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* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: The characters in-universe believe that she's a spiteful, petty bitch who is choosing to make Barak's life hell. Many fans believe that she's a woman who's trapped in a marriage she doesn't want and is doing her best to get revenge on the man who later rapes her.
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* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: The characters in-universe believe that she's a spiteful, petty bitch who is choosing to make Barak's life hell. Many fans believe that she's a woman who's trapped in a marriage she doesn't want and is doing her best to get revenge on the man who who, while drunk, later rapes her.
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** This is, unusually, acknowledged by Barak at first, who seems to be genuinely contrite.
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** Leads to a bit of in-universe ValuesDissonance when he asks why Alorns, who have no problem with chopping people in half, are so upset by drugs and poisons. All they can do is shrug their shoulders and say "It's a cultural thing."
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* ModestRoyalty: to the point that his subjects don't recognize him when he rides past. He doesn't mind, but it's not a deliberate case of KingIncognito either.
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* ArchEnemy: Cho-Hag and 'Zakath
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* ArchEnemy: He made no secret of the fact that he would kill Taur Urgas and exterminate the Murgos down to the last child if he could
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* CluelessChickMagnet: Midway through the series, Garion's descent from Belgarath is common knowledge, but his identity as the Rivan king is still a secret (even to him). Since Belgarath's family is the most noble in the world basically by default, this briefly makes Garion the most eligible bachelor in the West, a fact he was neither aware of nor prepared for
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* PaperThinDisguise: Shortly after her first appearance she tries ton get out of going to Riva by sneaking out of Tol Honeth with dyed hair and an increasingly unconvincing false identity. It doesn't work, and even if it had, she almost immediately runs into the protagonists, who take her to Riva anyway. BecauseDestinySaysSo.
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* PaperThinDisguise: Shortly after her first appearance she tries ton to get out of going to Riva by sneaking out of Tol Honeth with dyed hair and an increasingly unconvincing false identity. It doesn't work, and even if it had, she almost immediately runs into the protagonists, who take her to Riva anyway. BecauseDestinySaysSo.
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* PaperThinDisguise: Shortly after her first appearance she tries ton get out of going to Riva by sneaking out of Tol Honeth with dyed hair and an increasingly unconvincing false identity. It doesn't work, and even if it had, she almost immediately runs into the protagonists, who take her to Riva anyway. BecauseDestinySaysSo.
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* GoodIsDumb
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** Arguably it's both his best quality and greatest weakness- one of his first actions in the series is to insist on Garion knowing every detail of a plot to rebel against the crown that he is part of, since Garion is his friend and he trusts him totally. Despite the fact that he literally met Garion that day.
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* EvilCounterpart: She could be considered one to Polgara- they're both the only significant female magic users on each side, they're both dark haired and her abduction of Geran could easily be seen as a twisted version of Polgara's maternal role to Garion and Riva's descendants in general.
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** May be an InUniverse example of an AscendedExtra, as he doesn't have a prophetic title, unlike the other party members. It's mentioned at one point that the Prophecy was allowed to add him to the group to counter the other side's [[OutsideContextVillain summoning of demons]].
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* AchievementsInIgnorance: It's illegal to throw a priest into prison without evidence. Islena doesn't know that, and Grodeg knows she doesn't. Anheg finds the entire situation hilarious.
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* AchievementsInIgnorance: It's illegal to throw a priest into prison the dungeon without evidence. Islena doesn't know that, and Grodeg knows she doesn't.doesn't know that -- so he's forced to do everything Islena demands of him because he ''really'' doesn't want to be thrown into the dungeon. Anheg finds the entire situation hilarious.
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* UnevenHybrid: Had a sorcerer grandfather and a wolf grandmother.
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YMMV
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* EvilIsSexy: Described by all characters as a very beautiful woman, and proves to be a very sensuous character, she attempts to seduce Garion to her side, and use him for her own most likely nefarious purposes. Very nearly succeeds.
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YMMV
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* AngstWhatAngst: She escapes from a lifetime of slavery, after having had her children forcibly taken from her and horrifically murdered, and yet she never seems to be sad or angry after she's rescued.
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* StopHelpingMe: The Orb tries so hard to be helpful. To the point that it has to be told that its help is not required. It thought that rearranging the stars to spell "Belgarion" was a request rather than an example.
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* TrueBlueFemininity: when not on her earth-tone coloured travelling clothes, she wears blue dresses reserved for special occasions.
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** RevengeByProxy[=/=]SinsOfOurFathers: Plans to exterminate every single member of the Urga family--and possibly all of Cthol Murgos--because of what Taur Urgas made him do.
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** RevengeByProxy[=/=]SinsOfOurFathers: Plans to exterminate every single member of the Urga family--and possibly all of Cthol Murgos--because of what Taur Urgas made him do. [[spoiler: Results in a breakdown when he finds out that he's too late and his war was for nothing -- the Urga line had been broken already by Taur Urgas' death, as Urgit, Taur Urgas' successor, turns out to be a result of infidelity on the part of his wife with a Drasnian representative]].
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fixing link
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* YouCanNeverGoHomeAgain: He was born as Garath in a now long forgotten village, and was orphaned as a child. He ran away in his teens after getting a beating from a farmer who's daughter he got caught necking with, and ended up in Aldurs valley. When the Torak cataclysm occured centuries later, Belgaraths hometown was destroyed, severing the last link to his past.
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* YouCanNeverGoHomeAgain: YouCantGoHomeAgain: He was born as Garath in a now long forgotten village, and was orphaned as a child. He ran away in his teens after getting a beating from a farmer who's daughter he got caught necking with, and ended up in Aldurs valley. When the Torak cataclysm occured centuries later, Belgaraths hometown was destroyed, severing the last link to his past.
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* Fiction500: At one point in the ''Malloreon'', Zakath is wondering if Silk's holdings in the empire should be shut down. One of his advisors points out that if they ''did'', the empire's economy would collapse.
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* Fiction500: {{Fiction 500}}: At one point in the ''Malloreon'', Zakath is wondering if Silk's holdings in the empire should be shut down. One of his advisors points out that if they ''did'', the empire's economy would collapse.
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* Fiction500: At one point in the ''Malloreon'', Zakath is wondering if Silk's holdings in the empire should be shut down. One of his advisors points out that if they ''did'', the empire's economy would collapse.
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!!'''Taiba'''
* AngstWhatAngst: She escapes from a lifetime of slavery, after having had her children forcibly taken from her and horrifically murdered, and yet she never seems to be sad or angry after she's rescued.
* BabiesEverAfter: And after. And after. It's actually her purpose- she and Relg together make the new Marags (and the next Gorim).
* BeautifulSlaveGirl: She's described as being very beautiful.
* HappilyMarried: To Relg.
* IOweYouMyLife: 'Owe' is a stretch, but after Relg saves her life, she finds herself fascinated by him, due in some part to her gratitude for his saving her life.
* {{Irony}}: When she was first rescued, she despised religion and honoured no god. As of the ''Malloreon'', she and Relg are living in Maragor, under the eye of Mara.
* [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Her Kind]]: She's the last living Marag, descended from those who were imprisoned and carried out of Maragor to be slaves. There were actually more Marags in the slave pens under Rak Cthol, but after the city was destroyed, she was the last one left.
* [[MassiveNumberedSiblings Massive Numbered Children]]: Mara 'interferes' with her reproductive system after she and Relg marry and locate to Maragor, so Taiba keeps having children in twos and threes. We never see any of the kids, though, or get any kind of number- though given a God's capabilities, the number probably reached three digits at some point.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: She had twin baby girls before Garion and co found her, but they were [[NightmareFuel sacrificed]] [[MoralEventHorizon by Ctuchik.]] This, above all, was the catalyst that drove her to escape, steal a knife and look for Ctuchik so she could kill him. (She got lost, which is when Garion and co found her.)
* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: Relg is outraged by her nakedness when they first meet, even when Taiba points out that she doesn't ''have'' any other clothes- and that she's not ashamed of her body, so she really has no reason to want more clothes.
* RapeAsBackstory: Almost certainly, sadly, though [[AngstWhatAngst it never comes up.]]
* SatelliteCharacter: Taiba's whole reason for existing is to marry Relg and give birth to the Marags. That's it. She's rarely seen without Relg, and she isn't seen at all after the ''Belgariad'' concludes.
* SlapSlapKiss: Her relationship with Relg started this way- both of them were attracted to each other, but Relg kept denouncing her sinful life, while she kept challenging him about his religion and some of his more illogical extremes.
* AngstWhatAngst: She escapes from a lifetime of slavery, after having had her children forcibly taken from her and horrifically murdered, and yet she never seems to be sad or angry after she's rescued.
* BabiesEverAfter: And after. And after. It's actually her purpose- she and Relg together make the new Marags (and the next Gorim).
* BeautifulSlaveGirl: She's described as being very beautiful.
* HappilyMarried: To Relg.
* IOweYouMyLife: 'Owe' is a stretch, but after Relg saves her life, she finds herself fascinated by him, due in some part to her gratitude for his saving her life.
* {{Irony}}: When she was first rescued, she despised religion and honoured no god. As of the ''Malloreon'', she and Relg are living in Maragor, under the eye of Mara.
* [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Her Kind]]: She's the last living Marag, descended from those who were imprisoned and carried out of Maragor to be slaves. There were actually more Marags in the slave pens under Rak Cthol, but after the city was destroyed, she was the last one left.
* [[MassiveNumberedSiblings Massive Numbered Children]]: Mara 'interferes' with her reproductive system after she and Relg marry and locate to Maragor, so Taiba keeps having children in twos and threes. We never see any of the kids, though, or get any kind of number- though given a God's capabilities, the number probably reached three digits at some point.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: She had twin baby girls before Garion and co found her, but they were [[NightmareFuel sacrificed]] [[MoralEventHorizon by Ctuchik.]] This, above all, was the catalyst that drove her to escape, steal a knife and look for Ctuchik so she could kill him. (She got lost, which is when Garion and co found her.)
* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: Relg is outraged by her nakedness when they first meet, even when Taiba points out that she doesn't ''have'' any other clothes- and that she's not ashamed of her body, so she really has no reason to want more clothes.
* RapeAsBackstory: Almost certainly, sadly, though [[AngstWhatAngst it never comes up.]]
* SatelliteCharacter: Taiba's whole reason for existing is to marry Relg and give birth to the Marags. That's it. She's rarely seen without Relg, and she isn't seen at all after the ''Belgariad'' concludes.
* SlapSlapKiss: Her relationship with Relg started this way- both of them were attracted to each other, but Relg kept denouncing her sinful life, while she kept challenging him about his religion and some of his more illogical extremes.
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* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: In the first book, she's described as a petty, shallow bitch who didn't want to marry Barak because he didn't have a title (at first), was married off to him when he became an Earl and proceeded to make his life hell. Nobody recognises that if Merel had only cared about titles/status, then she probably would have wanted to marry Barak after he got one- not to mention that she was forced to marry someone she didn't want to, and in the book, ''he raped her''. The characters all treat her like someone who's taken a small flaw and made a big deal out of it, and so the entire thing can leave a ''very'' sour taste in many readers' mouths.
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* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: In the first book, she's described as a petty, shallow bitch who didn't want to marry Barak because he didn't have a title (at first), was married off to him when he became an Earl and proceeded to make his life hell. Nobody recognises that if Merel had only cared about titles/status, then she probably would have wanted to marry Barak after he got one- not to mention that she was forced to marry someone she didn't want to, and in the book, ''he raped her''. The characters all treat her like someone in-universe believe that she's a spiteful, petty bitch who is choosing to make Barak's life hell. Many fans believe that she's a woman who's taken trapped in a small flaw marriage she doesn't want and made a big deal out of it, and so is doing her best to get revenge on the entire thing can leave a ''very'' sour taste in many readers' mouths.man who later rapes her.
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* ArrangedMarriage: With Barak
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* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: In the first book, she's described as a petty, shallow bitch who didn't want to marry Barak because he didn't have a title (at first), was married off to him when he became an Earl and proceeded to make his life hell. Nobody recognises that if Merel had only cared about titles/status, then she probably would have wanted to marry Barak after he got one- not to mention that she was forced to marry someone she didn't want to, and in the book, ''he raped her''. The characters all treat her like someone who's taken a small flaw and made a big deal out of it, and so the entire thing can leave a ''very'' sour taste in many readers' mouths.
* ArrangedMarriage: WithBarakBarak, and she was very opposed to it.
* ArrangedMarriage: With
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* {{Antihero}}: Type IV.
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* SmugSnake: Starts out as an archetypal example, becoming an antiheroic variant by partway through ''The Malloreon''.
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* SmugSnake: Starts out as an archetypal example, becoming an antiheroic a more heroic variant by partway through ''The Malloreon''.
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* UnscrupulousHero
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* YouCanNeverGoHomeAgain: He was born as Garath in a now long forgotten village, and was orphaned as a child. He ran away in his teens after getting a beating from a farmer who's daughter he got caught necking with, and ended up in Aldurs valley. When the Torak cataclysm occured centuries later, Belgaraths hometown was destroyed, severing the last link to his past.
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* DoomedHometown: Though he hadnt lived there for centuries, Belgarath is upset when he discovers that his unnamed home village was destroyed in the Torak cataclysm.
* DisappearedDad: Belgaraths mother died when he was a child, and he doesnt know who his father was.
* DisappearedDad: Belgaraths mother died when he was a child, and he doesnt know who his father was.
* InterspeciesRomance: His beloved wife was originally a wolf he encountered in wolf form while travelling, and became his companion, and eventually his lover when she learned how to shapeshift from him.
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* OnlyTheChosenMayWield
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* OnlyTheChosenMayWieldOnlyTheChosenMayWield: As Torak was very painfully shown, the Orb will pay back any use of its power it does not consent to. When Torak sundered the world with it, it responded by crippling Torak and causing him to burn for eternity.
