Gaunt's Ghosts/Characters

There are many characters in the books and a guide might help. Much work has to be done to get this page shipshape, though. Assistance with summaries, tropes, ranks (ordering by that especially) and full names would be appreciated.

Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt
Commanding officer of the regiment. Before its founding he served in other units, most famously at Balhaut with the late Warmaster Slaydo, who granted him his special dual rank. At the regiment's founding, the planet was beset by Chaos and he chose to take the men with him rather than let them die defending it, something not all of them were happy with.


 * Absurdly Sharp Blade: Picks up an ancient Power Sword after the events of Necropolis. Frequently described as cutting through enemy bayonets in close combat situations.
 * A Father to His Men: Without doubt.
 * Berserk Button: Don't ever threaten or kill his troops. Especially if you're from another guard regiment.
 * Badass: Oh, let us count the ways.
 * Badass Bureaucrat: As a Commissar, paper work is part of his job.
 * Badass Cape: In many a picture.
 * Badass Longcoat
 * Colonel Badass
 * The Chains of Commanding
 * Comic Book Fantasy Casting: An amusing recursive example. In the books the descriptions of him are pretty blatantly meant to make readers think of Sean Bean, the actor who portrayed Sharpe. The cover art, on the other hand, depicts him with darker hair and generally looking like Sharpe was described as in his own books.
 * Commissar Cap
 * Fire-Forged Friends: With Rawne, eventually. In Gaunt's backstory, he fought alongside the Chapter Master of the Silver Guard, Veegum, during the war on Balhaut. This is the reason Veegum accepts Gaunt's request for one of the Silver Guard accompany the mission to Salvation's Reach, and he even manages to get two more Astartes from different chapters as well.
 * Good-Looking Privates: Gaunt is quite the ladies' man.
 * Guns Akimbo
 * Hand Cannon: Favours bolt pistols. Two of them.
 * I'll Pretend I Didn't Hear That: Gaunt often overlooks actions such as drinking and smoking when his men are off duty. Subverted in Straight Silver when he almost executes a trooper when he got most of his squad killed after taking a drink in the middle of a recon patrol.
 * Knight in Sour Armor: In the future there is only war, but that doesn't mean that there aren't things worth fighting for.
 * I'll Pretend I Didn't Hear That: Gaunt often overlooks actions such as drinking and smoking when his men are off duty. Subverted in Straight Silver when he almost executes a trooper when he got most of his squad killed after taking a drink in the middle of a recon patrol.
 * Knight in Sour Armor: In the future there is only war, but that doesn't mean that there aren't things worth fighting for.

Commissar Viktor Hark
A commissar assigned to the regiment in the fourth book, Honour Guard, initially to police Gaunt but as a proper member by the end. Often does most of the actual commissaring while Gaunt colonels it up.


 * Artificial Limbs: Loses an arm to a trio of loxatl assassins in Sabbat Martyr, which is later replaced with prosthetics.
 * Badass Longcoat
 * Commissar Cap
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: Specifically, the plasma weapon part of this trope. Unlike most of the Ghost officers he carries a plasma pistol rather than a bolt pistol.
 * The Mole: Originally sent by Lugo to spy on Gaunt. Not a spoiler since Gaunt figures it out immediately.
 * The Political Officer

Commissar Nahum Ludd
Originally a commissar cadet assigned to police Gaunt (notice a pattern) but eventually joins properly as Hark's apprentice.


 * Dope Slap: Gets three in a row from Hark when Hark sees him acting too friendly with an injured, doped-up Twenzet in Only In Death. Then he explains that Ludd has to maintain authority & professional distance from the men so they will take him seriously, especially now that he has to act as regimental commissar, since Hark himself is injured.
 * Ensign Newbie/New Meat
 * The Political Officer
 * Took a Level in Badass: In Salvation's Reach, he gives orders to

Ayatani Zweil
A wandering Hagian preacher who joins the Ghosts after Honour Guard. Looks after the Ghost's spiritual needs.


 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Has a very unconventional preaching style, but still manages to do quite well at his job.
 * Dying Alone: Gaunt observes that one of Zweil's greatest talents is to comfort the dying and fatally injured.
 * Grumpy Old Man: And quite proud of it.
 * Loveable Rogue: Was one in the past, and still gets up to an impressive amount of petty mischief for a man of his age and profession.
 * Preacher Man

Eszrah ap Niht
One of the Nihtgane partisans from Gereon, he was given to Gaunt as a bodyguard and has stuck by the other man since.


