came to the Dark Tower, Talitha Unwin was one of the names that he called out and he remembered to place her cross at its base.
Cortland "Cort" Andrus[edit]
Teacher of Roland's original ka-tet. Roland earned his guns by defeating him with the hawk David, who was mortally wounded in that battle. After Roland's challenge, Cort laid in his cabin for a week in a coma, being tended by two nurses. Cort was often rough handed with his students, using physical punishment and denial of food to punish mistakes. He also fancied calling the prospective gunslingers "maggots". According to Roland, he is murdered soon after Roland's class graduates. He acts as a sort of a spiritual guide to Roland throughout the series, his voice and teachings popping up in the Gunslinger's mind every so often as Roland needs to reflect upon his training.
Abel Vannay[edit]
Also known as "Vannay the Wise", he was the other primary tutor of Roland's ka-tet and of apprentice gunslingers. Known mostly for his wisdom and forbearance, Vannay's analytical method of instruction and pacifistic nature serve as strong counterpoints to the ruthless application of force and cynical thought process exercised by Cort. It is mentioned that he walks with the assistance of a black ironwood cane. His only known relative was his son Wallace, who played with Roland as a toddler; however, he died very young of an illness. Vannay would become one of the many victims to fall prey to the forces of John Farson in the battle for Gilead.
Stephen King[edit]
See also the real-life article on Stephen King
Stephen King (as a fictionalized character) appears in the final two Dark Tower books. Roland and his ka-tet learn of his existence when Roland comes across a copy of 'Salem's Lot, after first meeting Father Callahan, in the fifth book Wolves of the Calla. Roland and Eddie later confront King in his Maine home at a time when he has written 'Salem's Lot and The Gunslinger but no further Dark Tower books. Roland hypnotizes King and it is revealed that the author did not in fact "create" the characters of Father Callahan, or Roland, or any others involved with the Dark Tower, but Stephen King is in this reality a channel (another servant of the Beam / ka / Gan) that records their ongoing quest. It is also revealed that at a very young age, the Crimson King attempted to claim Stephen King as one of his own. King fears death and retaliation from the Crimson King if he continues to write Roland's tale but the Gunslinger's hypnosis encourages him to continue. The eventual attempt on King's life that would end his chronicling of Roland's quest comes in the form of his 1999 automobile incident.
Many elements of Stephen King's real life are presented through his character (such as his 1999 accident) but are further fictionalized; King notes in the afterword to The Dark Tower that he took particular liberties with the geography of Maine to obscure the real-life location of his home and preserve what privacy he still has. Although he does not appear as a character until Song of Susannah, he is alluded to as early as The Drawing of the Three when Eddie recalls having seen The Shining in movie theaters.
Stuttering Bill[edit]
Stuttering Bill is a robot (full name William D-746541-M Maintenance Robot) with many other functions. He plowed Tower Road all the way up to the edge of the white lands, where the snow ended and the roses began. He gave Roland, Susannah and Patrick a ride on his snowplow for many miles, taking them closer to the Dark Tower.
Stuttering Bill was also the nickname of William Denbrough, one of the central characters in King's novel It.
Calvin Tower[edit]
Calvin Tower is the lease holder of the Manhattan Restaurant of the Mind bookstore in the Dark Tower series. He makes his first appearance in The Waste Lands, where he sells Jake two books which later prove vital to the ka-tet's survival of their encounter with Blaine the Mono. In later volumes, it is revealed that Tower owns the lot containing the rose, and is being pressured by mobsters to sell the property to the Sombra Corporation. Eddie saves Tower from a beating, and convinces Tower to sell the land to the ka-tet in the guise of the "Tet Corporation". Tower is an extremely reluctant recruit to the ka-tet's cause, and his selfishness, obsessive addiction to acquiring rare books nearly derail the ka-tet's efforts on several occasions. His eventual — and reluctant — decision to do the right thing comes largely thanks to the influence of his much more selfless, heroic friend, Aaron Deepneau. In the end, he sells the lot to Tet Corporation, and serves on the board for many years. With Deepneau, he saves Father Callahan from knife-wielding thugs, as requested by the ka-tet. Tower dies of a heart attack in 1990.
Aaron Deepneau[edit]
Aaron Deepneau is Calvin Tower's best — and only — friend. He serves as Tower's conscience, and steadily leads his friend to the gunslinger's cause. He later joins the board of Tet Corporation, and proves to be one of the rose's most ardent defenders. His grand-niece Nancy, a gunslinger in her own right, works for the Tet Corporation. Deepneau dies of cancer in 1992.
John Cullum[edit]
Met Roland and Eddie during the ambush in Stoneham, 1977. He leads the pair to safety, ferries them to his home, and provides a vehicle for them to use. He also becomes a member of Tet Corp's board and tireless champion of the rose, and dies for the cause, assassinated by Sombra/NCP in 1989.
Maturin[edit]
The Guardians of the Beams keep watch over either end of the six beams that support The Dark Tower. Of the twelve Guardians the ones that are mentioned are Turtle, Bear, Fish, Wolf, Elephant, Rat, Bat, Lion, Horse, and Eagle; Maturin, the Turtle (also a character in It), is considered the most powerful, or significant, of these. Throughout the series the reader repeatedly comes across a simple, nursery-rhyme style poem about Maturin:
See the TURTLE of enormous girth! On his shell he holds the Earth, His thought is slow but always kind; He holds us all within his mind.
On his back the truth is carried, And there are love and duty married. He loves the earth and loves the sea, And even loves a child like me.