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--> "Point. Point and game."
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* GrewASpine: During her confrontation with Grodeg.
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Moving to proper title.
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[[foldercontrol]]
Characters appearing in ''Literature/TheBelgariad''. Needs more work. Spoilers and [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters Loads and Loads of]] {{Deadpan Snarker}}s abound!!!
[[folder:The Belgariad]]
''Garion's Companions''
!!'''Garion (Belgarion)'''
--> ''"Why me?"''
* ABoyAndHisX: As a heir to the line of Riva, Garion is charged with watching over the Orb of Aldur
* AchievementsInIgnorance: Garion succeeds in bringing [[spoiler: a horse]] back to life, simply because he doesn't know that it's supposed to be impossible.
* {{Badass}}: Eventually, very much so.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Ce'Nedra.
* ChildhoodBrainDamage: PlayedForLaughs at one point, when Garion comments that maybe his tendency to charge into dangerous situations without thinking about the danger is because his Aunt Pol dropped him on his head as a baby. Belgarath counters that Polgara is very careful "with babies and other breakable things".
* TheChosenOne: By the Prophecy
* CombatPragmatist: Having been mentored by the likes of Silk and Belgarath, Garion has never met a fair fight that he likes.
* CoolSword: The Sword of the Rivan King.
** {{BFS}}: Justified, as the Orb of Aldur lightens its weight.
** FlamingSword: The Orb causes the Sword to burst into blue flame.
** OneHandedZweihander: Normally Garion uses the Sword with two hands, but he can do this if the situation calls for it.
** OnlyTheChosenMayWield: As long as the Orb is attached.
** PowerGlows
** ThunderboltIron: Forged from a fallen meteor.
** UnbreakableWeapons
* {{Farmboy}}: Garion is one, but only technically. He lived on a farm, but worked in his aunt's kitchen... as a dishwasher.
* TheHeart
* IgnoranceIsBliss: [[InvokedTrope Deliberately.]]
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Garion's {{Catchphrase}} is "Why me?" [[CharacterDevelopment He gets over it.]]
* KillTheGod: He's supposed to kill Torak. [[spoiler:By the second series one of his nicknames is "Godslayer".]]
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Until late in Book 4.
* MagicKnight: Garion becomes frighteningly proficient with both weaponry and sorcery.
* MosesInTheBullrushes
* ObfuscatingStupidity
* PapaWolf
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Delivers a brutal one to Torak in the first series, and to the Dark Prophecy in the second.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething
* SuperDrowningSkills: has acquired this skill ever since he hit a log on a pond while showing off.
* ThereWasADoor: A few times. The most impressive case of this is the disintegration of a city gate. The degree to which the gate ceased to be was caused by the Orb deciding to help.
* TookALevelInBadass: Takes a few.
* UpbringingMakesTheHero: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Polgara; she deliberately raises Garion as a {{farmboy}} to give him a solid moral foundation for when he ends up having to save the world.
* UnskilledButStrong: Especially in the first series, where he lacks finesse and experience, but has enough raw power to terrify the Grolim Hierarchs (though notably, not the likes of Ctuchik). This isn't really rectified either--it's just that by the second series his raw power is so significant that his lack of talent doesn't matter.
* WellExcuseMePrincess: His relationship with Ce'Nedra summed up in four words.
!!'''Polgara'''
* TheAgeless
* AngstySurvivingTwin: Polgara, who was very close to her sister and outlived her thanks to being a sorcerer.
-->"To this very day, if you're impolite enough to ask Polgara how old she is, she'll probably say something like, 'We're about three thousand- or so.' Beldaran's been gone for a long time, but she still looms very large in Polgara's conception of the world."
* AnimalMotifs: A snowy owl.
* {{Badass}}: She stormed a castle in order to save Garion, resisted a [[CompellingVoice god trying to submit her to his will]], banished a ''freakin'' demon (though in that instance, Aldur was helping her a little), and is pretty much as feared as her father (if not more). She gets it from her mother.
* BrainyBrunette: Their mother sorcerously altered both twins in the womb to prepare them for their roles in life, including making Polgara this as opposed to Beldaran's blonde hair.
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: When she decides to transform Salmissra into a giant snake, thus freeing her from all her human nature and all the drugs her body was suffering from.
* DarkChick: Torak always kept this place in his FiveBadBand open for her.
* MagicalNanny: Polgara plays this role as caretaker of the Rivan line for two thousand years. And her cooking... divine!
* MamaBear: Dear gods, yes.
* MindRape: She can cast illusions which are guaranteed to make her victims beg her to stop. She's very prone to do this when doing interrogations.
* TheNotSoHarmlessPunishment: She gives back her vision to a seer, preventing her from have visions anymore, something which utterly breaks the seer in question.
* ParentalSubstitute: To Garion.
* SheCleansUpNicely
* SkunkStripe: Her trademark.
* SilkHidingSteel
* TantrumThrowing: Polgara does this at least twice.
!!'''Belgarath'''
* TheAgeless
* AnimalMotifs: A wolf
* {{Badass}}
** BadassBeard
** BadassGrandpa
** CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass
* EccentricMentor: Belgarath has several bad habits- the stealing and overimbibing and all that business in Maragor after Poledra's death- and he generally looks like a tramp, but he is still Aldur's first disciple and quite capable of demonstrating why all the Grolims are terrified of him.
* ElderlyImmortal
* [[GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave Grandpa What Massive Hotness You Have]]: He's the oldest person in the world short of the gods and ''looks'' appropriately venerable for an aged sorcerer, yet pulls this off when he strips to his briefs to dive into a lake and shows off his impressive physique in the process.
* LargeHam: He is a professional story teller and he uses it whenever he can.
* TheMentor
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Belgarath has elevated this to an art form.
* PapaWolf: To the ''world.''
* RummageSaleReject: Deliberately.
* TerrorHero: Let's put it this way: In the Angarak faith, he holds the roughly same position as Satan does in the Abrahamic religions. All Angaraks are utterly terrified of him.
* TimeAbyss: Easily the oldest living human at 7,000 years. Only the gods and a certain tree have any time on him.
* TheTramp: Wanders the world dressed as a vagabond.
* UnderdressedForTheOccasion: Greets kings while dressed as a tramp.
* WizardBeard
* WizardClassic: In appearance if not necessarily attitude.
!!'''Durnik'''
* AnAxeToGrind: Often uses his woodsman's axe in the first series.
* [[spoiler: BackFromTheDead: At the end of the Belgariad. One of only ''two'' exceptions in ''history'' to AllDeathsFinal.]]
* {{Badass}}
** BadassNormal: Is an ordinary blacksmith with little formal battle training traveling among professional warriors and sorcerers. Still kicks ferocious amounts of ass.
*** [[spoiler: EmpoweredBadassNormal: After he comes BackFromTheDead.]]
* TheBlacksmith
* BoringButPractical: Durnik's ideas are rarely exciting or terribly complex, but they inevitably work.
** AwesomeYetPractical: Especially in ''The Malloreon'', where he really gets to shine.
* DropTheHammer: As a blacksmith he's quite proficent with one of these. [[spoiler:In ''The Malloreon'' he gains a magic one with similar properties to the Sword of the Rivan King.]]
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Garion. He's old enough to be the boy's father, yet their relationship is very much that of two good friends.
* TheLancer: To Garion.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: At the beginning Durnik is just a Sendarian blacksmith in the company of a master thief, a competent warrior and two sorcerers. He become more and more prominent as the story goes along though.
* PowerGlows: [[spoiler:His hammer in the second series.]]
* [[spoiler:SixthRanger: To the Disciples of Aldur.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: Repeatedly, including [[spoiler:two assists from the gods.]]
* UnskilledButStrong: One of the reasons for his success as a fighter in the first series. Durnik may not be a warrior, but he's a big man and as a smith he possesses formidable upper body strength. He gains more talent as the story progresses.
!!'''Barak'''
* AnAxeToGrind: Carries a waraxe along with his sword.
* BadAss
** BadassBeard
* BeardOfBarbarism[=/=]SeadogBeard: All Chereks are Vikings at the end of the day.
* BearsAreBadNews: Called "The Dreadful Bear" for a reason.
* TheBerserker: Barak's an unwilling heroic example. Apparently this kind of thing is common in Cherek warriors, even the ones who ''don't'' turn into bears.
* TheBigGuy: He fullfills this role in ''Pawn of Prophecy''. In the later books he's TheHero of TheBigGuy Band, doing his best to keep the likes of Hettar, Mandorallen, and Relg in line.
* CursedWithAwesome: Barak's "curse" is to turn into a bear when Garion [[spoiler: Heir to the long-empty throne of Riva and Overlord of the West by treaty]] is threatened. A rampaging, unstoppable bear. At first he thinks it's just a progressive ailment and attempts suicide, but once he gets filled in on the trigger conditions (i.e., his family is now the hereditary protectors of Garion's family), he contemplates tasteful ways to work it into his coat of arms. Who wouldn't want to advertise that?
* DualWielding: With a sword in one hand and a battleaxe in the other.
* FieryRedhead: A male version
* GeniusBruiser: A very good man in a fight, he's also very politically savvy, good at reading peoples' intentions, and has a philosophical way of looking at things.
* InTheBlood: His curse is genetic. His son, Unrak, turns into a bear when Garion's son, Geran is threatened.
* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Barak's hereditary "curse" is to turn into a bear when Garion is threatened.
* OddFriendship: With Silk
* {{Protectorate}}: Garion's family is this to Barak's family.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Cousin to King Anheg of Cherek, Earl of Trellheim, Clan-Chief, and all around useful badass.
!!'''Kheldar (Silk)'''
->''"Trust me."''
* {{Claustrophobia}}: After Relg helped him escape by going through rock.
** He showed signs of mild claustrophobia in the initial trip through the caves of Ulgo. His experience with Relg later made it worse.
* CombatPragmatist
* [[spoiler: DeconfirmedBachelor: Thanks to Liselle in the ''Mallorean.'']]
* GentlemanThief
* GuileHero
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: If he likes you, he's sarcastic. If he doesn't like you, he's sarcastic. If he's worried, he's sarcastic. If he's feeling fine, he's sarcastic. Only a few things ever break through his shell of smartassery.
* KnifeNut
* LethalChef
* LoveableRogue
* ManipulativeBastard
* MayDecemberRomance: He's about twenty years older than [[spoiler: Liselle]].
* ProfessionalKiller
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: At one point during The Mallorean, certain parties conspire to have one of Silk's fellow spies killed. The woman in question is an old friend/enemy, but someone Silk had immense respect for. His response to their conspiracy eventually causes a mass exodus of all the most powerful people related to the plot, surrounded by guards, and many of them simply do not make it out.
* SarcasticDevotee: At one point Garion notes that he understands now why Belgarath was so consistently irritated at Silk throughout the entire series - leadership is hard enough without someone standing behind you providing a sarcastic running commentary.
* UnrequitedLove: For [[spoiler: his aunt-by-marriage, Queen Porenn]].
!!'''Hettar'''
* {{Badass}}: Quite possibly the best cavalryman in the world, and very dangerous with that sabre of his.
* TheBigGuy: A member of The Big FiveManBand; he plays Lancer to Barak.
* HappilyAdopted: By Cho-Hag.
* HappilyMarried: In the sequel.
* TheQuietOne
* PayEvilUntoEvil
* {{Revenge}}: Seeks to depopulate Cthol Murgos singlehandedly in vengeance for a Murgo raid that killed his parents.
* SerialKiller: How the Murgos view him, and they're not entirely wrong.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Speaks Fluent Horse.
* TheStoic
* WarriorPrince: The adopted son of Cho-Hag, King of Algaria.
!!'''Ce'Nedra'''
* ACupAngst: Her related argument with an unsympathetic armorer is ''hilarious.''
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Garion to a truly hysterical degree.
* BlingOfWar: Wears gold armour to impress the troops. It's justified as the armour isn't meant to protect her and she's not going to do any fighting. It's solely for it's appearance.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy, In ''The Malloreon'', due to Zandramas' sorcery. And Harakan's. She's kind of a magnet for this stuff.
* BreakTheHaughty
* BreastPlate: Justified, believe it or not. Ce'Nedra intends to speak to an army, and it's very important that she look like a queen and not a little girl (or boy). Problem is, she's very flat. So she has an armourer solve her problem (after a very long debate).
* TheChick: Well, somebody had to do it.
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: She raises an ''international army'' just to provide cover for Garion sneaking off to fight [[BigBad Torak]].
* FieryRedhead: Very much so.
* HalfHumanHybrid: Her mother was a Dryad. Technically, there's no "half" - [[OneGenderRace female children of Dryads are always Dryads]].
* HappilyMarried: To Garion in ''The Malloreon''.
* HeroesWantRedheads
* InelegantBlubbering: Polgara tells her she shouldn't cry in public; she hasn't the right coloring for it.
* ItsAllAboutMe: She eventually grows out of it.
* JerkAss: For most of the first series.
** SpoiledSweet: In her better moments, after CharacterDevelopment.
* KeepTheHomeFiresBurning: See DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu.
* LethalChef: Ce'Nedra's cooking is only edible by a very loose definition of the term.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Until Book 4.
* MamaBear: after [[spoiler: Geran is kidnapped.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: Goads her own father into a fit at one point, just to get what she wants (it was for a good cause, honestly!)
* PlantPerson
* RebelliousPrincess
* RousingSpeech: She's damn good at this. In fact it's why she was born in the first place.
* SpoiledBrat
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: InUniverse example. Dryad names always have an X in them, but hers seems to break the rule. In ''The Malloreon'' it's explained that it can also be spelled "Xe'Nedra." After a moment of trying to pronounce it, Garion decides to keep calling her Ce'Nedra. [[spoiler:It's also implied she tries to work an X into her daughter Beldaran's name.]]
* TantrumThrowing: She's thrown some impressive ones.