 * The Big Guy: Sort of; he is taller than even Bragg and Corbec but lanky.
 * Magnetic Weapons: His reynbow.
 * Noble Savage: The Nihtgane practically have this hat stapled to their heads.
 * The Stoic
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Honour bound to go on one should Gaunt be killed.
 * Sunglasses at Night: Varl gives him a pair of sunshades in Traitor General and he wears them pretty much constantly.
 * Unskilled but Strong: When using  he finds himself outclassed by a Chaos officer who actually knows swordfighting, though said Chaos officer was not wanting for strength either since he was using an Eviscerator.

Commissar Vaynom Blenner
A friend of Ibram Gaunt. The two met when they were students at the schola progenium on Ignatius Cardinal.


 * Big Fun: Is rather fat, and pretty easygoing for a commissar.
 * Blatant Lies: When they were kids in schola, he told Gaunt that his father was a Space Marine, which is patently ridiculous--Space Marines are sterile and usually asexual, and their utter devotion to Emperor and Imperium leaves little time for the procreative act.
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He's not as weak as he looks, though he does have some inner turmoil about not being good enough for his job, as his last assignment was with a regiment that never saw combat.
 * Kavorka Man: Manages to attract the attentions of.

Commissar Usain Edur

 * Good-Looking Privates: Described as having "regally black" skin and a statuesque countenance.
 * We Hardly Knew Ye:

Ghosts (Tanith)
The founding members of the regiment.

Colonel Colm Corbec
The Ghost's much beloved main CO along with Gaunt.


 * A Father to His Men: As much as, if not more so, than Gaunt himself.
 * Authority Equals Asskicking
 * Badass
 * Badass Beard
 * Badass Grandpa: Often bemoans his advanced age, particularly after suffering a nasty wound in Honour Guard that plagues him for the rest of the series. Doesn't stop him being badass, though.
 * Colonel Badass
 * The Big Guy: Overshadowed in this respect by Bragg, he is still tall and hefty.
 * Number Two:
 * Number Two:

Major Elim Rawne
Corbec's second in command. Hates Gaunt with a vengeance for abandoning Tanith to die.


 * Badass
 * Fire-Forged Friends: Became closer to Gaunt after Gereon.
 * The Lancer
 * Majorly Awesome
 * Sociopathic Hero: Described as one of the more vicious Ghosts.
 * Sour Supporter
 * Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Has openly stated that he plans to kill Gaunt for abandoning Tanith to die on numerous occasions, and generally barely manages to tolerate being on the same side as him.
 * The Only One Allowed To Kill You: The reason he cites whenever saving Gaunt's life.

Hlaine "Mad" Larkin
The Ghosts' most accomplished sniper.


 * Friendly Sniper: When not in one of his moods.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Bragg.
 * Improbable Aiming Skills: Larkin's eye regularly astounds snipers from other regiments.
 * Old Master
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Has great prowess as a sniper, but also has a condition that causes him to go into convulsions and hallucinate a lot.

Scout-sergeant Oan Mkoll
The Chief of the Ghosts' elite Scouts.


 * Badass
 * Old Master
 * Scarily Competent Tracker: Second to only MkVenner.
 * Stealth Expert: He's a fething cloaking device on legs. If this guy doesn't want you to see or hear him, you won't.
 * Think Nothing of It: When he kills a Chaos Dreadnought using only an overloaded lasgun cell and the local plantlife, the young trooper he's with expressed his amazement. Mkoll tells him to shut up and not to talk about it.

Tolin Dorden
The Ghosts' chief medic.


 * Actual Pacifist: An impressive feat, considering the sorts of brutal warzones he's almost always working in. However, he does make one exception in order to save Gaunt's life.
 * Badass Pacifist: Manages to out-badass several of the fighting characters in a war book.
 * Cool Old Guy: Continues serving as the Ghosts' chief medic despite being well past retirement age.
 * Hidden Depths / Chekhov's Skill: In better days on Tanith, Dorden was a talented amateur actor. He uses this to improvise his way out of a tight spot in the first book.
 * The Medic
 * Thou Shalt Not Kill
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Never hesitates to call Gaunt out if he ever does anything morally questionable.
 * Wide-Eyed Idealist

Brin Milo
The youngest of all the Ghosts and originally just a civilian. Gaunt rescued him from Tanith on a whim and he quickly becomes the Ghosts' 'lucky mascot'.