Maturin guards the same beam as Shardik from the opposite end. Whereas Shardik runs amok in The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands, nearly killing Eddie before it can be destroyed, Maturin is a totally benevolent (and incredibly powerful) presence in the story, helping the ka-tet at several points along their journey.
In The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower, a small ivory scrimshaw sculpture of Maturin comes into the ka-tet's possession, and with it, Susannah/Mia hypnotizes a stranger, forcing him to get Susannah/Mia a hotel room. Susannah leaves the turtle where Jake will find it, enabling him (and, through his own martyrdom, Pere Callahan) to track Susannah and escape the low men, taheen, and vampires in the Dixie Pig. The sculpture essentially holds any human (or can-toi) totally enrapt and compliant upon seeing it in the hands of its wielder. The carving is said to have a question-mark shaped scratch on its shell.
Also in books VI and VII, multiple characters stumble upon a small park near #2 Hammarskjold Plaza containing a fountain beside a bronze sculpture of a turtle. The park—and the sculpture—actually exist, although King places the park across the street from #2 Hammarskjold Plaza: In fact, the turtle is in a larger park directly alongside the building, part of the Katharine Hepburn Memorial Garden. The sculpture is a nod to the neighborhood's centuries-old nickname, Turtle Bay.[1]
Both Turtle Bay and Maturin the turtle appear in King's earlier novel It, serving much the same benevolent supernatural guardian role.
The name Maturin itself is a reference to Stephen Maturin, a naturalist from the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels who discovers a new species of tortoise.
Moses Carver[edit]
Odetta/Susannah's godfather and guardian, retired president of the Tet Corporation, and protector of the rose. When he finally appears in The Dark Tower, he is 100 years old, with a fiery, mischievous, and extremely likable character. He has little gold framed glasses, a bad case of rheumatism, and a stooped posture; upon seeing him, Roland estimates that if he could stand straight, the two would be the same height (roughly 6'3"). He is the last living founder of the corporation, and his daughter Marian serves as its president since his retirement in 1997.
Irene Tassenbaum[edit]
Irene is a middle-aged housewife from Staten Island, somewhat neglected by her wealthy husband, who meets Roland, Jake, and Oy in Stoneham, Maine of the Keystone World in the year 1999. She volunteers to drive the gunslinger's party to Lovell, where they narrowly manage to save Stephen King's life, with Jake sacrificing his own life in the process. Tassenbaum then drives Roland and Oy to New York (sleeping with Roland along the way), where the gunslinger and the bumbler will meet with the board of Tet Corp. before returning to Mid-World. Irene promises Roland that she will plant a rose at Jake's grave.
Antagonists[edit]
John Farson[edit]
Farson, a.k.a. the Good Man, was a former thief, murderer, and harrier in the lands west of Gilead in Roland's youth, later becoming a general of rebellious people from the lesser classes of Mid-World. Followers, at his command, occupied Downland Baronies such as the Barony of Cressia, and after allying with the blue-faced barbarians of Grissom, they finally overwhelmed Gilead and the gunslingers. After the fall of Gilead and Farson's triumph, Roland and his old ka-tet fought for nine years against the remainder of Farson's forces, eventually leading to the battle of Jericho Hill. Farson sends his Generals Grissom and Walter O´Dim with the last two thousand soldiers and mutants against Roland, who was the only survivor. Farson is tall and slim, he has short, straight, black hair, brown eyes and wears black armor. He wears a terrible fright mask around his men.
Randall Flagg[edit]
Main article: Randall Flagg
The Man in Black, and a character with numerous aliases, including: the Ageless Stranger, the Walking Dude, Walter O'Dim, Marten Broadcloak, Richard Faninn, Rudin Filaro, Legion, Covenant Man, and his given name, Walter Padick, son of Sam; he appears in many books of Stephen King, most notably in The Eyes of the Dragon and in The Stand, always as a nearly-demonic sorcerer. He is the Crimson King's chief agent.
The Crimson King[edit]
Main article: Crimson King
The ultimate in evil, this mysterious figure wishes to conquer the Dark Tower and raze it to the ground. Since this will destroy the entire universe, the Crimson King is naturally cast as the villain in The Dark Tower books. He is also known as Ram Aballah, and once ruled from his castle in End-World, but now is imprisoned on a balcony on the Dark Tower, which he had run to in a fit of madness that had taken him over. He believes that when the Tower falls, he will rule the Todash darkness that was once the multiverse. He is the one whom Walter/Flagg serves, whom the low men and taheen serve, and he has opposed Roland of Gilead from the beginning. The Crimson King is known by a number of names, including Los' the Red, Ram Aballah, The Aballah, The Kingfish, The Red King, The Lord of Spiders, and The Lord of Discordia. He also appears in Insomnia as a higher being trying to murder Patrick Danville as a child.
The Crimson King is also named in the Stephen King/Peter Straub novel Black House, the sequel to The Talisman.
James Farson[edit]
Farson's nephew, young, slim musician had a short, straight, black hair and dark eye's, he's a high-ranking soldier or henchmen of Farson's Revolutionary Army, and one who met Gabrielle Deschain in their plan for murderer of Steven Deschain. He is always seen near of his uncle, not directly in battle.