* {{Tsundere}}: Ce'Nedra makes most anime Tsunderes look ''amateurish''. A good capsule description of her is "[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka]], only having traded in all of her self-esteem issues for even more self-centeredness."
!!'''Sir Mandorallen, Baron of Vo Mandor'''
* ArmourIsUseless: Averted. Mandorallen's armour is probably the only reason he's still alive.
* '''[[BadAss BADASS]]''': He slays lions with his bare hands. He attacks [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Algroth]] packs for fun. He threatens Tolnedran legions by himself. He refuses to fight an enraged [[KillTheGod Garion]]--because he doesn't want to hurt him. In a WorldOfBadass, Mandorallen manages to stand head and shoulders above the rest.
** BadassNormal: All that crazy stuff we just mentioned? He does it with no powers or supernatural aid of any kind.
* TheBigGuy: The most archetypal example. In the Big FiveManBand he's Big Squared.
* BoisterousBruiser: Mandorallen is always spoiling for a chance to demonstrate his prowess.
* TheChampion: Ce'Nedra's.
* TheDreaded: He's the most feared man in Arendia. Even Lelldorin and the other Asturians have heard of him.
* DumbMuscle: And rather proud of it.
* HappilyMarried: Eventually.
* HeroicBastard: He is "The Bastard of Vo Mandor" due to some irregularities surrounding his birth.
* HiddenDepths: Mandorallen isn't overly burdened with brains, but he's still got plenty of depth beneath his KnightInShiningArmour exterior, and is far more socially intuitive than many members of the group.
* HonorBeforeReason
* HotBlooded
* KnightInShiningArmor: So very much. Mandorallen is the archetype gained a life of its own.
* LargeHam
* LoveTriangle: His love is married to an older man she respects far too much to cheat on. For that matter Mandorallen respects them both too much to ask her to. Eventually settled when [[spoiler:her husband dies and Garion orders the two to get married in order to ''settle'' all this crap. Ending a war in the process.]]
* OddFriendship: With Lelldorin
* OneManArmy
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe
!!'''Relg'''
--> "''Don't touch me.''"
* BadassPreacher / ReligiousBruiser: He may be TheFundamentalist and spend all his time {{Wangst}}ing about sin, but he's also an incredibly strong KnifeNut who can ''submerge you inside solid rock'' without breaking a sweat.
* TheBigGuy: Big Smart.
* TheFundamentalist: He starts out insistent on hours of daily prayer and ritual cleansing from sin.
* [[spoiler:HappilyMarried: To Taiba]]
* IntangibleMan: Relg can pass through rock like water and take people with him, or [[BuriedAlive leave them in there]].
* KnifeNut
* LethalHarmlessPowers: Relg can use his ability to move through solid rock for combat purposes, by pushing enemies into the rock and leaving them to suffocate.
* TunnelKing
!!'''Lelldorin'''
* AltarTheSpeed: Lelldorin smacks a priest around until he agrees to marry he and Arianna. Done to prevent her from being shamed by travelling with a man who is not her husband.
* TheBigGuy: Big Chick.
* BrainlessBeauty: Male version.
* TheDitz
* HappilyMarried
* OddFriendship: With Mandorallen
* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob
* StarCrossedLovers: Averted. Despite the fact that he and Arianna are an Asturian and a Mimbrate and married without her elder brother's consent they end up HappilyMarried.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Garion and anyone else he considers a friend.
!!'''The Orb of Aldur (Cthrag Yaska)'''
* CovertPervert: It blushes when Belgarath notes that it was looking in on Garion and Ce'Nedra on their wedding night
* KillTheGod: One of the few things capable of injuring or killing a God.
* MineralMacGuffin
* OnlyTheChosenMayWield
* PowerGlows
* EmpathicWeapon: When attached to the Sword of Riva
* StopHelpingMe: The Orb tries so hard to be helpful. To the point that it has to be told that its help is not required. It thought that rearranging the stars to spell "Belgarion" was a request rather than an example.
!!'''Errand''' '''(Eriond)'''
--> "''Errand?''"
* ABoyAndHisX: He has a special bond with the Horse that Garion revived.
* [[spoiler: AmnesiacGod: was supposed to be a god but the Accident ended up causing Torak to replace him]]
* ChildrenAreInnocent: Zedar's thinking in picking him up, but there was more to it than that...
* [[spoiler: PhosphorEssence: At the end of the ''Malloreon''. ]]
* PurityPersonified
* VerbalTicName: Is originally called "errand" because it's the only word he seems to know.
''The Kingdoms of the West''
!!'''King Anheg of Cherek'''
* {{Badass}}
* BeardOfBarbarism[=/=]SeadogBeard: Anheg is still a pirate at heart.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Anheg pretends to be far dumber than he really is.
* GeniusBruiser: Anheg is a brutal Viking warchieftain. He's also one of the most widely read people on the continent, and can read ''The Book of Torak'' without endangering his mental health.
* HornyVikings
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Runs his nation, leads his army, and commands his fleet. He's also very intelligent and does his best to keep abreast of world events and assist Belgarath.
* StayInTheKitchen: Subverted. When Ce'Nedra demands the Alorn kings follow her, Anheg sides with the conservative Brand and does all the talking...in order to preemptively sabotage any arguments Brand might raise against her.
!!'''Queen Islena of Cherek'''
* AchievementsInIgnorance: It's illegal to throw a priest into prison without evidence. Islena doesn't know that, and Grodeg knows she doesn't. Anheg finds the entire situation hilarious.
* BrainlessBeauty: When Anheg is asked why he married her, his response is that "It certainly wasn't for her brains!"
* BreakTheHaughty
* HotConsort: This is why Anheg married her.
* TookALevelInBadass: Initially Islena is a pompous wuss who caves in every time Grodeg shouts at her. She finally has enough, threatens to have him muzzled and thrown in jail, and ships he and the rest of the Bear-Cult off to join the army. Anheg is impressed.
* WeakWilled: Is initially totally under the thumb of Grodeg, Chief Priest of Belar. With some help from Merel and Porenn she eventually overcomes this.
!!'''Merel of Trellheim'''
* ArrangedMarriage: With Barak
* CharacterDevelopment: From shallow bitch to TheGoodChancellor.
* TheGoodChancellor: To Islena, post-CharacterDevelopment.
* HappilyMarried: By the end, and after an intervention from the Purpose of the Universe itself.
* HiddenDepths: Merel appears to be a shallow, petty bitch. The "petty" and the "bitch" are right on the money, but there's more to her than meets the eye, and we see it as early as ''Pawn of Prophecy'' when she stands up to Anheg on Barak and Garion's behalf.
* RapeAsBackstory: How her marriage with Barak started. She even locked the door and he knocked it down. No wonder she's incredibly spiteful to him at first.
!!'''King Rhodar of Drasnia'''
* AdiposeRex
* FatIdiot: Subverted. He is hugely obese, but this is because he prefers academic study to more physical pursuits.
* HappilyMarried: To Porenn.
* MayDecemberRomance: He and his second wife, Porenn. Despite the age gap they are deliriously happy together.
* TheSmartGuy: Among the Kings of the West.
* TheSpymaster: Thanks to the work of his right-hand man, Javelin, Rhodar is privvy to almost every secret in the world.
* TheStrategist: There are more... martially inclined kings than Rhodar, but none of them have his solid theoretical grasp of strategy and tactics.
!!'''Queen Porenn of Drasnia'''
* HappilyMarried
* HotConsort: To Rhodar
* MayDecemberRomance
* TheSmartGuy: Among the Queens of the West.
* TheSpymaster: Shares this role with her husband.
!!'''Cho-Hag, Clan Chief of Clan Chiefs of Algaria'''
* HandicappedBadass: Cho-Hag can barely stand, but that doesn't stop him from kicking ass. Justified as he, like most Algars, is a cavalryman, and lets his horse do the walking for him.
* HappilyMarried
* ItsPersonal: His hatred of Taur Urgas goes far beyond mere politics.
* TheQuietOne: Among the Alorn rulers, he and Brand share this role.
* SwordFight: Has an epic one with Taur Urgas.
!!'''Brand, The Rivan Warder'''
* TheQuietOne
* RegentForLife: Brand is part of a long line of Rivan Warders, who vowed to rule the island and protect the Orb until the Rivan King returned. Unlike his predecessors, Brand is actually able to give up this position.
* StayInTheKitchen: Brand has very conservative values, particularly as regards women.
!!'''Emperor Ran Borune'''
* PapaWolf: To Ce'Nedra. Despite it being a binding treaty his nation signed, does everything he can to get Ce'Nedra out of the ceremony at Riva, where he fears she'll be humiliated. Despite constantly bickering with her, it's evident he loves her.
* KingOnHisDeathbed: In the Malloreon. He was already very old to start with, as the intrigue in Tolnedra in the Belgariad all centers around who his successor will be, so this is a ForegoneConclusion.
* TheEmperor: Well, duh. Tolnedra is actually a medium sized country leaning towards the smallish, but he still has a very long arm as Tolnedra is the economic powerhouse of most of the world and has an international highway system controlled by its legions. As a result, Ran Borune is not afraid to throw his weight around when it comes to politics, though he only gets his way some of the time.
!!'''Salmissra'''
* EvilIsSexy: Described by all characters as a very beautiful woman, and proves to be a very sensuous character, she attempts to seduce Garion to her side, and use him for her own most likely nefarious purposes. Very nearly succeeds.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Has a nasty habit of killing off her eunuchs on a whim, and is described as having the most absolute, iron-fisted rule over her people out of all the monarchs in the West.
* Involuntary Shapeshifter: Sort of. For her shenanigans, Polgara transforms her into a giant snake, permanently. Actually ends up being a better monarch this way.
''Villains''
!!'''Asharak/Chamdar'''
* TheAgeless
* CompellingVoice
* EvilSorcerer
* ManipulativeBastard
* ManOnFire: How he makes his exit.
* SinisterMinister: The first of the Grolim priests encountered in the series.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He's undoubtedly dangerous, but he can't hope to threaten Belgarath in person, despite his protestations to the contrary.
* SmugSnake
* StarterVillain
* YouKilledMyFather: Killed Garion's parents. Ends up very dead when Garion finds out.
!!'''Brill/Kordoch'''
* BeardOfEvil: A matted, patchy black one.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Appears to be a common footpad. Is actually a ninja.
* DisneyVillainDeath
* HandicappedBadass: Blind in one eye. Can fight Silk on an equal footing.
* {{Jerkass}}: He looks like a bitter jerk with a sour disposition. He's actually professional killer. Either way, he's a total bastard.
* LackOfEmpathy: A pitiless killer who rides horses to death just to get ahead.
* TheMole: Initially appears to be Asharak's spy on Faldor's farm. He's actually much worse than that.
* {{Ninja}}: Pretty much.
* ThePigpen: Brill bathes infrequently.
* ProfessionalKiller: The Dagashi are a society of killers hired out by Ctuchik.
!!'''Ctuchik'''
--> ''"Justice? There's no such thing, Polgara. The strong do what they like; the weak submit. My Master taught me that."''
* TheAgeless
* AmbitionIsEvil
* {{Archenemy}}: To Belgarath. They both admit their confrontation in ''Magician's Gambit'' has been a long time coming.
* BadassGrandpa: Ctuchik's a vile son of a bitch, but undoubtedly a badass.
* BadBoss: If the utter fear that all Murgos have of him is any indicator.
* BeardOfEvil: His WizardBeard is yellowed, greying and filthy.
* BlackCloak
* ColdBloodedTorture: Has a room in his tower filled with torture equipment, that he uses for his personal entertainment.
* DeceptiveDisciple: He's only loyal to Torak out of fear, and has no intentions of waking him.
* DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: Ctuchik wants to rule the world, and is willing to do anything to get it, including offer up sacrifices to a mad god.
* TheDragon: There are other contenders for the title of Torak's right-hand man, but Ctuchik is the most archetypal, running the Grolim priesthood and Cthol Murgos in his master's absence.
** CoDragons: Alongside Zedar and Urvon, though it's fairly obvious that he has primacy amongst the three.
** DragonWithAnAgenda: Has no loyalty to Torak and plans to rule the world himself.
* ElderlyImmortal
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Ctuchik simply cannot grasp Belgarath's motivations for doing what he does.
* EvilCounterpart: One of two to Belgarath, as his equal and opposite number in the Angarak priesthood.
* EvilOldFolks: Ctuchik has centuries of depravity and excess behind him, and they show on his face.
* EvilSorcerer
* EvilTowerOfOminousness: His spire at Rak Cthol.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Is obliterated from existence by the Universe herself.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He can put up quite the facade, but at the end of the day, Ctuchik's one of the most evil people on the continent.
* {{Greed}}: Has an entire room in his tower dedicated to wealth.
* InTheHood
* LackOfEmpathy: To the point where he doesn't even understand it.
* LeanAndMean: He's described as tall and cadaverous.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: Never leaves Rak Cthol.
* ShadowDictator: The real ruler of Cthol Murgos to hear Belgarath tell it, and yet many people (particularly in the West) aren't sure he even exists.
* SinisterMinister
* SmugSnake: He's smart, cunning, and formidable in combat, yet beyond overconfident and makes several very crucial amateur mistakes in his arrogance.
* SocialDarwinist
* SoftSpokenSadist: Ctuchik's voice is soft and dusty, only rising when he loses control of the situation.
* SorcerousOverlord: "Cthol Murgos is still ruled from Rak Cthol." He's not officially the king, but he might as well be.
* TakeOverTheWorld: Seeks to do it in his own name, rather than Torak's.
* WeCanRuleTogether: Tries this on Belgarath.
* WizardBeard
* WizardDuel: With Belgarath
!!'''Taur Urgas'''
-->''"Make way for the King of Algaria. He's mine!"''
* AbusiveDad: Towards all of his sons.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking
* AxeCrazy: He actually foams at the mouth in combat.