 * Mascot
 * Non-Action Guy: At first, being the only civilian rescued from Tanith. Later joins the regiment anyway.
 * Psychic Powers: Suspected of being a psyker in Ghostmaker but manages to prove his innocence.
 * Psychic Powers: Suspected of being a psyker in Ghostmaker but manages to prove his innocence.

"Try Again" Bragg

 * A-Team Firing: Hence 'Try Again'. He makes up for it by using More Dakka.
 * Averted: He always hits on the second try.
 * The Big Guy
 * Dumb Muscle: Subverted. Gaunt uses Bragg's deceptive cleverness to flush out a traitor in Ghostmaker.
 * Military Moonshiner: Bragg's sacra was considered to be the best.
 * More Dakka: His immense size means he can easily carry heavy weapons like autocannons into combat.
 * More Dakka: His immense size means he can easily carry heavy weapons like autocannons into combat.

Sergeant Ceglan Varl

 * Artificial Limbs: An augmetic shoulder.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Lovable Rogue

Simen Macharius "Lucky" "Mach" Bonin

 * Born Lucky: See nickname. Bonin manages to survive things that would have killed unluckier Ghosts many times over.

Flame-Trooper Aongus Brostin

 * The Big Guy: Not on the level of Bragg or Corbec, but still one of the heftier Ghosts.
 * Catch Phrase: "Say hello to Mister Yellow."
 * Kill It with Fire: Comes with the job description.
 * Must Have Nicotine: Or whatever is in lho-sticks--Abnett has made it clear that lho is a different and more potent drug than tobacco, although the latter is still the most likely mix with them in the "stick" form, which is weak enough not to affect combat reflexes. At any rate, Brostin constantly smokes when he can, though the drug content isn't the only reason...
 * Multiple Choice Past: Brostin claims that he gained his almost preternatural understanding of fire as a firefighter; others say he served a prison term for arson. Either or both may be true, as the records of his past were destroyed with Tanith.
 * Pyromaniac: Treated more seriously than usual. Brostin outright loves fire, has a remarkable understanding of its behaviour, considers himself an artist with it, and must struggle not to burn things. His smoking is largely a relatively safe way to indulge this compulsion when no other way presents itself.
 * Fortunately for the Ghosts, his skills with fire also include knowing the best way to put it out.

Sergeant Murtan Feygor

 * Deadpan Snarker: Already pretty snarky before a throat wound meant he had to be given a prosthetic voice box. This causes him to speak in a monotone, giving everything he says a sarcastic inflection.
 * Number Two: To Rawne.
 * Sergeant Rock
 * Number Two: To Rawne.
 * Sergeant Rock

MkVenner

 * Good Old Fisticuffs: He was a master of cwlhwl, the ancient Nalsheen art of hand-to-hand combat.
 * Last of His Kind: Even more so than the other Tanith Ghosts. He is the last of the Nalsheen, an ancient order of warriors who dwelt in the nalwood forests. They overthew the tyrannical rulers of Tanith in the ancient past, and kept a watch on the government even until the 41st millenium. MkVenner himself never truly considered himself Nalsheen because he never finished his training.
 * McNinja: The word is never used, but the Nalsheen are experts in stealth and unarmed/primitive combat in a very reminiscent way.
 * Neck Snap: When Brostin gets sloppy in his stealth in Traitor General, Ven oh-so-gently puts his palm on Brostin's neck. Brostin takes the hint.
 * Scarily Competent Tracker
 * Scarily Competent Tracker

Captain Flyn Meryn

 * Corrupt the Cutie: When he joined the Ghosts he was a fresh-faced and confident young man, earning the rank of corporal and even compliments from Colonel Corbec. Unfortunately, he gravitated to Major Rawne's negative influence and started to style himself as Rawne's protege. After Rawne leaves for Gereon, Meryn started trying to assert himself as essentially the new Rawne (even managing to start a relationship with Jessi Banda, Rawne's main squeeze), but he lacked Rawne's scruples and skill as a leader.
 * Dirty Coward: Events in Salvation's Reach show that he has become this.
 * Overranked Soldier: Is promoted to Captain during the Tanith First's time as part of the Belladon 81st. Some of the Ghosts think him unworthy his new rank.