Jack Mort[edit]
Jack Mort (whose name means "Death" in French) is a fictional character who makes a brief appearance in The Gunslinger, and a more detailed appearance in The Drawing of the Three. The third door that Roland encounters on the beach leads to Mort and New York in the mid-1970s. Roland finds himself inside the mind of "The Pusher", a sociopath named Jack Mort, whose sadistic acts of random violence have shaped the lives of Roland's companions. Mort, an accountant, thrives on being a meticulous planner when it comes to murder. This, and his style of execution, leads him to be an anonymous and therefore very effective killer. For example, Mort will drop bricks (and presumably other heavy items) on people's heads from tall places (what he calls "depth charging"), will push people in front of cars, and will also push people in front of subway trains. His methods allow a complete lack of direct confrontation, and thus allow him to continue his secret life quietly and with deadly effectiveness. He acts as a linking point between Susannah (both Odetta and Detta), Jake, and ultimately Roland. When Odetta was five, Mort dropped a brick on her head (which led to the emergence of her multiple personalities); he also pushed Odetta in front of a subway car when she was a teenager (neither knowing nor caring that she was a previous victim of his cruelty). On the day Roland enters him, he is planning to shove a young boy (who turns out to be Jake Chambers) into traffic. Unwilling to let Jake die once again through his inaction, Roland takes control of Mort's body and stops him. This death was the means that forced Jake into Roland's world the first time; when Roland prevented it, it had caused a time paradox, though it was resolved later, or rather, undermined, when Jake entered into Roland's world again, but through a door. Later, Roland purposefully forces Jack Mort to throw himself burning in front of a subway train, while telling him that he deserves a far worse fate. In the midst of this struggle, Roland manages to trick Detta into looking through the door, which forces both Odetta and Detta to acknowledge their dual personalities and the cause of them. Mort is described as tall, thin, and having blonde hair in The Drawing of the Three, yet is said by Roland to have had dark hair when mentioned in The Waste Lands.
Roland Deschain[edit]
Main article: Roland Deschain
Roland Deschain, son of Steven Deschain, was born in the Barony of Gilead, in In-World. Roland is the last surviving gunslinger, a man whose goal is finding and climbing to the top of the Dark Tower, purported to be the very center of existence, so that he may right the wrongs in his land. This quest is his obsession, monomania and geas to Roland: In the beginning the success of the quest is more important than the lives of his family and friends. He is a man who lacks imagination, and this is one of the stated reasons for his survival against all odds: he can not imagine anything other than surviving to find the Tower.
Eddie …show more content…
Dean[edit]
Main article: Eddie Dean (The Dark Tower)
Eddie makes his debut in The Drawing of the Three, in which Roland encounters three doors that open into the New York City of our world in different times. Through these doors, Roland draws companions who will join him on his quest, as the Man In Black foretold. The first to be drawn is Eddie Dean, a drug addict and a first-time cocaine transporter. Eddie lived with his older brother and fellow junkie Henry, whom Eddie reveres despite the corrupting influence Henry had upon his life. Roland helps Eddie fight off a gang of mobsters for whom he was transporting the cocaine, but not before Eddie discovers that Henry has died from an overdose of heroin in the company of the aforementioned mobsters (after which the mobsters decide to chop off Henry's head). It is because of Eddie's heroin addiction that he is termed 'The Prisoner', and that is what is written upon the door from which Roland draws him.
Roland also acquires medicine for his infection during the trip to Eddie's world, but this only temporarily quells the fever.
Eddie passes through the door into Roland's world, and faces heroin withdrawal symptoms, but despite his suffering, he also shows an affinity for the ways of the gunslinger. Unwillingly at first, and somewhat under duress, Eddie becomes Roland's companion through Mid-World, and he soon falls in love with Susannah, the next member of Roland's ka-tet. Eddie and Susannah consider themselves husband and wife, although they never formally marry.
In the final novel, during the attack on Algul Siento, Eddie is shot and killed by Pimli Prentiss, the master of the establishment.
Roland also notes that Eddie's character strongly resembles that of Cuthbert, a gunslinger of Roland's past, and one of Roland's greatest friends. The character of Cuthbert is mentioned in Browning's poem and is described most fully in The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass, although he is first mentioned in The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
Susannah Dean[edit]
Main article: Susannah Dean
Also hailing from New York City, Susannah is an African-American (although as a woman of 1964, she prefers the term "Negro" over the term considered appropriate in Eddie's time, "Black") woman with two major afflictions: her legs below the knees were severed in a subway accident, and a childhood head injury left her with dual personalities, which Eddie incorrectly labels schizophrenia. She is "The Lady of Shadows", the second companion predicted by Walter to be drawn into Roland's world via the mysterious doors.
Initially, her dominant personality is that of Odetta Susannah Holmes, a well-mannered but priggish woman active in the civil rights movement. At times, however, she is taken over by Detta Susannah Walker—murderously psychotic, incredibly crafty, completely unbreakable—whom neither Eddie nor Roland can control. Roland manages to resolve these personalities by forcing her to look through the third door while he himself looks out of it, forcing her to see herself as she really is; thereafter, her personalities are integrated into a single, far more balanced individual, known as Susannah Dean, Eddie's wife, although they were never formally married. Susannah has access to the memories and personalities of both Holmes and Walker, and can call upon their skills and temperaments at will.
During the drawing of Jake, she submits to sex with the demon of the doorway in order to distract it and afterwards, she becomes pregnant. Susannah shares the experience of her pregnancy with a demon-turned-mortal named Mia, resulting in Susannah housing yet another personality in her mind. Mia takes over Susannah's body (and melds with it, giving her legs for a short while) and runs in it to yet another when of New York, this one circa 1999, to give birth to the demon child.