* {{Badass}}: A veritable force of nature on the battlefield.
* TheBerserker: Goes utterly mad(er) while fighting. He utterly terrifies his troops, but at the same time, galvanises them. It's as though by giving into his madness they feel that they too may become as invincible as he.
* BlingOfWar: Taur Urgas' chainmail is dipped in red Angarak gold. Rather than making it look overly pretty, it instead makes him look as though he has bathed in blood.
* BloodKnight: He's always at war, sleeps in his armour, and orders his PraetorianGuard to ''clear the way'' for Cho-Hag so that he can fight him. And that's without even mentioning his FamousLastWords.
* TheBrute: He may be the King of Cthol Murgos, but one could definitely make the case of Taur Urgas being TheBrute. He's got all the hallmarks of the personality: no empathy, totally AxeCrazy, a [[TheBerserker Berserker]] in combat, and he also seems to fit in terms of his position and role in the villainous hierarchy: he's the ruler of one of the largest countries subject to Torak, and provides manpower and muscle for the Angarak armies, while still being subject to Ctuchik, Torak's [[TheDragon Dragon]].
* TheCaligula: All the Urgas are RoyallyScrewedUp, but Taur Urgas is crazy even by their standards.
* DomesticAbuser: Beats his wives, keeps them under lock and key, tosses them down flights of stairs, occasionally kills them.
* FamousLastWords: "Come back Cho-Hag! Come back and fight!"
* IControlMyMinionsThrough: Fear, and a degree of Respect. See TheBerserker for how.
* ItsPersonal: With Silk and Cho-Hag.
* LackOfEmpathy
* TheMentallyIll: In addition to his bloodthirstyness, Taur Urgas is prone to fits wherein he chews on the furniture.
* RoyallyScrewedUp: Sadism, brutality, and outright madness are hereditary in the Urga bloodline.
* SwordFight: Against Cho-Hag.
!!'''Zedar'''
* TheAgeless
* BadassGrandpa
* BreakTheHaughty: In the backstory. It's why he's a FallenHero.
* ButtMonkey: To the universe.
* CoDragons: To Torak, alongside Ctuchik.
* ElderlyImmortal
* EvilCounterpart: Could be Belgarath's clone.
* EvilFormerFriend: To Belgarath and the rest of the Disciples of Aldur.
* EvilGenius: Likely the smartest of Torak's disciples.
* EvilOldFolks
* EvilSorcerer
* FaceHeelTurn: In the backstory.
* FallenHero: He was once Aldur's second disciple and Belgarath's pupil and friend. He's now enslaved to the will of Torak.
* FatalFlaw: His ego, which led him to think that he could fool Torak.
* {{Pride}}
* SinisterMinister: He's called "The Apostate" for a reason.
* SmugSnake: In the backstory. By the time we meet him that aspect of his personality has been more or less bled out of him.
* TheTramp: Like Belgarath, and in sharp contrast to SorcerousOverlord Ctuchik.
* WizardBeard
* WizardDuel: Averted. When he and Belgarath finally meet face to face, Belgarath is so enraged and Zedar so panicked that they resort to a fistfight.
!!'''Torak'''
* AntagonisticOffspring: To his father, UL, to the point where he flatout refuses to admit there is a relationship.
* BeautyIsBad: The most beautiful god, and the most flat out evil, complete with being obsessed with his own appearance.
* {{Bishonen}}: Before he got his face toasted.
* CainAndAbel: With all of his brothers, but most notably, Aldur.
* TheChosenOne: By the Dark Prophecy
* CoolMask: Wears a steel mask to hide his maiming. All of his followers wear one too.
* CoolSword: Cthrek Goru, his infamous cursed black sword. It instills fear in those who see it.
** ArtifactOfDoom: Arguably. It does seem to be one of the Dark Prophecy's favourite tools, having been present at three separate [=EVENT=]s.
** {{BFS}}: Though Torak, being a god, is able to wield it one-handed.
** BlackSwordsAreBetter
** CastingAShadow: Bleeds shadow with every blow it swings.
** EvilCounterpart: To the Sword of the Rivan King.
** EvilWeapon: It's not actually sentient, but given its association with the Dark Prophecy it's safe to say that it can't be used for anything good.
** OneHandedZweihander: Not that Torak particularly has a choice in the matter. [[HandicappedBadass He]] has to use it like this.
** UnbreakableWeapons
* DarkIsEvil
* TheDevilIsALoser: He's maimed, unloved, and incapable of change. It's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:he was never even supposed to exist in the first place.]]
* DisabledDeity: After he gets burned.
* DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Wants an entire world bowing down in worship and offering him sacrifices.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Inverted. Even after everything he's done the Universe still loves Torak. So do UL, Aldur, and the other gods for that matter.
** Also played straight: his last word is an anguished "Mother!"
* EvenEvilHasStandards: In a moment of sanity he saw the kind of future that Zandramas would create, and left a note for Garion, urging him to take her down.
* EvilCripple: Justified. When Torak misused the Orb it burned off one of his hands and boiled one of his eyes. He was evil long before he was a cripple.
* GodOfEvil
* HandicappedBadass: Still a brutally dangerous swordsman despite missing a hand and having no depth perception. Being a god probably helps.
* LoveHungry
* {{Narcissist}}: Torak cannot conceive of a world that doesn't revolve around him. In the ''Book of Torak'' he claims to have created the Universe (his own mother). He's also one in the classic sense, being utterly obsessed with his own appearance.
* PhysicalGod
* RedRightHand: What hand?
* TakeOverTheWorld
* TwoFaced: Beneath his mask.
* VillainousCrush: On Polgara
* WoundThatWillNotHeal: Gods aren't designed to be injured, and because of that his burnt face, boiled eye, and missing hand continue to pain him, leaving him in perpetual agony.
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Malloreon]]
''Garion's Companions''
!!'''Liselle (Velvet)'''
* ActionGirl
* CombatPragmatist
* GuileHeroine
* KnifeNut
* MayDecemberRomance: She's about twenty years younger than [[spoiler:Kheldar]].
* PrecociousCrush: When Silk was an up-and-coming star of the Intelligence Service, he'd often play dolls with the boss's niece, Liselle, who was approximately twenty years younger than him. As an adult, she pursued him [[spoiler:and caught him]].
* ProfessionalKiller
* SilkHidingSteel: Velvet claims to be this in the Malloreon, but any woman who has graduated from the Drasnian spy academy probably doesn't qualify for Proper Lady status even if she is a Margravine.
* SheIsAllGrownUp
* SpyCatsuit: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in the ''Malloreon''. Velvet frequently dresses in tight-fitting leather, but it is described as looking masculine, workman-like, bleak and completely uninteresting.
!!'''Emperor Kal Zakath'''
* AmbitionIsEvil
* AscendedExtra: A minor villain in the first series. A major player in the second.
* {{Badass}}
** BadassBeard: Grows one.
* {{BFS}}: Justified. Garion has the Orb make an enormous greatsword as light as a rapier, enabling 'Zakath to fence with it.
** OneHandedZweihander: 'Zakath may well be the only fencer in the world to use a {{BFS}} instead of say, a rapier.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: Zakath is one of the rare ''pre-emptive'' examples of this trope, in that after finally dawning to just how thoroughly the odds are against him he decides to just skip the 'defeat' and go straight to the 'friendship'.
-->"You know something, Garion? I've always believed that someday you and I would go to war with each other. Would you be terribly disappointed if I decided not to show up?"
* [[DefrostingIceQueen Defrosting Ice Emperor]]
* DespairEventHorizon: Hit in the backstory, after one of Taur Urgas' plots against him resulted in the death of his girlfriend at his own hands.
* DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: When we meet 'Zakath all he cares about is becoming Overking of Angarak, and eventually, ruler of the world.
* DyeOrDie: Zakath grows a beard after joining the heroes in ''The Malloreon'' to avoid being recognized as Emperor.
* TheEmperor: Well, duh. [[spoiler: He gets better.]]
* EmptyShell: 'Zakath misses this trope by millimeters during ''TheBelgariad'' and the start of ''TheMalloreon''. The prophecy outright refers to him as "The Empty One".
* EvilCounterpart: Starts out as Garion's.
* EvilOverlord
* KarmaHoudini: 'Zakath did some pretty awful things that he's never punished for.
* [[LickedByTheDog Licked By The Kitten]]: Zakath's pet {{Cute Kitten}}s peg him as a KindHeartedCatLover, an early indication that he's not the monster he's rumored to be.
* MayDecemberRomance: With [[spoiler:Cyradis]].
* PowerFist: Belgarath tells them not to kill anybody during the one battle. 'Zakath puts on a cestus and proceeds to smash it into the face of every man he rides past.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: His entire campaign against Cthol Murgos can be seen as this.
** RevengeByProxy[=/=]SinsOfOurFathers: Plans to exterminate every single member of the Urga family--and possibly all of Cthol Murgos--because of what Taur Urgas made him do.
* RoyalRapier: Played with. 'Zakath is a trained fencer, and all his sword-fighting experience is with a rapier. Than Garion comes along and makes his {{BFS}} as [[OneHandedZweihander light as one]]...
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething
* SixthRanger
* TookALevelInBadass: More like regained a level in badass. 'Zakath was once a capable fencer, but let those skills go rusty during his time as TheEmperor. He regains them over the course of ''TheMalloreon''.
!!'''Sadi'''
* {{Antihero}}: Type IV.
* AscendedExtra: A minor antagonist in the first series; a major player in the second.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Justified. Sadi's brilliance as a poisoner stems from his experience as Chief Eunuch at the Nyissan court; if you want to live very long you get very good at surviving.
* {{Badass}}: Eventually becomes one of the few {{badass}} eunuchs in fiction.
* BaldOfEvil: In ''The Belgariad''. Becomes a BaldOfAwesome during ''The Malloreon''
* CombatPragmatist
* DrugsAreBad: Downplayed. Sadi's drug-dealing and abuse is portrayed as a bad thing, but isn't treated as anything worse than Silk's thievery and drinking.
* EunuchsAreEvil: Played straight in the first series and subverted in the second. The Prophecy refers to him as "The Man Who Is No Man."
* EvilChancellor: Averted. Even in the first series he's one of the voices of reason at Salmissra's court.
* EvilGenius[=/=]TheSmartGuy: Plays this role after joining up with the heroes in the second series, sharing the position with Liselle and Silk.
* GuileHero
* KnifeNut
* LeanAndMean
* ManipulativeBastard
* MasterPoisoner: As Garion puts it, "Sadi could poison one person at a banquet with a thousand guests."
** This is demonstrated at one point. [[spoiler: He poisoned the spoon, not the soup.]]
* PetTheDog: While Sadi is generally amoral, he's not without compassion. On several occasions he uses his drugs to ease innocent bystanders and passerby's suffering. And he won't poison a dog - even a Hound.
* PoisonedWeapons: All of his knives are coated in poison, and he's been known to toss very concoctions straight into his enemies' faces when all else fails.
* SissyVillain: Starts out as one, but loses these traits after months on the road.
* SmugSnake: Starts out as an archetypal example, becoming an antiheroic variant by partway through ''The Malloreon''.
* StreetUrchin: As a child.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Sadi's alliance with the protagonists doesn't mean he's given up his personal corruption. While he likes them all by the end, and has certainly become a braver, more well-rounded individual, he remains an unapologetic scoundrel, a drug-dealer, a poisoner, and a criminal without the slightest bit of shame.
* TookALevelInBadass: Sadi starts out as a typically prissy SissyVillain and SmugSnake. By the end he's a lean, mean fighting machine with his own unique style of combat. For a eunuch he has balls.
!!'''Beldin'''
* TheAgeless
* AnimalMotifs: A blue-banded hawk.
* {{Archenemy}}: He and Urvon loathe one another with an unholy passion. Urvon has wanted posters with Beldin's face on them posted for twenty leagues in every direction from Mal Yaska.
* AscendedExtra: In the first series he's only one of Aldur's Disciples, and makes a few scattered appearances. In the second series he's a major player in Books 3-5.
* {{Badass}}
** BadassBeard
** BadassGrandpa
* ElderlyImmortal: Type A. Beldin looks like a twisted, deformed old man, but he can throw Durnik singlehandedly.
* TheGrotesque: A hideously deformed hunchback.
* HiddenDepths: Beldin is hideously deformed and has disgusting personal habits, but is a GeniusBruiser who is probably the most intelligent and well-read man in the world, as well as perfectly capable of breaking people who don't pay attention to his lectures in half.
* HonoraryUncle: To Polgara (and Beldaran)
* HooksAndCrooks: Favours a hook in close-combat.
* JerkassFacade[=/=]JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Acts like a bastard because people expect it.
* TheLancer: To Belgarath
* MagiBabble: Beldin is the philosopher in the group, and his explanations tend towards the overly complex.
* ServileSnarker[=/=]SourSupporter: Towards Belgarath again.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Belgarath
''Villains''
!!'''Zandramas'''
* TheBigBad
* BloodBath: Bathes in human blood while performing sacrifices.
* TheChessmaster: Always has a contingency plan in place.
* TheChosenOne: The new Child of Dark
* DarkMessiah: How the Grolims and most Darshivans view her. Given that she's the new Child of Dark they're not wrong either.
* DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Seeks to create the same kind of world as Torak did.
* EvilerThanThou: With Urvon
* EvilIsNotAToy: Learns this when she discovers the extent of Mordja's plans.
* EvilSorcerer
* FullFrontalAssault: Performs sacrifices in the nude.
* ImAHumanitarian
* LackOfEmpathy: A veritable void.
* ManipulativeBastard
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilised: Leads a revolt against 'Zakath and the Grolim priesthood.
* SamusIsAGirl: Garion is surprised to discover that the BigBad is female. It's around this time he decides that he can, in fact, [[WouldHitAGirl hit a girl]].
* ScaledUp: Turns into a dragon.