Captain Dohon "Shoggy" Domor

 * Bomb Disposal: His initial role with the Tanith was as a minesweeper. He is later promoted to sergeant and then captain, but he remains the best at dealing with explosives.
 * Determinator: Carried on with his mine sweeping duties after his...
 * Eye Scream: Loses his eyes in the action on Menazoid Epsilon. Which leads to him getting...
 * Electronic Eyes: They aren't the super-advanced and expensive ones that  ends up with. They give him a bug-eyed appearance, leading to his eventual nickname of "Shoggy", referring to the Tanith tree frog.
 * Gadgeteer Genius: Compared to the other Ghosts. His interest in engineering ends up saving the day in Only In Death.

Major Gol Kolea
A miner from Vervunhive who helped to organise the resistance in the chaos-held parts of the city. Joins the Ghosts after Vervunhive is abandoned, and is seen as a hero by the ex-hivers in the regiment.


 * Cannot Spit It Out: Can't bring himself to tell his children he is still alive, despite the urgings of pretty much everybody.
 * Easy Amnesia: Loses all personal memories but can still walk/talk/pull a trigger.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Gets shot in the head after rescuing Tona Criid in Guns of Tanith. He survives, but loses all of his memories and most of his personality.
 * Leeroy Jenkins:

Captain Ban Daur

 * An Officer and a Gentleman: Noted to be fair and rule-abiding.
 * Good-Looking Privates: Yes he's a captain, but is described as young, tall and handsome several times.
 * Wartime Wedding: He marries Elodie, whom he met in Blood Pact, just before the Salvation's Reach mission.

Sergeant Agun Soric
A one-eyed Vervunhive miner who keeps the men of his work shift organized despite the chaos, and uses them to help the war effort and the other refugees. Joins the Ghosts after Vervunhive is abandoned.


 * Eye Scream: Lost one of his eyes at the start of the Zoican War when his factory is shelled, in Necropolis.
 * Eyepatch of Power: Averted; his missing eye is never replaced or covered.
 * Eye Scream: Lost one of his eyes at the start of the Zoican War when his factory is shelled, in Necropolis.
 * Eyepatch of Power: Averted; his missing eye is never replaced or covered.
 * Eyepatch of Power: Averted; his missing eye is never replaced or covered.

Sergeant Tona Criid
An ex-hive ganger from Vervunhive who joins up with the Ghosts after Necropolis. Later proves herself to be a particularly badass Action Girl.


 * Action Girl
 * Battle Couple: With Caffran.
 * Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Subverted. She gets a rather nasty facial scar after Gereon and grows her hair down in order to hide it.
 * Mama Bear: Adopts two children she presumed to be war orphans during the battle in Vervunhive, and spends much of the war taking care of them.
 * Also, when one of her adopted children grows up and joins the Guard, she offers to kill the Drill Sergeant Nasty in charge of his training. It's not entirely clear if the offer was earnest or not.
 * The Squadette
 * Sweet Tooth: Starts to develop one when the regiment is spending a long stretch away from the front on Balhaut. She happened across a bakery while in town and started remembering the times when she was a dirt-poor hive kid and never being able to afford any treats. Now that she's a sergeant in the Guard with a metric ton of back pay coming in, she can walk in and buy whatever she wants, which leads to a near-obsession with taking long runs so she can have some sweets but avoid gaining weight.

Jessi Banda
A Verghastite marksman.


 * Distaff Counterpart: Often acts like a female version of Rawne.
 * Good-Looking Privates: So much so that it ends up causing Rawne to be Distracted by the Sexy. They eventually start a relationship.
 * Friendly Sniper

Lijah Cuu
A decidedly unpleasant ex-hive ganger who joins the Ghosts after the defense of Vervunhive. Eventually becomes a walking, talking Diabolus Ex Machina.