Susannah is the last member of Roland's ka-tet to leave him (and the only one to survive in a Keystone world), having been given the chance to return to another form of Eddie and Jake in a parallel world.
Jake Chambers[edit]
Jake Chambers, an eleven-year-old boy from the New York of 1977, is the symbolic (and later adopted) son of Roland. Jake's given name is John, but he prefers to be known by Jake, and is called "'Bama" by his housekeeper, who is far closer to him than his parents. In his home world, he dies at the hands of Jack Mort (who Jake initially believes is Walter) and ends up in Roland's world as a result. The gunslinger and the boy travel together in pursuit of the Man in Black, developing a strong bond along the way. However, in order to reach the Man in Black, Roland lets Jake fall to his death.
The child Roland allowed to die reappears in Roland's mind in The Waste Lands, however, due to a paradox. Since Roland (in The Drawing of the Three) prevented Mort from shoving Jake into traffic, he never died, therefore he never appeared in Mid-World and was never left to die under the mountains. Jake and Roland, however, can remember both timelines, and the knowledge is slowly driving them insane.
In the first half of The Waste Lands, Roland's ka-tet figure out a way to draw Jake into Mid-world, where he belongs (an action which finishes the real Drawing of the Three, Jack Mort never having been intended to join the ka-tet). Eddie is driven to whittle a key out of wood as they approach a Speaking Ring, where Eddie draws another door into the ground, this one guarded by an invisible demon. Susannah distracts the demon by allowing it to copulate with her, while Eddie perfects the key and uses it to open the door. On the other side, Jake has been led by the younger version of Eddie who lived in that when to a haunted house (indeed, Eddie has vague memories of the encounter himself), filled with evil spirits and a horrendous gate-keeper. Jake, with some timely assistance from Roland, fights through them to reach the door. Once the boy is in Mid-World again, Roland's and Jake's memories are merged and their descent into insanity abated.
While crossing the desolate city of Lud, Jake is kidnapped by a deranged resident of the city. He allows himself to be taken in exchange for the rest of the group's safe passage, and Roland promises to come for Jake, despite having to abandon him temporarily. Despite the danger it poses, he rescues Jake, reaffirming the father-son bond that has grown between them. Like Eddie and Susannah, Jake shows amazing aptitude to the way of a gunslinger.
Jake is the second member of the ka-tet to die, when he sacrifices himself to save Stephen King (as a character in the series) from certain death by putting himself between King and the van meant to take his life. By the end of the tale Jake has died a total of three times. An alternate version of Jake is encountered later by Susannah Dean.
Roland also notes that Jake strongly resembles Alain, another gunslinger, in his stable, reserved personality and talent with a psychic skill referred to as "the touch." Alain is described mostly by his time with Roland as a teen in The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass.
Oy[edit]
Oy is a "billy-bumbler," a strange creature found in Roland Deschain's world. King describes Oy in the "Argument", or foreword, of the fourth book, Wizard and Glass - "Bumblers, which look like a combination of badger, raccoon, and dog, have a limited speaking ability".[1] Elsewhere, bumblers are described as "a combination raccoon and woodchuck, with a little dachsund thrown in."[2] At one point, Eddie calls Oy "a fucked-up weasel".[3] Oy's voice is described as "low and deep, almost a bark; the voice of an English footballer with a bad cold in his throat."[4]
King seems to base Oy's appearance on the Tanuki, also known as the raccoon dog, or the Coati. Regarding Oy's appearance, by far the most frequently described feature throughout the series is his large, "bright"[5] almost glowing, "intelligent,gold-ringed eyes",[6] though King also frequently refers to the creature's "disproportionately long,[7]" "surprisingly graceful neck".[8] The creature has "black- and grey-striped fur[9]" and a "furry corkscrew tail".[10]
At the time of their meeting, Roland concedes that Oy may quite possibly be meant as another member of their ka-tet. Later, in the 6th book, this is confirmed when the Tet Corporation forms as the association of "Deschain, Dean, Dean, Chambers, and Oy."
Oy develops emotions and even a sense of humanity beyond that of his ability to replicate some words that the others speak. Oy is often referred as the smartest bumbler that characters have seen since the world had moved on. Oy provides a much-needed shelter from the harsh adultness of the quest for his master, often playing with Jake or providing moments of lightheartedness to the ka-tet. Together, the two are sometimes able to recall the innocence they have lost.
Oy is killed in the last Dark Tower book. He saves Roland's life by attacking Mordred, who came to kill Roland in his sleep. Mordred snaps Oy's back and impales him on a tree limb while the bumbler is defending his friend, but Oy finds enough strength to lick Roland's hand one time before he dies. Stephen King hints that Oy will be found in the same universe that Susannah travels to and will be in some form of a dog with "odd, gold-ringed eyes and a bark that eerily resembles human speech."
Roland's original Ka-tet[edit]
Cuthbert Allgood[edit]
Main article: Cuthbert Allgood
Cuthbert is Roland Deschain's childhood best friend, and a member of his original ka-tet.
Roland and Cuthbert are described as having been playing together since they were toddlers. Cuthbert, often called Bert, is first featured in The Gunslinger, but he does not play a major role in the series until Wizard and Glass, the fourth volume in the series. Cuthbert is characterized by his outwardly flippant, care-free view of the world. He constantly makes jokes, often testing the nerves of his companions. He is notably skilled with a sling-shot, it is said that he could 'take a bird on the wing at 50 yards' with his slingshot. This is a skill that comes in handy on many occasions in Mejis, when the boys cannot openly carry their guns. Cuthbert is quick-witted and sometimes has a highfalutin way with words — His proclivity for words can be noticed as he often stops to repeat and muse over phrases he finds to be nice and 'round'. Physically, Cuthbert is described as being trim and short with shoulder length dark hair and dark eyes. During the battle of Jericho Hill, Cuthbert is shot through the eye by an arrow fired by Randall Flagg. In Song of Susannah, Eddie Dean is revealed to be a reincarnation, or at least a "twinner" of Cuthbert …show more content…
Allgood.