* SinisterMinister: Grolim priestess.
* UnholyMatrimony: With Naradas.
* VainSorceress
* TheVamp
* WeHaveReserves: Callously throws away the lives of her Darshivan soldiers.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: All the time.
!!'''Naradas'''
* TheDragon
* EvilSorcerer
* ProphetEyes
* SinisterMinister: Was once a Grolim, and Zandramas' superior.
* UnholyMatrimony: With Zandramas.
!!'''Urvon'''
* AGodAmI: Has delusions of godhood.
* {{Archenemy}}: Beldin's
* AxeCrazy
* BigBadWannabe: His madness leaves him no match for Zandramas and totally under Nahaz's thumb.
* TheDragon: One of Torak's three disciples
** CoDragons: With Ctuchik and Zedar
** DragonAscendant: Doesn't he wish.
** DragonTheirFeet: Completely absent from the first series.
* ElderlyImmortal: It's hard to tell because of [[RedRightHand how he looks]], but Urvon is still described as an old man, with thinning white hair.
* EvilerThanThou: With Zandramas
* EvilCounterpart: To Beldin.
* EvilIsNotAToy: Learns this the hard way at the hands of Nahaz.
* EvilOldFolks
* EvilSorcerer
* FateWorseThanDeath: Dragged into Hell by Nahaz
* PuppetKing: To Harakan and Nahaz.
* RedRightHand: Urvon's piebald; his skin alternates between living and dead patches.
* SinisterMinister
!!'''Harakan/Mengha'''
* BeardOfEvil: Grows one when impersonating a Bear-Cultist.
* DarkMessiah: Sets himself up as a messianic figure to the Karands, even summoning their "[[AGodAmI god]]", Nahaz, to do his bidding.
* TheDragon: To Urvon
** CoDragons: Alongside Nahaz, who isn't under his dominion for long.
** DragonWithAnAgenda: Intends to use Urvon as a PuppetKing while he really rules Karanda.
* EvilSorcerer
* SinisterMinister: Another Grolim.
** BadHabits: Pretends to be a Bear-Cultist.
* SmugSnake
!!'''Nahaz'''
-->''"I need this [[PuppetKing thing]]..."''
* AGodAmI: Worshipped as a god by the people of Karanda.
* {{Archenemy}}: Of Mordja
* CastingAShadow: His face is concealed within inky shadows during his first appearance. They go where he does.
* DemonLordsAndArchdevils
* DoubleStandardRapeDivineOnMortal: Averted. Heck, Nahaz having consensual sex is still treated like rape given what happens to his partners.
* TheDragon: To Urvon
** CoDragons: Alongside Harakan; [[spoiler:One could argue he and Mordja are Co Dragons to the King of Hell]].
** DragonInChief: Urvon is both insane and completely under Nahaz's domination, leaving the Demon Lord as the one who's really running the show.
** DragonWithAnAgenda: To Urvon. He'll take his soul, the Orb, the Sardion, and dominion over the world in the name of his master.
* EvilerThanThou: With Mordja
* FangsAreEvil
* FetusTerrible: Impregnates women than watches the fetus tear its way out and devour the mother alive.
* LackOfEmpathy: He's a [[LegionsOfHell demon lord]]. This is to be expected.
* MultiarmedAndDangerous
* PowerGlows: A sickly green.
* ReallyGetsAround: Enjoys impregnating women with {{Fetus Terrible}}s.
* ShadowDictator: Controls Urvon while pretending to be his loyal servant.
* SoftSpokenSadist: Barely speaks above a whisper during ''Demon Lord of Karanda''.
* WeHaveReserves: As the heroes inform 'Zakath and General Atesca, Demon Lords pay very little attention to casualties.
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe
* YourSoulIsMine
!!'''Mordja'''
* AGodAmI: Worshipped as one by the Morindim.
* {{Archenemy}}: Of Nahaz
* CoolSword: Steals [[BlackSwordsAreBetter Cthrek Goru]] from the deceased Torak. See his entry for [[EvilWeapon the]] [[CastingAShadow rest]] [[ArtifactOfDoom of]] [[EvilCounterpart the]] [[{{BFS}} details]].
* DemonLordsAndArchdevils
* DemonicPossession: Of the dragon.
* TheDragon: To Zandramas
** CoDragons: Alongside Naradas. [[spoiler:It could be argued that he and Nahaz are Co Dragons to the King of Hell]].
** DragonWithAnAgenda: He wants Zandramas' soul, the Sardion, and the Orb for the King of Hell.
* EvilerThanThou: With Nahaz
* FangsAreEvil
* FinalBoss: Provides the last physical confrontation of the series.
* LackOfEmpathy
* MultiarmedAndDangerous
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe
* YourSoulIsMine
!!'''The Sardion (Cthrag Sardius)'''
* ArtifactOfDoom: Given its associations with The Dark Prophecy and what will happen if the Child of Dark touches it, yeah.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: An ugly red, shot through with milky-white. Contrast that to the Orb's pure blue.
* EvilCounterpart: To the Orb of Aldur.
* MineralMacGuffin
* OnlyTheChosenMayWield
* PowerGlows
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Gods and Prophecies]]
!!'''The Prophecy'''
* AllPowerfulBystander
* BigGood: Represents the original purpose of the Universe.
* TheChessmaster: With millenia of experience.
* DeadpanSnarker: Comes across more like a long suffering GameMaster who is annoyed that his players won't follow the script than anything else..
!!'''The Dark Prophecy'''
* AllPowerfulBystander
* BiggerBad: TheManBehindTheMan to Torak and Zandramas.
* CastingAShadow: The sun never shines in the home of the Child of Dark.
* TheChessmaster
* DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Seeks a Universe of constant stagnation and failure where everything continues to go wrong.
* EvilCounterpart: To the Prophecy.
!!'''UL'''
* {{God}}: As the Father of all the other Gods, UL is the closest thing the series has to the Judeo-Christian God.
* PhysicalGod
!!'''Aldur'''
* BigGood: Shares this role with the Prophecy.
* CainAndAbel: Torak hates all the gods, but his rivalry with Aldur is the fiercest, and it is Aldur's disciples who constantly stand in his way.
* GrandpaGod: Has something of this in his appearance.
* PhysicalGod
* WizardBeard: Looks a heck of a lot like Belgarath, actually. Or more accurately, Belgarath looks a heck of a lot like him.
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe
!!'''Issa'''
* GoodEyesEvilEyes: Subverted. Issa's eyes are snake-like and lifeless, but he's a pretty good guy.
* PhysicalGod
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe
!!'''The King of Hell'''
* BiggerBad: Nahaz, Mordja, and the rest of the Demon Lords all answer to this guy. Despite that, he never even appears in the story.
* DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Seeks to upend both Prophecies and recreate the Universe in his own image with legions of Demons feasting on all mortal souls.
* EvilCounterpart: To UL.
* EvilerThanThou: To the Dark Prophecy.
* MadeOfEvil
* {{Satan}}
* SealedEvilInACan: Chained by UL at the moment of Creation.
* TakeOverTheWorld: Universe actually.
[[/folder]]
----
Characters appearing in ''Literature/TheBelgariad''. Needs more work. Spoilers and [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters Loads and Loads of]] {{Deadpan Snarker}}s abound!!!
[[folder:The Belgariad]]
''Garion's Companions''
!!'''Garion (Belgarion)'''
--> ''"Why me?"''
* ABoyAndHisX: As a heir to the line of Riva, Garion is charged with watching over the Orb of Aldur
* AchievementsInIgnorance: Garion succeeds in bringing [[spoiler: a horse]] back to life, simply because he doesn't know that it's supposed to be impossible.
* {{Badass}}: Eventually, very much so.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Ce'Nedra.
* ChildhoodBrainDamage: PlayedForLaughs at one point, when Garion comments that maybe his tendency to charge into dangerous situations without thinking about the danger is because his Aunt Pol dropped him on his head as a baby. Belgarath counters that Polgara is very careful "with babies and other breakable things".
* TheChosenOne: By the Prophecy
* CombatPragmatist: Having been mentored by the likes of Silk and Belgarath, Garion has never met a fair fight that he likes.
* CoolSword: The Sword of the Rivan King.
** {{BFS}}: Justified, as the Orb of Aldur lightens its weight.
** FlamingSword: The Orb causes the Sword to burst into blue flame.
** OneHandedZweihander: Normally Garion uses the Sword with two hands, but he can do this if the situation calls for it.
** OnlyTheChosenMayWield: As long as the Orb is attached.
** PowerGlows
** ThunderboltIron: Forged from a fallen meteor.
** UnbreakableWeapons
* {{Farmboy}}: Garion is one, but only technically. He lived on a farm, but worked in his aunt's kitchen... as a dishwasher.
* TheHeart
* IgnoranceIsBliss: [[InvokedTrope Deliberately.]]
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Garion's {{Catchphrase}} is "Why me?" [[CharacterDevelopment He gets over it.]]
* KillTheGod: He's supposed to kill Torak. [[spoiler:By the second series one of his nicknames is "Godslayer".]]
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Until late in Book 4.
* MagicKnight: Garion becomes frighteningly proficient with both weaponry and sorcery.
* MosesInTheBullrushes
* ObfuscatingStupidity
* PapaWolf
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Delivers a brutal one to Torak in the first series, and to the Dark Prophecy in the second.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething
* SuperDrowningSkills: has acquired this skill ever since he hit a log on a pond while showing off.
* ThereWasADoor: A few times. The most impressive case of this is the disintegration of a city gate. The degree to which the gate ceased to be was caused by the Orb deciding to help.
* TookALevelInBadass: Takes a few.
* UpbringingMakesTheHero: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Polgara; she deliberately raises Garion as a {{farmboy}} to give him a solid moral foundation for when he ends up having to save the world.
* UnskilledButStrong: Especially in the first series, where he lacks finesse and experience, but has enough raw power to terrify the Grolim Hierarchs (though notably, not the likes of Ctuchik). This isn't really rectified either--it's just that by the second series his raw power is so significant that his lack of talent doesn't matter.
* WellExcuseMePrincess: His relationship with Ce'Nedra summed up in four words.
!!'''Polgara'''
* TheAgeless
* AngstySurvivingTwin: Polgara, who was very close to her sister and outlived her thanks to being a sorcerer.
-->"To this very day, if you're impolite enough to ask Polgara how old she is, she'll probably say something like, 'We're about three thousand- or so.' Beldaran's been gone for a long time, but she still looms very large in Polgara's conception of the world."
* AnimalMotifs: A snowy owl.
* {{Badass}}: She stormed a castle in order to save Garion, resisted a [[CompellingVoice god trying to submit her to his will]], banished a ''freakin'' demon (though in that instance, Aldur was helping her a little), and is pretty much as feared as her father (if not more). She gets it from her mother.
* BrainyBrunette: Their mother sorcerously altered both twins in the womb to prepare them for their roles in life, including making Polgara this as opposed to Beldaran's blonde hair.
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: When she decides to transform Salmissra into a giant snake, thus freeing her from all her human nature and all the drugs her body was suffering from.
* DarkChick: Torak always kept this place in his FiveBadBand open for her.
* MagicalNanny: Polgara plays this role as caretaker of the Rivan line for two thousand years. And her cooking... divine!
* MamaBear: Dear gods, yes.
* MindRape: She can cast illusions which are guaranteed to make her victims beg her to stop. She's very prone to do this when doing interrogations.
* TheNotSoHarmlessPunishment: She gives back her vision to a seer, preventing her from have visions anymore, something which utterly breaks the seer in question.
* ParentalSubstitute: To Garion.
* SheCleansUpNicely
* SkunkStripe: Her trademark.
* SilkHidingSteel
* TantrumThrowing: Polgara does this at least twice.
!!'''Belgarath'''
* TheAgeless
* AnimalMotifs: A wolf
* {{Badass}}
** BadassBeard
** BadassGrandpa
** CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass
* EccentricMentor: Belgarath has several bad habits- the stealing and overimbibing and all that business in Maragor after Poledra's death- and he generally looks like a tramp, but he is still Aldur's first disciple and quite capable of demonstrating why all the Grolims are terrified of him.
* ElderlyImmortal
* [[GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave Grandpa What Massive Hotness You Have]]: He's the oldest person in the world short of the gods and ''looks'' appropriately venerable for an aged sorcerer, yet pulls this off when he strips to his briefs to dive into a lake and shows off his impressive physique in the process.
* LargeHam: He is a professional story teller and he uses it whenever he can.
* TheMentor
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Belgarath has elevated this to an art form.
* PapaWolf: To the ''world.''
* RummageSaleReject: Deliberately.
* TerrorHero: Let's put it this way: In the Angarak faith, he holds the roughly same position as Satan does in the Abrahamic religions. All Angaraks are utterly terrified of him.
* TimeAbyss: Easily the oldest living human at 7,000 years. Only the gods and a certain tree have any time on him.
* TheTramp: Wanders the world dressed as a vagabond.
* UnderdressedForTheOccasion: Greets kings while dressed as a tramp.
* WizardBeard
* WizardClassic: In appearance if not necessarily attitude.
!!'''Durnik'''
* AnAxeToGrind: Often uses his woodsman's axe in the first series.
* [[spoiler: BackFromTheDead: At the end of the Belgariad. One of only ''two'' exceptions in ''history'' to AllDeathsFinal.]]
* {{Badass}}
** BadassNormal: Is an ordinary blacksmith with little formal battle training traveling among professional warriors and sorcerers. Still kicks ferocious amounts of ass.
*** [[spoiler: EmpoweredBadassNormal: After he comes BackFromTheDead.]]
* TheBlacksmith
* BoringButPractical: Durnik's ideas are rarely exciting or terribly complex, but they inevitably work.
** AwesomeYetPractical: Especially in ''The Malloreon'', where he really gets to shine.
* DropTheHammer: As a blacksmith he's quite proficent with one of these. [[spoiler:In ''The Malloreon'' he gains a magic one with similar properties to the Sword of the Rivan King.]]