 * Axe Crazy
 * Bait the Dog: From the very moment he was introduced in Honour Guard it was obvious that Cuu was a highly unpleasant individual. However, he is nonetheless an effective soldier with a few humourous moments. Then in Guns of Tanith he After that, all bets were off.
 * Diabolus Ex Machina:
 * Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a scar running down the middle of his face.
 * In the Back: His favourite tactic.
 * Karma Houdini: Nearly brought to justice in Guns of Tanith when evidence implicates him in a murder-rape. Then Gaunt steps in and gets him off. He also nearly gets brought to justice in Straight Silver, but again escapes.
 * As an interesting side-note, Abnett stated in the introduction to the Omnibus edition that he believes one of the main reasons Straight Silver is often considered the weakest book in the series is because of this. After the events of Guns Of Tanith, everyone wanted Cuu dead.
 * Kick the Dog: His favourite hobby.
 * Obviously Evil: Pretty much every character who meets Cuu comments that he's a nasty piece of work.
 * Token Evil Teammate
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Is a very good marksman, at least once taking successful shots that a witnessing Larkin admits he wouldn't be confident of. The insane part... is obvious.

Ana Curth

 * Hello, Nurse!: Regarded in-universe as being quite attractive.
 * The Medic
 * Must Have Nicotine: The stresses of losing her home and military life drive Curth back to lho-sticks after quitting years before.

Dalin Criid
A Vervunhive war-orphan (though actually the biological child of Gol Kolea) adopted by Tona Criid. Once he reaches adulthood, he chooses to join the Ghosts.


 * Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Tends to see his parents as this once he joins the Guard, since they don't treat him like an ordinary soldier.
 * To add to that, several other Ghosts played some role in his rearing, and none of them can quite see him as just another soldier.
 * Big Shoes To Fill: Both of his parents were quite respected members of the Ghosts, leaving Dalin feeling like he has a big legacy to live up to.
 * Happily Adopted
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: Occasionally resents the fact that many of the Ghosts don't treat him like any other ordinary soldier.
 * Mascot: Similar to Milo, his status as the youngest member of the Ghosts, as well as being the first second-generation Ghost, makes many of the troopers see him as this.
 * Nepotism: Fears this is the reason behind his Field Promotion to Meryn's adjutant. It's not entirely clear if this was the case or not, since Meryn does point out that Dalin is well-suited to the position, even if he is relatively young, but it is still possible that who his parents are played some role in Meryn's decision.
 * New Meat: Currently the youngest member of the Ghosts.

Colonel Wilder
A native of Belladon, placed in command of the Ghosts during Gaunt's time on Gereon


 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Feels this way after Gaunt returns.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * We Hardly Knew Ye
 * We Hardly Knew Ye

Scout trooper Wes Maggs
A Belladon scout.


 * Stealth Expert: One of the best Belladon scouts, but nowhere near as good as Mkoll. Maggs realizes this and tries to learn as much as he can from him.

Saint Sabbat
The Imperial Saint after whom the Sabbat Worlds are named. Six thousand years ago she was a humble peasant girl on Hagia who recieved a vision from the Emperor, inspiring her to set off on a journey to bring the systems around her under Imperial control. After the Sabbat Worlds are overrun by Chaos in the 41st Millenium, Saint Sabbat returns to aid the imperials in their hour of need.


 * Absurdly Sharp Blade: Her sword is sharp enough to effortlessly sever the barrel of a Baneblade superheavy tank, and pierce through its armor plating to kill the driver.
 * A God Am I: Posesses a fragment of the Emperor's power.
 * Arc Number: The number nine is very symbolic, since it was the number of wounds suffered by the Saint when she was martyred six thousand years ago.
 * Big Good
 * Battle Aura
 * Body Surf: Implied..
 * Chosen One: An odd variant. In Sabbat Martyr,
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Takes on and effortlessly defeats a Baneblade superheavy tank by herself.
 * Expy: Of Joan of Arc. Slightly less unfortunate than her model, dying (the first time) heroically towards the end of a highly successful crusade, rather than being executed by her nominal co-religionists.
 * In Its Hour of Need
 * King in the Mountain
 * Lady of War: Enough that her six-thousand year old previous incarnation had an order of Battle Sisters named after her.
 * One-Man Army: Subverted, whilst the Saint herself is an order of magnitude more powerful than regular soldiers, she is still vulnerable to enemy fire. Half of Sabbat Martyr is about protecting her from various assassins.

Lord Militant General Hechtor Dravere
The general in command of retaking Fortis Binary in First & Only. .