Alain Johns[edit]
Main article: Alain Johns
Alain is one of Roland's original ka-tet, and along with the gunslinger and Cuthbert is evacuated to Mejis in Wizard and Glass for safety, due to the ongoing war against John Farson. Alain is strong in the 'touch', which is the mid-world term for a combination of telepathy, pre-cognition and hyper-sensitivity to the guiding hand of Ka).
Alain is described as being stout with blond hair. He is calm, reserved and often plays the role of level-headed mediator between ever pragmatic Roland and ostensibly care-free Cuthbert — particularly when Susan Delgado is seen to be interfering with Roland's decision making.
After Mejis, Alain joined Roland, Cuthbert and Jamie on their quest for the Dark Tower.
Shortly before the battle of Jericho Hill, the last stand by the gunslingers of Gilead against Farson's men, Alain was accidentally killed by Roland and Cuthbert, who mistook him for an assassin in the night.
Jamie De Curry[edit]
Main article: Jamie De Curry
Jamie De Curry was a member of Roland Deschain's original ka-tet. He grew up and trained with Roland under Cort and Vanny in Gilead. He was the first to discover Roland's plan to attempt to finish his training (by fighting Cort, their veteran teacher) at the unprecedented age of 14. He is characterized by a birthmark on his face — Even being referred to by some in Gilead as "Jamie of the marked face". He was killed by a sniper at the Battle of Jericho Hill, while pushing Roland from the line of fire. It's stated by Roland that as a child he excelled in archery — the use of bow and 'bah'(crossbow) - far more so than Roland himself, although by the time of the Battle of Jericho Hill he is a Gunslinger, like the rest of Roland's ka-tet.
Jamie figures prominently in the novel The Wind Through the Keyhole, traveling with Roland to investigate rumors of a shape-changing "skin-man" that is attacking a frontier town.
Thomas Whitman[edit]
Not much is known about Thomas Whitman. He is only briefly mentioned in The Gunslinger as one of Roland Deschain's childhood friends who studied under Cort. He is shown in several installements of the Gunslinger comics. He is shown to have a lean build with short, black hair. In the Battle of Jericho Hill, he and several other Gunslingers are killed by a flamethrower.
Allies of the Ka-tet[edit]
Susan Delgado[edit]
Susan Delgado appears in Wizard and Glass, the fourth book of the series. She is a resident of Hambry in the Barony of Mejis, where the 14-year-old Roland and his ka-tet have been sent for their own safety. Her father was killed in a horseback riding "accident", actually a murder, and Susan has been cajoled by her aunt Cordelia into becoming a "gilly", essentially a concubine, for Mejis mayor Hart Thorin. Although Susan is to be paid for her services, she is a recognized consort and any heir she bears to the heretofore-childless Thorin will be legitimate. Before her relationship with Thorin is allowed to begin, however, she falls in love with Roland and becomes involved in his plans to prevent John Farson from using an oilfield near Hambry to supply his troops with crude oil. When Roland and his friends are framed for Thorin's murder and arrested, she breaks them out of jail and helps them escape Hambry. Before she can flee, though, she is captured, brought back to town, and publicly burned at the stake as an alleged accomplice in the murder. At the time, she is already pregnant with Roland's first child. Roland is devastated by her death — not just because of his love for her, but because, when confronted with the choice of returning for her or setting out for the Dark Tower and thus saving all of creation, he chose the Tower, thus condemning her to death.
Roland believes that Susan Delgado was the only true love of his life.
Ted Brautigan[edit]
Ted Stevens Brautigan (19 letters) was introduced in the Stephen King novella "Low Men in Yellow Coats" from Hearts in Atlantis. He is a powerful "Breaker", a psychic, whose extraordinary powers as a facilitator are sought by the Crimson King so he can hasten the destruction of the beams and Dark Tower. Ted arrives in the Devar-Toi, the prison camp where the Breakers are held, in 1955, and with help from Roland's old friend from Mejis, Sheemie Ruiz, soon escapes the Devar-Toi and enters the Connecticut of 1960, which is when the story of "Low Men in Yellow Coats" takes place. After his adventure in Connecticut, the low men capture and smuggle him back to the Devar-Toi via the Dixie Pig and Thunderclap Station. Ted meets Roland and his ka-tet in the final novel of the series, and he, "Everything's Eventual"'s Dinky Earnshaw, and the newly revealed psychic Sheemie assist the ka-tet in the attack on the Devar-Toi and ultimately succeed in obliterating the low men and the taheen. After Roland, Jake, and Oy travel to the Maine of 1999 to prevent Stephen King from dying, Ted and his friends escort Susannah Dean to Fedic Station, and Ted, along with a handful of the other psychic Breakers depart for the Callas, where they hope to first find redemption from the Calla folken and then return to America via the Doorway Cave.
Sheemie Ruiz[edit]
Main article: Sheemie Ruiz
Sheemie, introduced in Wizard and Glass, was a mildly mentally retarded tavern boy at a saloon in Hambry.