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Garion. He's old enough to be the boy's father, yet their relationship is very much that of two good friends.
* TheLancer: To Garion.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: At the beginning Durnik is just a Sendarian blacksmith in the company of a master thief, a competent warrior and two sorcerers. He become more and more prominent as the story goes along though.
* PowerGlows: [[spoiler:His hammer in the second series.]]
* [[spoiler:SixthRanger: To the Disciples of Aldur.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: Repeatedly, including [[spoiler:two assists from the gods.]]
* UnskilledButStrong: One of the reasons for his success as a fighter in the first series. Durnik may not be a warrior, but he's a big man and as a smith he possesses formidable upper body strength. He gains more talent as the story progresses.
!!'''Barak'''
* AnAxeToGrind: Carries a waraxe along with his sword.
* BadAss
** BadassBeard
* BeardOfBarbarism[=/=]SeadogBeard: All Chereks are Vikings at the end of the day.
* BearsAreBadNews: Called "The Dreadful Bear" for a reason.
* TheBerserker: Barak's an unwilling heroic example. Apparently this kind of thing is common in Cherek warriors, even the ones who ''don't'' turn into bears.
* TheBigGuy: He fullfills this role in ''Pawn of Prophecy''. In the later books he's TheHero of TheBigGuy Band, doing his best to keep the likes of Hettar, Mandorallen, and Relg in line.
* CursedWithAwesome: Barak's "curse" is to turn into a bear when Garion [[spoiler: Heir to the long-empty throne of Riva and Overlord of the West by treaty]] is threatened. A rampaging, unstoppable bear. At first he thinks it's just a progressive ailment and attempts suicide, but once he gets filled in on the trigger conditions (i.e., his family is now the hereditary protectors of Garion's family), he contemplates tasteful ways to work it into his coat of arms. Who wouldn't want to advertise that?
* DualWielding: With a sword in one hand and a battleaxe in the other.
* FieryRedhead: A male version
* GeniusBruiser: A very good man in a fight, he's also very politically savvy, good at reading peoples' intentions, and has a philosophical way of looking at things.
* InTheBlood: His curse is genetic. His son, Unrak, turns into a bear when Garion's son, Geran is threatened.
* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Barak's hereditary "curse" is to turn into a bear when Garion is threatened.
* OddFriendship: With Silk
* {{Protectorate}}: Garion's family is this to Barak's family.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Cousin to King Anheg of Cherek, Earl of Trellheim, Clan-Chief, and all around useful badass.
!!'''Kheldar (Silk)'''
->''"Trust me."''
* {{Claustrophobia}}: After Relg helped him escape by going through rock.
** He showed signs of mild claustrophobia in the initial trip through the caves of Ulgo. His experience with Relg later made it worse.
* CombatPragmatist
* [[spoiler: DeconfirmedBachelor: Thanks to Liselle in the ''Mallorean.'']]
* GentlemanThief
* GuileHero
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: If he likes you, he's sarcastic. If he doesn't like you, he's sarcastic. If he's worried, he's sarcastic. If he's feeling fine, he's sarcastic. Only a few things ever break through his shell of smartassery.
* KnifeNut
* LethalChef
* LoveableRogue
* ManipulativeBastard
* MayDecemberRomance: He's about twenty years older than [[spoiler: Liselle]].
* ProfessionalKiller
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: At one point during The Mallorean, certain parties conspire to have one of Silk's fellow spies killed. The woman in question is an old friend/enemy, but someone Silk had immense respect for. His response to their conspiracy eventually causes a mass exodus of all the most powerful people related to the plot, surrounded by guards, and many of them simply do not make it out.
* SarcasticDevotee: At one point Garion notes that he understands now why Belgarath was so consistently irritated at Silk throughout the entire series - leadership is hard enough without someone standing behind you providing a sarcastic running commentary.
* UnrequitedLove: For [[spoiler: his aunt-by-marriage, Queen Porenn]].
!!'''Hettar'''
* {{Badass}}: Quite possibly the best cavalryman in the world, and very dangerous with that sabre of his.
* TheBigGuy: A member of The Big FiveManBand; he plays Lancer to Barak.
* HappilyAdopted: By Cho-Hag.
* HappilyMarried: In the sequel.
* TheQuietOne
* PayEvilUntoEvil
* {{Revenge}}: Seeks to depopulate Cthol Murgos singlehandedly in vengeance for a Murgo raid that killed his parents.
* SerialKiller: How the Murgos view him, and they're not entirely wrong.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Speaks Fluent Horse.
* TheStoic
* WarriorPrince: The adopted son of Cho-Hag, King of Algaria.
!!'''Ce'Nedra'''
* ACupAngst: Her related argument with an unsympathetic armorer is ''hilarious.''
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Garion to a truly hysterical degree.
* BlingOfWar: Wears gold armour to impress the troops. It's justified as the armour isn't meant to protect her and she's not going to do any fighting. It's solely for it's appearance.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy, In ''The Malloreon'', due to Zandramas' sorcery. And Harakan's. She's kind of a magnet for this stuff.
* BreakTheHaughty
* BreastPlate: Justified, believe it or not. Ce'Nedra intends to speak to an army, and it's very important that she look like a queen and not a little girl (or boy). Problem is, she's very flat. So she has an armourer solve her problem (after a very long debate).
* TheChick: Well, somebody had to do it.
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: She raises an ''international army'' just to provide cover for Garion sneaking off to fight [[BigBad Torak]].
* FieryRedhead: Very much so.
* HalfHumanHybrid: Her mother was a Dryad. Technically, there's no "half" - [[OneGenderRace female children of Dryads are always Dryads]].
* HappilyMarried: To Garion in ''The Malloreon''.
* HeroesWantRedheads
* InelegantBlubbering: Polgara tells her she shouldn't cry in public; she hasn't the right coloring for it.
* ItsAllAboutMe: She eventually grows out of it.
* JerkAss: For most of the first series.
** SpoiledSweet: In her better moments, after CharacterDevelopment.
* KeepTheHomeFiresBurning: See DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu.
* LethalChef: Ce'Nedra's cooking is only edible by a very loose definition of the term.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Until Book 4.
* MamaBear: after [[spoiler: Geran is kidnapped.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: Goads her own father into a fit at one point, just to get what she wants (it was for a good cause, honestly!)
* PlantPerson
* RebelliousPrincess
* RousingSpeech: She's damn good at this. In fact it's why she was born in the first place.
* SpoiledBrat
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: InUniverse example. Dryad names always have an X in them, but hers seems to break the rule. In ''The Malloreon'' it's explained that it can also be spelled "Xe'Nedra." After a moment of trying to pronounce it, Garion decides to keep calling her Ce'Nedra. [[spoiler:It's also implied she tries to work an X into her daughter Beldaran's name.]]
* TantrumThrowing: She's thrown some impressive ones.
* {{Tsundere}}: Ce'Nedra makes most anime Tsunderes look ''amateurish''. A good capsule description of her is "[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka]], only having traded in all of her self-esteem issues for even more self-centeredness."
!!'''Sir Mandorallen, Baron of Vo Mandor'''
* ArmourIsUseless: Averted. Mandorallen's armour is probably the only reason he's still alive.
* '''[[BadAss BADASS]]''': He slays lions with his bare hands. He attacks [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Algroth]] packs for fun. He threatens Tolnedran legions by himself. He refuses to fight an enraged [[KillTheGod Garion]]--because he doesn't want to hurt him. In a WorldOfBadass, Mandorallen manages to stand head and shoulders above the rest.
** BadassNormal: All that crazy stuff we just mentioned? He does it with no powers or supernatural aid of any kind.
* TheBigGuy: The most archetypal example. In the Big FiveManBand he's Big Squared.
* BoisterousBruiser: Mandorallen is always spoiling for a chance to demonstrate his prowess.
* TheChampion: Ce'Nedra's.
* TheDreaded: He's the most feared man in Arendia. Even Lelldorin and the other Asturians have heard of him.
* DumbMuscle: And rather proud of it.
* HappilyMarried: Eventually.
* HeroicBastard: He is "The Bastard of Vo Mandor" due to some irregularities surrounding his birth.
* HiddenDepths: Mandorallen isn't overly burdened with brains, but he's still got plenty of depth beneath his KnightInShiningArmour exterior, and is far more socially intuitive than many members of the group.
* HonorBeforeReason
* HotBlooded
* KnightInShiningArmor: So very much. Mandorallen is the archetype gained a life of its own.
* LargeHam
* LoveTriangle: His love is married to an older man she respects far too much to cheat on. For that matter Mandorallen respects them both too much to ask her to. Eventually settled when [[spoiler:her husband dies and Garion orders the two to get married in order to ''settle'' all this crap. Ending a war in the process.]]
* OddFriendship: With Lelldorin
* OneManArmy
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe
!!'''Relg'''
--> "''Don't touch me.''"
* BadassPreacher / ReligiousBruiser: He may be TheFundamentalist and spend all his time {{Wangst}}ing about sin, but he's also an incredibly strong KnifeNut who can ''submerge you inside solid rock'' without breaking a sweat.
* TheBigGuy: Big Smart.
* TheFundamentalist: He starts out insistent on hours of daily prayer and ritual cleansing from sin.
* [[spoiler:HappilyMarried: To Taiba]]
* IntangibleMan: Relg can pass through rock like water and take people with him, or [[BuriedAlive leave them in there]].
* KnifeNut
* LethalHarmlessPowers: Relg can use his ability to move through solid rock for combat purposes, by pushing enemies into the rock and leaving them to suffocate.
* TunnelKing
!!'''Lelldorin'''
* AltarTheSpeed: Lelldorin smacks a priest around until he agrees to marry he and Arianna. Done to prevent her from being shamed by travelling with a man who is not her husband.
* TheBigGuy: Big Chick.
* BrainlessBeauty: Male version.
* TheDitz
* HappilyMarried
* OddFriendship: With Mandorallen
* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob
* StarCrossedLovers: Averted. Despite the fact that he and Arianna are an Asturian and a Mimbrate and married without her elder brother's consent they end up HappilyMarried.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Garion and anyone else he considers a friend.
!!'''The Orb of Aldur (Cthrag Yaska)'''
* CovertPervert: It blushes when Belgarath notes that it was looking in on Garion and Ce'Nedra on their wedding night
* KillTheGod: One of the few things capable of injuring or killing a God.
* MineralMacGuffin
* OnlyTheChosenMayWield
* PowerGlows
* EmpathicWeapon: When attached to the Sword of Riva
* StopHelpingMe: The Orb tries so hard to be helpful. To the point that it has to be told that its help is not required. It thought that rearranging the stars to spell "Belgarion" was a request rather than an example.
!!'''Errand''' '''(Eriond)'''
--> "''Errand?''"
* ABoyAndHisX: He has a special bond with the Horse that Garion revived.
* [[spoiler: AmnesiacGod: was supposed to be a god but the Accident ended up causing Torak to replace him]]
* ChildrenAreInnocent: Zedar's thinking in picking him up, but there was more to it than that...
* [[spoiler: PhosphorEssence: At the end of the ''Malloreon''. ]]
* PurityPersonified
* VerbalTicName: Is originally called "errand" because it's the only word he seems to know.
''The Kingdoms of the West''
!!'''King Anheg of Cherek'''
* {{Badass}}
* BeardOfBarbarism[=/=]SeadogBeard: Anheg is still a pirate at heart.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Anheg pretends to be far dumber than he really is.
* GeniusBruiser: Anheg is a brutal Viking warchieftain. He's also one of the most widely read people on the continent, and can read ''The Book of Torak'' without endangering his mental health.
* HornyVikings
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Runs his nation, leads his army, and commands his fleet. He's also very intelligent and does his best to keep abreast of world events and assist Belgarath.
* StayInTheKitchen: Subverted. When Ce'Nedra demands the Alorn kings follow her, Anheg sides with the conservative Brand and does all the talking...in order to preemptively sabotage any arguments Brand might raise against her.
!!'''Queen Islena of Cherek'''
* AchievementsInIgnorance: It's illegal to throw a priest into prison without evidence. Islena doesn't know that, and Grodeg knows she doesn't. Anheg finds the entire situation hilarious.
* BrainlessBeauty: When Anheg is asked why he married her, his response is that "It certainly wasn't for her brains!"
* BreakTheHaughty
* HotConsort: This is why Anheg married her.
* TookALevelInBadass: Initially Islena is a pompous wuss who caves in every time Grodeg shouts at her. She finally has enough, threatens to have him muzzled and thrown in jail, and ships he and the rest of the Bear-Cult off to join the army. Anheg is impressed.
* WeakWilled: Is initially totally under the thumb of Grodeg, Chief Priest of Belar. With some help from Merel and Porenn she eventually overcomes this.
!!'''Merel of Trellheim'''
* ArrangedMarriage: With Barak
* CharacterDevelopment: From shallow bitch to TheGoodChancellor.
* TheGoodChancellor: To Islena, post-CharacterDevelopment.
* HappilyMarried: By the end, and after an intervention from the Purpose of the Universe itself.
* HiddenDepths: Merel appears to be a shallow, petty bitch. The "petty" and the "bitch" are right on the money, but there's more to her than meets the eye, and we see it as early as ''Pawn of Prophecy'' when she stands up to Anheg on Barak and Garion's behalf.
* RapeAsBackstory: How her marriage with Barak started. She even locked the door and he knocked it down. No wonder she's incredibly spiteful to him at first.
!!'''King Rhodar of Drasnia'''
* AdiposeRex
* FatIdiot: Subverted. He is hugely obese, but this is because he prefers academic study to more physical pursuits.
* HappilyMarried: To Porenn.
* MayDecemberRomance: He and his second wife, Porenn. Despite the age gap they are deliriously happy together.