 * General Failure: His incompetence is refered to by several characters.
 * The Neidermeyer
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: Despite his bad battlefield record he is far more cunning than he seems.
 * We Have Reserves: Strategy's not working? Throw more men into the meat grinder!
 * We Have Reserves: Strategy's not working? Throw more men into the meat grinder!
 * We Have Reserves: Strategy's not working? Throw more men into the meat grinder!

Lord Militant General Bathol Van Voytz
The general who oversaw the Ghost's actions on Phantine, as well as in many other theatres afterwards. Notable in that he actually gives the Ghosts the respect they deserve.


 * An Officer and a Gentleman
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: One of the only generals who actually appreciates the Ghosts' talents and sees them for the assets that they are.

Lord Militant General Noches Sturm
Another of the generals serving under Warmaster Macaroth. Sturm sees the Ghosts as savages and barbarians. Needless to say, he and Gaunt do not get along well.


 * Blue Blood: Most of the soldiers under his command are drawn from planetary nobility such as the Volpone Bluebloods.
 * Dirty Coward
 * Kick the Dog: Calling down an artillery strike on the Ghost's position out of spite when they captured the objective before his own men.
 * The Neidermeyer
 * Redemption Equals Death
 * We Have Reserves: One of his first actions in-series is to order an artillery strike right on top of the Ghost's assault line. The kicker? The Ghosts had already captured the location and Sturm knew it.
 * You Are the Translated Foreign Word:
 * We Have Reserves: One of his first actions in-series is to order an artillery strike right on top of the Ghost's assault line. The kicker? The Ghosts had already captured the location and Sturm knew it.
 * You Are the Translated Foreign Word:

Lord Militant General Cybon
A general who was one of Warmaster Slaydo's most trusted subordinates. Described as a conqueror of worlds, Cybon has since fallen out of the spotlight since Macaroth took over.


 * Cyborg
 * Large and In Charge

Warmaster Slaydo
The previous Warmaster and the man who began the first push to reclaim the Sabbat Worlds from the forces of Chaos. Killed in action on Balhaut.


 * A Father to His Men: Gaunt specifically cites this as a reason why he was better than his replacement, since Slaydo actually cared about his officers and listened to them when they had concerns.
 * Badass Grandpa: Always described as being very old whenever Gaunt reminisces about him.
 * Well, he WAS old. He was about 150 when he started the Sabbat Worlds Crusade and was in his 160's when he died.
 * Dying Moment of Awesome: He dies fighting a Chaos Warlord who was rapidly mutating in single combat. After being shot.
 * Four-Star Badass
 * The Mentor: To Gaunt, along with Oktar. Gaunt inherited his devotion to Saint Sabbat from him.
 * Religious Bruiser: He isn't a priest or anything, but he is totally devoted to Saint Sabbat and considers it the greatest honor of his life to be able to fight for her worlds.
 * Posthumous Character: Died in combat just before the beginning of the series. Though gets a good bit of attention in Regicide of the Sabbat's World Anthology.

Warmaster Macaroth
The second Warmaster who takes control of the Crusade after Slaydo's death. Unfortunately does not hold Gaunt in nearly the same regard as his predecessor.


 * General Failure: Whilst Macaroth is not incompetent per se, the preface quotes before each book underlining the status of the Crusade always mention how he constantly overstretches his forces and leaves massive gaps in his space fleet's defensive lines, allowing Chaos forces to slip through and pillage retaken worlds. And Tanith.
 * Overranked Soldier: Was quite young to be named Warmaster.
 * You Are in Command Now

The Adeptus Astartes
The following tropes apply to all of the three Marines seconded to the Tanith First.


 * Badass: They're Astartes. Of course they're badass.
 * BFG Each of them carry bolters, the signature firearm of the Astartes, and so heavy the average human has trouble just picking one up, let alone aiming and firing it.
 * Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: When engaged aboard Salvation's Reach, they carried boarding shields which served well to deflect the flechette rounds of the Loxatl.
 * One-Man Army: The fact that there are three of them coming tells the Ghosts that this mission is going to be hell. Eadwine, Holofurnace, and Sar Af kill nearly three hundred Loxatl Xenos mercenaries and are so terrifying, they force archenemy troops to run into Tanith fire zones.
 * Power Armor: Par for the course with the Astartes. Each of the three Marines brings two suits: A standard Imperator Mark suit and a Mark III "Iron" suit for boarding actions.
 * Super Soldier: So super that they'd rather be on the Crusade's primary front where the real action is, but they know the Salvation's Reach mission is important as well.