Sheemie assisted Roland and his first ka-tet in preventing the followers of John Farson, and more specifically, the Crimson King, from reviving the Great Old Ones' war machines, later following the group back to Gilead. Sheemie joined Roland's ka-tet briefly and helped the gunslingers ward off the Crimson King's followers until he and his mule Capi mysteriously disappeared. However, while Roland assumes Sheemie is dead, he is not; he had been captured by the low men and taken to the Devar-Toi, the Breaker prison, because of his telepathic abilities, which remained unknown to Roland's ka-tet. He reappears in the series' final novel and assists the new ka-tet in defeating the low men and the taheen. However, during the battle, he steps on a piece of glass, causing an infection (accelerated by the "poison air" around Thunderclap). While escorting Susannah to Fedic on the train, he dies of blood poisoning. Ironically, though Susannah never learns this, she is indirectly responsible for his death, as it is her bullet that breaks the glass out of his window, causing it to be there for him to step
on.
Dinky Earnshaw[edit]
Main article: Dinky Earnshaw
Richard "Dinky" Earnshaw is the psychic assassin from Stephen King's short story "Everything's Eventual." He was hired by a man named Mr. Sharpton who was the head of a North Central Positronics subsidiary. However, when Dinky discovered what Sharpton was truly using him for, he killed Sharpton. Unfortunately, the low men captured him and transported him to the Devar-Toi, where he later met Ted Brautigan and Sheemie Ruiz. The three joined forces with Roland and his ka-tet in the final novel of the series and they helped to defeat the Devar-Toi's guards.
Pere Donald Callahan[edit]
Main article: Father Callahan
Donald Frank Callahan (19 letters) is the "damned" priest who first appeared in the novel 'Salem's Lot. He makes his first appearance in the Dark Tower series in Wolves of the Calla, although his involvement in the series was hinted at in the afterword to Wizard and Glass. After being marked by the vampire Kurt Barlow, and therefore forced out of his church, Father Callahan spends time volunteering in a homeless shelter. Callahan made it a goal to get even with the vampires for what they did to him and his friend, who contracted HIV after being bitten by a vampire. He is aided in this by his ability to spot the vampires; since Jerusalem's Lot (and the forced taking of some of the vampire Barlow's blood) he has been able to recognize vampires at a glance. Like Jake Chambers, Callahan enters Mid-World after dying in his own world, although in Callahan's case the death is his own doing; he jumps from a window to escape agents of the Crimson King, then arrives at the Way Station from The Gunslinger, shortly after Jake & Roland left it. He becomes a partial member of the ka-tet, assisting the ka-tet in the Battle against the Wolves and Susannah's rescue mission from 1999 New York, and sacrificing himself so that Jake may live in the final stand in The Dark Tower VII against the can-toi (low men) and vampires. For the second time, Callahan kills himself before allowing himself to fall at the hands of the vampires.
Patrick Danville[edit]
Main article: Patrick Danville
Patrick appears in Insomnia as a promising child artist, then again at the end of the Dark Tower series as a young adult artist with enough talent to shape the real world as he sees fit. As a young boy, he was prophesied to save two men in the future. He drew pictures of Roland and the roses as well. In the Dark Tower series, he was kept imprisoned for an unknown amount of time by the psychic vampire Dandelo and was rescued by Susannah and Roland. Patrick draws a door that allows Susannah to enter a parallel world, and later draws and erases a picture of the Crimson King, causing him to disappear from the Tower so that Roland can safely enter it.
Aunt Talitha Unwin[edit]
"Aunt" Talitha Unwin is a resident of River Crossing, near the city of Lud. When Roland Deschain came to River Crossing, she was 105 years old. She and the people of River Crossing provided food and shelter for the ka-tet while they were on their way to Lud. Talitha gave her cross to Roland to lay at the base of the Dark Tower. It was given to John Cullum to act as a sigul and was later returned to Roland by Moses Carver.
When Roland came to the Dark Tower, Talitha Unwin was one of the names that he called out and he remembered to place her cross at its base.
Cortland "Cort" Andrus[edit]
Teacher of Roland's original ka-tet. Roland earned his guns by defeating him with the hawk David, who was mortally wounded in that battle. After Roland's challenge, Cort laid in his cabin for a week in a coma, being tended by two nurses. Cort was often rough handed with his students, using physical punishment and denial of food to punish mistakes. He also fancied calling the prospective gunslingers "maggots". According to Roland, he is murdered soon after Roland's class graduates. He acts as a sort of a spiritual guide to Roland throughout the series, his voice and teachings popping up in the Gunslinger's mind every so often as Roland needs to reflect upon his training.
Abel Vannay[edit]
Also known as "Vannay the Wise", he was the other primary tutor of Roland's ka-tet and of apprentice gunslingers. Known mostly for his wisdom and forbearance, Vannay's analytical method of instruction and pacifistic nature serve as strong counterpoints to the ruthless application of force and cynical thought process exercised by Cort. It is mentioned that he walks with the assistance of a black ironwood cane. His only known relative was his son Wallace, who played with Roland as a toddler; however, he died very young of an illness. Vannay would become one of the many victims to fall prey to the forces of John Farson in the battle for Gilead.