* TheSmartGuy: Among the Kings of the West.
* TheSpymaster: Thanks to the work of his right-hand man, Javelin, Rhodar is privvy to almost every secret in the world.
* TheStrategist: There are more... martially inclined kings than Rhodar, but none of them have his solid theoretical grasp of strategy and tactics.
!!'''Queen Porenn of Drasnia'''
* HappilyMarried
* HotConsort: To Rhodar
* MayDecemberRomance
* TheSmartGuy: Among the Queens of the West.
* TheSpymaster: Shares this role with her husband.
!!'''Cho-Hag, Clan Chief of Clan Chiefs of Algaria'''
* HandicappedBadass: Cho-Hag can barely stand, but that doesn't stop him from kicking ass. Justified as he, like most Algars, is a cavalryman, and lets his horse do the walking for him.
* HappilyMarried
* ItsPersonal: His hatred of Taur Urgas goes far beyond mere politics.
* TheQuietOne: Among the Alorn rulers, he and Brand share this role.
* SwordFight: Has an epic one with Taur Urgas.
!!'''Brand, The Rivan Warder'''
* TheQuietOne
* RegentForLife: Brand is part of a long line of Rivan Warders, who vowed to rule the island and protect the Orb until the Rivan King returned. Unlike his predecessors, Brand is actually able to give up this position.
* StayInTheKitchen: Brand has very conservative values, particularly as regards women.
!!'''Emperor Ran Borune'''
* PapaWolf: To Ce'Nedra. Despite it being a binding treaty his nation signed, does everything he can to get Ce'Nedra out of the ceremony at Riva, where he fears she'll be humiliated. Despite constantly bickering with her, it's evident he loves her.
* KingOnHisDeathbed: In the Malloreon. He was already very old to start with, as the intrigue in Tolnedra in the Belgariad all centers around who his successor will be, so this is a ForegoneConclusion.
* TheEmperor: Well, duh. Tolnedra is actually a medium sized country leaning towards the smallish, but he still has a very long arm as Tolnedra is the economic powerhouse of most of the world and has an international highway system controlled by its legions. As a result, Ran Borune is not afraid to throw his weight around when it comes to politics, though he only gets his way some of the time.
!!'''Salmissra'''
* EvilIsSexy: Described by all characters as a very beautiful woman, and proves to be a very sensuous character, she attempts to seduce Garion to her side, and use him for her own most likely nefarious purposes. Very nearly succeeds.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Has a nasty habit of killing off her eunuchs on a whim, and is described as having the most absolute, iron-fisted rule over her people out of all the monarchs in the West.
* Involuntary Shapeshifter: Sort of. For her shenanigans, Polgara transforms her into a giant snake, permanently. Actually ends up being a better monarch this way.
''Villains''
!!'''Asharak/Chamdar'''
* TheAgeless
* CompellingVoice
* EvilSorcerer
* ManipulativeBastard
* ManOnFire: How he makes his exit.
* SinisterMinister: The first of the Grolim priests encountered in the series.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He's undoubtedly dangerous, but he can't hope to threaten Belgarath in person, despite his protestations to the contrary.
* SmugSnake
* StarterVillain
* YouKilledMyFather: Killed Garion's parents. Ends up very dead when Garion finds out.
!!'''Brill/Kordoch'''
* BeardOfEvil: A matted, patchy black one.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Appears to be a common footpad. Is actually a ninja.
* DisneyVillainDeath
* HandicappedBadass: Blind in one eye. Can fight Silk on an equal footing.
* {{Jerkass}}: He looks like a bitter jerk with a sour disposition. He's actually professional killer. Either way, he's a total bastard.
* LackOfEmpathy: A pitiless killer who rides horses to death just to get ahead.
* TheMole: Initially appears to be Asharak's spy on Faldor's farm. He's actually much worse than that.
* {{Ninja}}: Pretty much.
* ThePigpen: Brill bathes infrequently.
* ProfessionalKiller: The Dagashi are a society of killers hired out by Ctuchik.
!!'''Ctuchik'''
--> ''"Justice? There's no such thing, Polgara. The strong do what they like; the weak submit. My Master taught me that."''
* TheAgeless
* AmbitionIsEvil
* {{Archenemy}}: To Belgarath. They both admit their confrontation in ''Magician's Gambit'' has been a long time coming.
* BadassGrandpa: Ctuchik's a vile son of a bitch, but undoubtedly a badass.
* BadBoss: If the utter fear that all Murgos have of him is any indicator.
* BeardOfEvil: His WizardBeard is yellowed, greying and filthy.
* BlackCloak
* ColdBloodedTorture: Has a room in his tower filled with torture equipment, that he uses for his personal entertainment.
* DeceptiveDisciple: He's only loyal to Torak out of fear, and has no intentions of waking him.
* DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: Ctuchik wants to rule the world, and is willing to do anything to get it, including offer up sacrifices to a mad god.
* TheDragon: There are other contenders for the title of Torak's right-hand man, but Ctuchik is the most archetypal, running the Grolim priesthood and Cthol Murgos in his master's absence.
** CoDragons: Alongside Zedar and Urvon, though it's fairly obvious that he has primacy amongst the three.
** DragonWithAnAgenda: Has no loyalty to Torak and plans to rule the world himself.
* ElderlyImmortal
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Ctuchik simply cannot grasp Belgarath's motivations for doing what he does.
* EvilCounterpart: One of two to Belgarath, as his equal and opposite number in the Angarak priesthood.
* EvilOldFolks: Ctuchik has centuries of depravity and excess behind him, and they show on his face.
* EvilSorcerer
* EvilTowerOfOminousness: His spire at Rak Cthol.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Is obliterated from existence by the Universe herself.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He can put up quite the facade, but at the end of the day, Ctuchik's one of the most evil people on the continent.
* {{Greed}}: Has an entire room in his tower dedicated to wealth.
* InTheHood
* LackOfEmpathy: To the point where he doesn't even understand it.
* LeanAndMean: He's described as tall and cadaverous.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: Never leaves Rak Cthol.
* ShadowDictator: The real ruler of Cthol Murgos to hear Belgarath tell it, and yet many people (particularly in the West) aren't sure he even exists.
* SinisterMinister
* SmugSnake: He's smart, cunning, and formidable in combat, yet beyond overconfident and makes several very crucial amateur mistakes in his arrogance.
* SocialDarwinist
* SoftSpokenSadist: Ctuchik's voice is soft and dusty, only rising when he loses control of the situation.
* SorcerousOverlord: "Cthol Murgos is still ruled from Rak Cthol." He's not officially the king, but he might as well be.
* TakeOverTheWorld: Seeks to do it in his own name, rather than Torak's.
* WeCanRuleTogether: Tries this on Belgarath.
* WizardBeard
* WizardDuel: With Belgarath
!!'''Taur Urgas'''
-->''"Make way for the King of Algaria. He's mine!"''
* AbusiveDad: Towards all of his sons.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking
* AxeCrazy: He actually foams at the mouth in combat.
* {{Badass}}: A veritable force of nature on the battlefield.
* TheBerserker: Goes utterly mad(er) while fighting. He utterly terrifies his troops, but at the same time, galvanises them. It's as though by giving into his madness they feel that they too may become as invincible as he.
* BlingOfWar: Taur Urgas' chainmail is dipped in red Angarak gold. Rather than making it look overly pretty, it instead makes him look as though he has bathed in blood.
* BloodKnight: He's always at war, sleeps in his armour, and orders his PraetorianGuard to ''clear the way'' for Cho-Hag so that he can fight him. And that's without even mentioning his FamousLastWords.
* TheBrute: He may be the King of Cthol Murgos, but one could definitely make the case of Taur Urgas being TheBrute. He's got all the hallmarks of the personality: no empathy, totally AxeCrazy, a [[TheBerserker Berserker]] in combat, and he also seems to fit in terms of his position and role in the villainous hierarchy: he's the ruler of one of the largest countries subject to Torak, and provides manpower and muscle for the Angarak armies, while still being subject to Ctuchik, Torak's [[TheDragon Dragon]].
* TheCaligula: All the Urgas are RoyallyScrewedUp, but Taur Urgas is crazy even by their standards.
* DomesticAbuser: Beats his wives, keeps them under lock and key, tosses them down flights of stairs, occasionally kills them.
* FamousLastWords: "Come back Cho-Hag! Come back and fight!"
* IControlMyMinionsThrough: Fear, and a degree of Respect. See TheBerserker for how.
* ItsPersonal: With Silk and Cho-Hag.
* LackOfEmpathy
* TheMentallyIll: In addition to his bloodthirstyness, Taur Urgas is prone to fits wherein he chews on the furniture.
* RoyallyScrewedUp: Sadism, brutality, and outright madness are hereditary in the Urga bloodline.
* SwordFight: Against Cho-Hag.
!!'''Zedar'''
* TheAgeless
* BadassGrandpa
* BreakTheHaughty: In the backstory. It's why he's a FallenHero.
* ButtMonkey: To the universe.
* CoDragons: To Torak, alongside Ctuchik.
* ElderlyImmortal
* EvilCounterpart: Could be Belgarath's clone.
* EvilFormerFriend: To Belgarath and the rest of the Disciples of Aldur.
* EvilGenius: Likely the smartest of Torak's disciples.
* EvilOldFolks
* EvilSorcerer
* FaceHeelTurn: In the backstory.
* FallenHero: He was once Aldur's second disciple and Belgarath's pupil and friend. He's now enslaved to the will of Torak.
* FatalFlaw: His ego, which led him to think that he could fool Torak.
* {{Pride}}
* SinisterMinister: He's called "The Apostate" for a reason.
* SmugSnake: In the backstory. By the time we meet him that aspect of his personality has been more or less bled out of him.
* TheTramp: Like Belgarath, and in sharp contrast to SorcerousOverlord Ctuchik.
* WizardBeard
* WizardDuel: Averted. When he and Belgarath finally meet face to face, Belgarath is so enraged and Zedar so panicked that they resort to a fistfight.
!!'''Torak'''
* AntagonisticOffspring: To his father, UL, to the point where he flatout refuses to admit there is a relationship.
* BeautyIsBad: The most beautiful god, and the most flat out evil, complete with being obsessed with his own appearance.
* {{Bishonen}}: Before he got his face toasted.
* CainAndAbel: With all of his brothers, but most notably, Aldur.
* TheChosenOne: By the Dark Prophecy
* CoolMask: Wears a steel mask to hide his maiming. All of his followers wear one too.
* CoolSword: Cthrek Goru, his infamous cursed black sword. It instills fear in those who see it.
** ArtifactOfDoom: Arguably. It does seem to be one of the Dark Prophecy's favourite tools, having been present at three separate [=EVENT=]s.
** {{BFS}}: Though Torak, being a god, is able to wield it one-handed.
** BlackSwordsAreBetter
** CastingAShadow: Bleeds shadow with every blow it swings.
** EvilCounterpart: To the Sword of the Rivan King.
** EvilWeapon: It's not actually sentient, but given its association with the Dark Prophecy it's safe to say that it can't be used for anything good.
** OneHandedZweihander: Not that Torak particularly has a choice in the matter. [[HandicappedBadass He]] has to use it like this.
** UnbreakableWeapons
* DarkIsEvil
* TheDevilIsALoser: He's maimed, unloved, and incapable of change. It's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:he was never even supposed to exist in the first place.]]
* DisabledDeity: After he gets burned.
* DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Wants an entire world bowing down in worship and offering him sacrifices.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Inverted. Even after everything he's done the Universe still loves Torak. So do UL, Aldur, and the other gods for that matter.
** Also played straight: his last word is an anguished "Mother!"
* EvenEvilHasStandards: In a moment of sanity he saw the kind of future that Zandramas would create, and left a note for Garion, urging him to take her down.
* EvilCripple: Justified. When Torak misused the Orb it burned off one of his hands and boiled one of his eyes. He was evil long before he was a cripple.
* GodOfEvil
* HandicappedBadass: Still a brutally dangerous swordsman despite missing a hand and having no depth perception. Being a god probably helps.
* LoveHungry
* {{Narcissist}}: Torak cannot conceive of a world that doesn't revolve around him. In the ''Book of Torak'' he claims to have created the Universe (his own mother). He's also one in the classic sense, being utterly obsessed with his own appearance.
* PhysicalGod
* RedRightHand: What hand?
* TakeOverTheWorld
* TwoFaced: Beneath his mask.
* VillainousCrush: On Polgara
* WoundThatWillNotHeal: Gods aren't designed to be injured, and because of that his burnt face, boiled eye, and missing hand continue to pain him, leaving him in perpetual agony.
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Malloreon]]
''Garion's Companions''
!!'''Liselle (Velvet)'''
* ActionGirl
* CombatPragmatist
* GuileHeroine
* KnifeNut
* MayDecemberRomance: She's about twenty years younger than [[spoiler:Kheldar]].
* PrecociousCrush: When Silk was an up-and-coming star of the Intelligence Service, he'd often play dolls with the boss's niece, Liselle, who was approximately twenty years younger than him. As an adult, she pursued him [[spoiler:and caught him]].
* ProfessionalKiller
* SilkHidingSteel: Velvet claims to be this in the Malloreon, but any woman who has graduated from the Drasnian spy academy probably doesn't qualify for Proper Lady status even if she is a Margravine.
* SheIsAllGrownUp
* SpyCatsuit: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in the ''Malloreon''. Velvet frequently dresses in tight-fitting leather, but it is described as looking masculine, workman-like, bleak and completely uninteresting.
!!'''Emperor Kal Zakath'''
* AmbitionIsEvil
* AscendedExtra: A minor villain in the first series. A major player in the second.
* {{Badass}}
** BadassBeard: Grows one.
* {{BFS}}: Justified. Garion has the Orb make an enormous greatsword as light as a rapier, enabling 'Zakath to fence with it.