Brother-Sergeant Eadwine, of the Silver Guard.
One of three Space Marines ceded to Gaunt's strike force in Salvation's Reach.


 * Creepy Monotone: Has a throat mounted augmetic which renders his voice as a monotone rasp.
 * The Leader: Because the three Astartes all practice different styles of combat, was given direct command.
 * Sword and Gun: When boarding he carried a boltgun, boarding shield and Chainsword.

Brother Sar Af, of the White Scars
One of three Space Marines ceded to Gaunt's strike force in Salvation's Reach.


 * The Lancer: Acted as this to Eadwine.
 * The Gunslinger: Unlike the other two Astartes accompanying the Ghosts, he only carries a bolter.
 * The Mentor: Acts as this to Merrt, assisting him in overcoming his inability to shoot straight. Also shows the closest thing to respect to the Guard, regarding both Ezra and Mkoll as great scouts, and is impressed by

Brother Kater Holofurnace, of the Iron Snakes
The last of the three Space Marines ceded to Gaunt's strike force in Salvation's Reach.


 * Blade on a Stick: Wields a power halberd to devastating effect.
 * Continuity Nod: His chapter appears in Brothers of the Snake, which remains Abnett's only novel purely about Space Marines.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Of the three Astartes, he is the most irreverent, claiming that he is old enough to remember some of the Imperium's glory, but is too young to care. He also wonders why the Guard are unable to keep up with the three of them, wondering if they're all dead.

Archon Nadzybar
Chaos overlord who commanded the resistance against the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Killed by the Imperials in a raging battle on Balhaut, the same battle where Slaydo was killed. His death left a power vacuum, which was eventually filled by Urlock Gaur.

Archon Urlock Gaur
Overlord and supreme commander of the Chaos forces in the Sabbat Worlds, having risen to the top of the heap after Balhaut. Commands the notorious and extremely deadly Blood Pact, the most competent of the Chaos troops. He has yet to face the Ghosts directly, although his Blood Pact has; mostly, his cadres form the "main fronts" where Macaroth's elite fights. Commands from the the "fortress world" Morlond, until.


 * Bigger Bad: In overall command, and therefore above all the Chaos warlords and generals the Ghosts have yet encountered.
 * Elite Mooks: The Blood Pact.
 * Evil Counterpart: The Blood Pact is explicitly patterned on the Imperial Guard, making them much more effective than typical Chaos rabble.

Enok Innokenti
A Chaos general and one of Gaur's lieutenants, Innokenti was one of many Chaos commanders sent to flank the main Imperial advance. His forces attacked the Khan Group, home to many of the forge worlds responsible for Imperial resupply. His group laid siege to the world of Herodor in Sabbat Martyr due to rumors that Saint Sabbat had been reincarnated on that world. .


 * Authority Equals Asskicking: Par for course with Chaos..
 * Big Bad: Of Sabbat Martyr.
 * Decapitated Army: Both used and averted.

Anakwanar Sek
Chaos general and leader of the Sons of Sek, another faction of Archon Gaur's army. Becomes the senior Chaos leader on the secondary flank when. Currently at large after losing several planets to the Ghosts.


 * Big Bad: Of most of The Lost, especially Traitor General and The Armour of Contempt.
 * Elite Mooks: The Sons of Sek are modeled after the Blood Pact, and as equally ruthlessly efficient.
 * The Starscream: Intends to train up his elite Sons of Sek, then kill Archon Gaur and take over. His scheme may or may not account for the bit where they're both at war with the Imperium.

Nokad the Blighted
One of the Chaos warlords who survived Balhaut, Nokad the Blighted, aka Nokad the Smiling, is a Nurgle devotee and minor thorn in the side of the Crusade armies. He believes in leading from the front and is skilled at rallying his armies. .


 * Early Installment Weirdness: Possibly. The bulk of the Chaos troops and leaders throughout the series seem to be Khornate, while Nokad appears to follow Nurgle; it's rare that Chaos troops following different patrons get along.
 * Keystone Army:.