Stephen King[edit]
See also the real-life article on Stephen King
Stephen King (as a fictionalized character) appears in the final two Dark Tower books. Roland and his ka-tet learn of his existence when Roland comes across a copy of 'Salem's Lot, after first meeting Father Callahan, in the fifth book Wolves of the Calla. Roland and Eddie later confront King in his Maine home at a time when he has written 'Salem's Lot and The Gunslinger but no further Dark Tower books. Roland hypnotizes King and it is revealed that the author did not in fact "create" the characters of Father Callahan, or Roland, or any others involved with the Dark Tower, but Stephen King is in this reality a channel (another servant of the Beam / ka / Gan) that records their ongoing quest. It is also revealed that at a very young age, the Crimson King attempted to claim Stephen King as one of his own. King fears death and retaliation from the Crimson King if he continues to write Roland's tale but the Gunslinger's hypnosis encourages him to continue. The eventual attempt on King's life that would end his chronicling of Roland's quest comes in the form of his 1999 automobile incident.
Many elements of Stephen King's real life are presented through his character (such as his 1999 accident) but are further fictionalized; King notes in the afterword to The Dark Tower that he took particular liberties with the geography of Maine to obscure the real-life location of his home and preserve what privacy he still has. Although he does not appear as a character until Song of Susannah, he is alluded to as early as The Drawing of the Three when Eddie recalls having seen The Shining in movie theaters.
Stuttering Bill[edit]
Stuttering Bill is a robot (full name William D-746541-M Maintenance Robot) with many other functions. He plowed Tower Road all the way up to the edge of the white lands, where the snow ended and the roses began. He gave Roland, Susannah and Patrick a ride on his snowplow for many miles, taking them closer to the Dark Tower.
Stuttering Bill was also the nickname of William Denbrough, one of the central characters in King's novel It.
Calvin Tower[edit]
Calvin Tower is the lease holder of the Manhattan Restaurant of the Mind bookstore in the Dark Tower series. He makes his first appearance in The Waste Lands, where he sells Jake two books which later prove vital to the ka-tet's survival of their encounter with Blaine the Mono. In later volumes, it is revealed that Tower owns the lot containing the rose, and is being pressured by mobsters to sell the property to the Sombra Corporation. Eddie saves Tower from a beating, and convinces Tower to sell the land to the ka-tet in the guise of the "Tet Corporation". Tower is an extremely reluctant recruit to the ka-tet's cause, and his selfishness, obsessive addiction to acquiring rare books nearly derail the ka-tet's efforts on several occasions. His eventual — and reluctant — decision to do the right thing comes largely thanks to the influence of his much more selfless, heroic friend, Aaron Deepneau. In the end, he sells the lot to Tet Corporation, and serves on the board for many years. With Deepneau, he saves Father Callahan from knife-wielding thugs, as requested by the ka-tet. Tower dies of a heart attack in 1990.
Aaron Deepneau[edit]
Aaron Deepneau is Calvin Tower's best — and only — friend. He serves as Tower's conscience, and steadily leads his friend to the gunslinger's cause. He later joins the board of Tet Corporation, and proves to be one of the rose's most ardent defenders. His grand-niece Nancy, a gunslinger in her own right, works for the Tet Corporation. Deepneau dies of cancer in 1992.
John Cullum[edit]
Met Roland and Eddie during the ambush in Stoneham, 1977. He leads the pair to safety, ferries them to his home, and provides a vehicle for them to use. He also becomes a member of Tet Corp's board and tireless champion of the rose, and dies for the cause, assassinated by Sombra/NCP in 1989.
Maturin[edit]
The Guardians of the Beams keep watch over either end of the six beams that support The Dark Tower. Of the twelve Guardians the ones that are mentioned are Turtle, Bear, Fish, Wolf, Elephant, Rat, Bat, Lion, Horse, and Eagle; Maturin, the Turtle (also a character in It), is considered the most powerful, or significant, of these. Throughout the series the reader repeatedly comes across a simple, nursery-rhyme style poem about Maturin:
See the TURTLE of enormous girth! On his shell he holds the Earth, His thought is slow but always kind; He holds us all within his mind.
On his back the truth is carried, And there are love and duty married. He loves the earth and loves the sea, And even loves a child like me.
Maturin guards the same beam as Shardik from the opposite end. Whereas Shardik runs amok in The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands, nearly killing Eddie before it can be destroyed, Maturin is a totally benevolent (and incredibly powerful) presence in the story, helping the ka-tet at several points along their journey.
In The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower, a small ivory scrimshaw sculpture of Maturin comes into the ka-tet's possession, and with it, Susannah/Mia hypnotizes a stranger, forcing him to get Susannah/Mia a hotel room. Susannah leaves the turtle where Jake will find it, enabling him (and, through his own martyrdom, Pere Callahan) to track Susannah and escape the low men, taheen, and vampires in the Dixie Pig. The sculpture essentially holds any human (or can-toi) totally enrapt and compliant upon seeing it in the hands of its wielder. The carving is said to have a question-mark shaped scratch on its shell.
Also in books VI and VII, multiple characters stumble upon a small park near #2 Hammarskjold Plaza containing a fountain beside a bronze sculpture of a turtle. The park—and the sculpture—actually exist, although King places the park across the street from #2 Hammarskjold Plaza: In fact, the turtle is in a larger park directly alongside the building, part of the Katharine Hepburn Memorial Garden. The sculpture is a nod to the neighborhood's centuries-old nickname, Turtle Bay.[1]
Both Turtle Bay and Maturin the turtle appear in King's earlier novel It, serving much the same benevolent supernatural guardian role.
The name Maturin itself is a reference to Stephen Maturin, a naturalist from the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels who discovers a new species of tortoise.