** OneHandedZweihander: 'Zakath may well be the only fencer in the world to use a {{BFS}} instead of say, a rapier.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: Zakath is one of the rare ''pre-emptive'' examples of this trope, in that after finally dawning to just how thoroughly the odds are against him he decides to just skip the 'defeat' and go straight to the 'friendship'.
-->"You know something, Garion? I've always believed that someday you and I would go to war with each other. Would you be terribly disappointed if I decided not to show up?"
* [[DefrostingIceQueen Defrosting Ice Emperor]]
* DespairEventHorizon: Hit in the backstory, after one of Taur Urgas' plots against him resulted in the death of his girlfriend at his own hands.
* DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: When we meet 'Zakath all he cares about is becoming Overking of Angarak, and eventually, ruler of the world.
* DyeOrDie: Zakath grows a beard after joining the heroes in ''The Malloreon'' to avoid being recognized as Emperor.
* TheEmperor: Well, duh. [[spoiler: He gets better.]]
* EmptyShell: 'Zakath misses this trope by millimeters during ''TheBelgariad'' and the start of ''TheMalloreon''. The prophecy outright refers to him as "The Empty One".
* EvilCounterpart: Starts out as Garion's.
* EvilOverlord
* KarmaHoudini: 'Zakath did some pretty awful things that he's never punished for.
* [[LickedByTheDog Licked By The Kitten]]: Zakath's pet {{Cute Kitten}}s peg him as a KindHeartedCatLover, an early indication that he's not the monster he's rumored to be.
* MayDecemberRomance: With [[spoiler:Cyradis]].
* PowerFist: Belgarath tells them not to kill anybody during the one battle. 'Zakath puts on a cestus and proceeds to smash it into the face of every man he rides past.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: His entire campaign against Cthol Murgos can be seen as this.
** RevengeByProxy[=/=]SinsOfOurFathers: Plans to exterminate every single member of the Urga family--and possibly all of Cthol Murgos--because of what Taur Urgas made him do.
* RoyalRapier: Played with. 'Zakath is a trained fencer, and all his sword-fighting experience is with a rapier. Than Garion comes along and makes his {{BFS}} as [[OneHandedZweihander light as one]]...
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething
* SixthRanger
* TookALevelInBadass: More like regained a level in badass. 'Zakath was once a capable fencer, but let those skills go rusty during his time as TheEmperor. He regains them over the course of ''TheMalloreon''.
!!'''Sadi'''
* {{Antihero}}: Type IV.
* AscendedExtra: A minor antagonist in the first series; a major player in the second.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Justified. Sadi's brilliance as a poisoner stems from his experience as Chief Eunuch at the Nyissan court; if you want to live very long you get very good at surviving.
* {{Badass}}: Eventually becomes one of the few {{badass}} eunuchs in fiction.
* BaldOfEvil: In ''The Belgariad''. Becomes a BaldOfAwesome during ''The Malloreon''
* CombatPragmatist
* DrugsAreBad: Downplayed. Sadi's drug-dealing and abuse is portrayed as a bad thing, but isn't treated as anything worse than Silk's thievery and drinking.
* EunuchsAreEvil: Played straight in the first series and subverted in the second. The Prophecy refers to him as "The Man Who Is No Man."
* EvilChancellor: Averted. Even in the first series he's one of the voices of reason at Salmissra's court.
* EvilGenius[=/=]TheSmartGuy: Plays this role after joining up with the heroes in the second series, sharing the position with Liselle and Silk.
* GuileHero
* KnifeNut
* LeanAndMean
* ManipulativeBastard
* MasterPoisoner: As Garion puts it, "Sadi could poison one person at a banquet with a thousand guests."
** This is demonstrated at one point. [[spoiler: He poisoned the spoon, not the soup.]]
* PetTheDog: While Sadi is generally amoral, he's not without compassion. On several occasions he uses his drugs to ease innocent bystanders and passerby's suffering. And he won't poison a dog - even a Hound.
* PoisonedWeapons: All of his knives are coated in poison, and he's been known to toss very concoctions straight into his enemies' faces when all else fails.
* SissyVillain: Starts out as one, but loses these traits after months on the road.
* SmugSnake: Starts out as an archetypal example, becoming an antiheroic variant by partway through ''The Malloreon''.
* StreetUrchin: As a child.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Sadi's alliance with the protagonists doesn't mean he's given up his personal corruption. While he likes them all by the end, and has certainly become a braver, more well-rounded individual, he remains an unapologetic scoundrel, a drug-dealer, a poisoner, and a criminal without the slightest bit of shame.
* TookALevelInBadass: Sadi starts out as a typically prissy SissyVillain and SmugSnake. By the end he's a lean, mean fighting machine with his own unique style of combat. For a eunuch he has balls.
!!'''Beldin'''
* TheAgeless
* AnimalMotifs: A blue-banded hawk.
* {{Archenemy}}: He and Urvon loathe one another with an unholy passion. Urvon has wanted posters with Beldin's face on them posted for twenty leagues in every direction from Mal Yaska.
* AscendedExtra: In the first series he's only one of Aldur's Disciples, and makes a few scattered appearances. In the second series he's a major player in Books 3-5.
* {{Badass}}
** BadassBeard
** BadassGrandpa
* ElderlyImmortal: Type A. Beldin looks like a twisted, deformed old man, but he can throw Durnik singlehandedly.
* TheGrotesque: A hideously deformed hunchback.
* HiddenDepths: Beldin is hideously deformed and has disgusting personal habits, but is a GeniusBruiser who is probably the most intelligent and well-read man in the world, as well as perfectly capable of breaking people who don't pay attention to his lectures in half.
* HonoraryUncle: To Polgara (and Beldaran)
* HooksAndCrooks: Favours a hook in close-combat.
* JerkassFacade[=/=]JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Acts like a bastard because people expect it.
* TheLancer: To Belgarath
* MagiBabble: Beldin is the philosopher in the group, and his explanations tend towards the overly complex.
* ServileSnarker[=/=]SourSupporter: Towards Belgarath again.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Belgarath
''Villains''
!!'''Zandramas'''
* TheBigBad
* BloodBath: Bathes in human blood while performing sacrifices.
* TheChessmaster: Always has a contingency plan in place.
* TheChosenOne: The new Child of Dark
* DarkMessiah: How the Grolims and most Darshivans view her. Given that she's the new Child of Dark they're not wrong either.
* DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Seeks to create the same kind of world as Torak did.
* EvilerThanThou: With Urvon
* EvilIsNotAToy: Learns this when she discovers the extent of Mordja's plans.
* EvilSorcerer
* FullFrontalAssault: Performs sacrifices in the nude.
* ImAHumanitarian
* LackOfEmpathy: A veritable void.
* ManipulativeBastard
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilised: Leads a revolt against 'Zakath and the Grolim priesthood.
* SamusIsAGirl: Garion is surprised to discover that the BigBad is female. It's around this time he decides that he can, in fact, [[WouldHitAGirl hit a girl]].
* ScaledUp: Turns into a dragon.
* SinisterMinister: Grolim priestess.
* UnholyMatrimony: With Naradas.
* VainSorceress
* TheVamp
* WeHaveReserves: Callously throws away the lives of her Darshivan soldiers.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: All the time.
!!'''Naradas'''
* TheDragon
* EvilSorcerer
* ProphetEyes
* SinisterMinister: Was once a Grolim, and Zandramas' superior.
* UnholyMatrimony: With Zandramas.
!!'''Urvon'''
* AGodAmI: Has delusions of godhood.
* {{Archenemy}}: Beldin's
* AxeCrazy
* BigBadWannabe: His madness leaves him no match for Zandramas and totally under Nahaz's thumb.
* TheDragon: One of Torak's three disciples
** CoDragons: With Ctuchik and Zedar
** DragonAscendant: Doesn't he wish.
** DragonTheirFeet: Completely absent from the first series.
* ElderlyImmortal: It's hard to tell because of [[RedRightHand how he looks]], but Urvon is still described as an old man, with thinning white hair.
* EvilerThanThou: With Zandramas
* EvilCounterpart: To Beldin.
* EvilIsNotAToy: Learns this the hard way at the hands of Nahaz.
* EvilOldFolks
* EvilSorcerer
* FateWorseThanDeath: Dragged into Hell by Nahaz
* PuppetKing: To Harakan and Nahaz.
* RedRightHand: Urvon's piebald; his skin alternates between living and dead patches.
* SinisterMinister
!!'''Harakan/Mengha'''
* BeardOfEvil: Grows one when impersonating a Bear-Cultist.
* DarkMessiah: Sets himself up as a messianic figure to the Karands, even summoning their "[[AGodAmI god]]", Nahaz, to do his bidding.
* TheDragon: To Urvon
** CoDragons: Alongside Nahaz, who isn't under his dominion for long.
** DragonWithAnAgenda: Intends to use Urvon as a PuppetKing while he really rules Karanda.
* EvilSorcerer
* SinisterMinister: Another Grolim.
** BadHabits: Pretends to be a Bear-Cultist.
* SmugSnake
!!'''Nahaz'''
-->''"I need this [[PuppetKing thing]]..."''
* AGodAmI: Worshipped as a god by the people of Karanda.
* {{Archenemy}}: Of Mordja
* CastingAShadow: His face is concealed within inky shadows during his first appearance. They go where he does.
* DemonLordsAndArchdevils
* DoubleStandardRapeDivineOnMortal: Averted. Heck, Nahaz having consensual sex is still treated like rape given what happens to his partners.
* TheDragon: To Urvon
** CoDragons: Alongside Harakan; [[spoiler:One could argue he and Mordja are Co Dragons to the King of Hell]].
** DragonInChief: Urvon is both insane and completely under Nahaz's domination, leaving the Demon Lord as the one who's really running the show.
** DragonWithAnAgenda: To Urvon. He'll take his soul, the Orb, the Sardion, and dominion over the world in the name of his master.
* EvilerThanThou: With Mordja
* FangsAreEvil
* FetusTerrible: Impregnates women than watches the fetus tear its way out and devour the mother alive.
* LackOfEmpathy: He's a [[LegionsOfHell demon lord]]. This is to be expected.
* MultiarmedAndDangerous
* PowerGlows: A sickly green.
* ReallyGetsAround: Enjoys impregnating women with {{Fetus Terrible}}s.
* ShadowDictator: Controls Urvon while pretending to be his loyal servant.
* SoftSpokenSadist: Barely speaks above a whisper during ''Demon Lord of Karanda''.
* WeHaveReserves: As the heroes inform 'Zakath and General Atesca, Demon Lords pay very little attention to casualties.
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe
* YourSoulIsMine
!!'''Mordja'''
* AGodAmI: Worshipped as one by the Morindim.
* {{Archenemy}}: Of Nahaz
* CoolSword: Steals [[BlackSwordsAreBetter Cthrek Goru]] from the deceased Torak. See his entry for [[EvilWeapon the]] [[CastingAShadow rest]] [[ArtifactOfDoom of]] [[EvilCounterpart the]] [[{{BFS}} details]].
* DemonLordsAndArchdevils
* DemonicPossession: Of the dragon.
* TheDragon: To Zandramas
** CoDragons: Alongside Naradas. [[spoiler:It could be argued that he and Nahaz are Co Dragons to the King of Hell]].
** DragonWithAnAgenda: He wants Zandramas' soul, the Sardion, and the Orb for the King of Hell.
* EvilerThanThou: With Nahaz
* FangsAreEvil
* FinalBoss: Provides the last physical confrontation of the series.
* LackOfEmpathy
* MultiarmedAndDangerous
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe
* YourSoulIsMine
!!'''The Sardion (Cthrag Sardius)'''
* ArtifactOfDoom: Given its associations with The Dark Prophecy and what will happen if the Child of Dark touches it, yeah.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: An ugly red, shot through with milky-white. Contrast that to the Orb's pure blue.
* EvilCounterpart: To the Orb of Aldur.
* MineralMacGuffin
* OnlyTheChosenMayWield
* PowerGlows
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Gods and Prophecies]]
!!'''The Prophecy'''
* AllPowerfulBystander
* BigGood: Represents the original purpose of the Universe.
* TheChessmaster: With millenia of experience.
* DeadpanSnarker: Comes across more like a long suffering GameMaster who is annoyed that his players won't follow the script than anything else..
!!'''The Dark Prophecy'''
* AllPowerfulBystander
* BiggerBad: TheManBehindTheMan to Torak and Zandramas.
* CastingAShadow: The sun never shines in the home of the Child of Dark.
* TheChessmaster
* DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Seeks a Universe of constant stagnation and failure where everything continues to go wrong.
* EvilCounterpart: To the Prophecy.
!!'''UL'''
* {{God}}: As the Father of all the other Gods, UL is the closest thing the series has to the Judeo-Christian God.
* PhysicalGod
!!'''Aldur'''
* BigGood: Shares this role with the Prophecy.
* CainAndAbel: Torak hates all the gods, but his rivalry with Aldur is the fiercest, and it is Aldur's disciples who constantly stand in his way.
* GrandpaGod: Has something of this in his appearance.
* PhysicalGod
* WizardBeard: Looks a heck of a lot like Belgarath, actually. Or more accurately, Belgarath looks a heck of a lot like him.
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe
!!'''Issa'''
* GoodEyesEvilEyes: Subverted. Issa's eyes are snake-like and lifeless, but he's a pretty good guy.
* PhysicalGod
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe
!!'''The King of Hell'''
* BiggerBad: Nahaz, Mordja, and the rest of the Demon Lords all answer to this guy. Despite that, he never even appears in the story.
* DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Seeks to upend both Prophecies and recreate the Universe in his own image with legions of Demons feasting on all mortal souls.
* EvilCounterpart: To UL.
* EvilerThanThou: To the Dark Prophecy.
* MadeOfEvil
* {{Satan}}
* SealedEvilInACan: Chained by UL at the moment of Creation.
* TakeOverTheWorld: Universe actually.
[[/folder]]
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