Moses Carver[edit]
Odetta/Susannah's godfather and guardian, retired president of the Tet Corporation, and protector of the rose. When he finally appears in The Dark Tower, he is 100 years old, with a fiery, mischievous, and extremely likable character. He has little gold framed glasses, a bad case of rheumatism, and a stooped posture; upon seeing him, Roland estimates that if he could stand straight, the two would be the same height (roughly 6'3"). He is the last living founder of the corporation, and his daughter Marian serves as its president since his retirement in 1997.
Irene Tassenbaum[edit]
Irene is a middle-aged housewife from Staten Island, somewhat neglected by her wealthy husband, who meets Roland, Jake, and Oy in Stoneham, Maine of the Keystone World in the year 1999. She volunteers to drive the gunslinger's party to Lovell, where they narrowly manage to save Stephen King's life, with Jake sacrificing his own life in the process. Tassenbaum then drives Roland and Oy to New York (sleeping with Roland along the way), where the gunslinger and the bumbler will meet with the board of Tet Corp. before returning to Mid-World. Irene promises Roland that she will plant a rose at Jake's grave.
Antagonists[edit]
John Farson[edit]
Farson, a.k.a. the Good Man, was a former thief, murderer, and harrier in the lands west of Gilead in Roland's youth, later becoming a general of rebellious people from the lesser classes of Mid-World. Followers, at his command, occupied Downland Baronies such as the Barony of Cressia, and after allying with the blue-faced barbarians of Grissom, they finally overwhelmed Gilead and the gunslingers. After the fall of Gilead and Farson's triumph, Roland and his old ka-tet fought for nine years against the remainder of Farson's forces, eventually leading to the battle of Jericho Hill. Farson sends his Generals Grissom and Walter O´Dim with the last two thousand soldiers and mutants against Roland, who was the only survivor. Farson is tall and slim, he has short, straight, black hair, brown eyes and wears black armor. He wears a terrible fright mask around his men.
Randall Flagg[edit]
Main article: Randall Flagg
The Man in Black, and a character with numerous aliases, including: the Ageless Stranger, the Walking Dude, Walter O'Dim, Marten Broadcloak, Richard Faninn, Rudin Filaro, Legion, Covenant Man, and his given name, Walter Padick, son of Sam; he appears in many books of Stephen King, most notably in The Eyes of the Dragon and in The Stand, always as a nearly-demonic sorcerer. He is the Crimson King's chief agent.
The Crimson King[edit]
Main article: Crimson King
The ultimate in evil, this mysterious figure wishes to conquer the Dark Tower and raze it to the ground. Since this will destroy the entire universe, the Crimson King is naturally cast as the villain in The Dark Tower books. He is also known as Ram Aballah, and once ruled from his castle in End-World, but now is imprisoned on a balcony on the Dark Tower, which he had run to in a fit of madness that had taken him over. He believes that when the Tower falls, he will rule the Todash darkness that was once the multiverse. He is the one whom Walter/Flagg serves, whom the low men and taheen serve, and he has opposed Roland of Gilead from the beginning. The Crimson King is known by a number of names, including Los' the Red, Ram Aballah, The Aballah, The Kingfish, The Red King, The Lord of Spiders, and The Lord of Discordia. He also appears in Insomnia as a higher being trying to murder Patrick Danville as a child.
The Crimson King is also named in the Stephen King/Peter Straub novel Black House, the sequel to The Talisman.
James Farson[edit]
Farson's nephew, young, slim musician had a short, straight, black hair and dark eye's, he's a high-ranking soldier or henchmen of Farson's Revolutionary Army, and one who met Gabrielle Deschain in their plan for murderer of Steven Deschain. He is always seen near of his uncle, not directly in battle.
Jack Mort[edit]
Jack Mort (whose name means "Death" in French) is a fictional character who makes a brief appearance in The Gunslinger, and a more detailed appearance in The Drawing of the Three. The third door that Roland encounters on the beach leads to Mort and New York in the mid-1970s. Roland finds himself inside the mind of "The Pusher", a sociopath named Jack Mort, whose sadistic acts of random violence have shaped the lives of Roland's companions. Mort, an accountant, thrives on being a meticulous planner when it comes to murder. This, and his style of execution, leads him to be an anonymous and therefore very effective killer. For example, Mort will drop bricks (and presumably other heavy items) on people's heads from tall places (what he calls "depth charging"), will push people in front of cars, and will also push people in front of subway trains. His methods allow a complete lack of direct confrontation, and thus allow him to continue his secret life quietly and with deadly effectiveness. He acts as a linking point between Susannah (both Odetta and Detta), Jake, and ultimately Roland. When Odetta was five, Mort dropped a brick on her head (which led to the emergence of her multiple personalities); he also pushed Odetta in front of a subway car when she was a teenager (neither knowing nor caring that she was a previous victim of his cruelty). On the day Roland enters him, he is planning to shove a young boy (who turns out to be Jake Chambers) into traffic. Unwilling to let Jake die once again through his inaction, Roland takes control of Mort's body and stops him. This death was the means that forced Jake into Roland's world the first time; when Roland prevented it, it had caused a time paradox, though it was resolved later, or rather, undermined, when Jake entered into Roland's world again, but through a door. Later, Roland purposefully forces Jack Mort to throw himself burning in front of a subway train, while telling him that he deserves a far worse fate. In the midst of this struggle, Roland manages to trick Detta into looking through the door, which forces both Odetta and Detta to acknowledge their dual personalities and the cause of them. Mort is described as tall, thin, and having blonde hair in The Drawing of the Three, yet is said by Roland to have had dark hair when mentioned in The Waste Lands.