Sholen Skara
Another Balhaut survivor, Sholen Skara was a notorious Khornate death-worshiper, thought to have ritually slaughtered a billion Balhauteans in camps. His bloodlust was so all-consuming that he would even kill his own troops rather than have them captured or defeated by the Imperium. .

Pater Sin
A prominent Chaos warlord and powerful psyker, Pater Sin led a Chaos force to capture the shrineworld of Hagia, birthplace of the Saint. He escaped when Imperial forces, including the Ghosts, recaptured Hagia, although his status among the Chaos commanders was reduced dramatically due to his failure and the loss of most of his troops. .


 * Creepy Child:, he has twin psyker-children who he uses to amplify his powers.
 * Demoted to Extra: He appears to be kicked downstairs after serving as the Big Bad in Honour Guard; in  he's merely a hired gun for another warlord, albeit a very powerful one.

Heritor Asphodel
Notorious and deadly Chaos general known for his tactical genius and love of absurd war machines. He led the attack on Verghast in Necropolis, leading the forces of Ferrozoica Hive City.


 * Authority Equals Asskicking: In addition to his armies and machines, Asphodel is enormous; more to the point, he.
 * Awesome but Impractical: Most of his war machines are ludicrously designed; while deadly, they were much less efficient than they could have been.
 * Eldritch Abomination: Heavily implied to have either already become or be well on the way to becoming a daemon prince.
 * Humanoid Abomination: Take a good long look at his picture, just look.
 * Large and In Charge: Stands at 6 meters or damned near 20 feet.
 * The Evil Genius: Master of baroque and complex mechanical designs. According to the Sabbat Worlds guidebook, he required Titan Legions to destroy most of his mechanical army, as regular infantry and tank regiments were little more than fodder.
 * Keystone Army: The Zoican troops were controlled by the transmissions of his massive command vehicle, The Spike.

The Nine
Nine assassins raised by Enok Innokenti to kill Saint Sabbat in Sabbat Martyr. They include three alien loxatl, deadly mercenary triplets with armored skin; Pater Sin, a warlord himself, and two of his psykers; a Dark Eldar Mandrake; the best sniper in the second front Blood Pact; and a Chaos Space Marine Dreadnought.


 * Arc Number: There are nine assassins because Sabbat suffered Nine Holy Wounds when she was martyred.
 * Hero-Killer: The whole point of The Nine. Counting, they bag a number of Imperial officers, dozens of Ghosts and other infantry,  , and almost the Saint herself.

Desolane
A tall, horned, sexless daemonoid lifeward, charged with guarding.


 * Absurdly Sharp Blades: Wields dual ketra blades, and he's very good with them.
 * Ambiguous Gender: Appears to be sexless, and its voice isn't fully male or female.
 * Badass Cape: Wears one that flows with its movements and seems to be not quite attached to its body.
 * Horned Humanoid: And with cloven hooves rather than feet.
 * Noble Demon / Evil Virtues: Desolane is a warped creature of Chaos, but never shows anything less than devotion to his duty and his charge.
 * Our Demons Are Different: It seems to have daemonic traits, but it isn't outright stated whether or not it actually is a daemon.
 * No Mouth: Its head is covered with a bronze mask that seems welded on, with slits for its horns and eyes., wonders how it eats, or if it eats.
 * Pet the Dog: Desolane comes to genuinely care for the pheguth's well-being, but
 * What Beautiful Eyes!: Its eyes are blue, and very humanlike, as the pheguth notes.

Mabbon Etogaur
A former Blood Pact officer working for Anakwanar Sek; "Etogaur" is a Blood Pact rank equivalent to general.


 * Enemy Civil War: He leaves the Blood Pact and trains the Sons of Sek on Gereon, who will presumably be used by Sek to overthrow Urlock Gaur.
 * Please Don't Leave Me: Inverted at the end of Salvation's Reach, where he asks Gaunt, "Aren't you going to leave me?" believing he's outlived his usefulness and will be left behind when the Ghosts pull back. Gaunt replies, "I'll decide when your duty ends."
 * Old Soldier: Of Chaos, and formerly the Imperial Guard.
 * The Stoic

A deadly agent of Anarch Sek, who use a combination of augmetic surgery, psyker tricks and  to impersonate Imperial personnel to get close to assassination targets. First appear in Blood Pact and become a major threat in 'Salvation'''s Reach'.


 * Hero-Killer: In 'Salvation'''s Reach' he is responsible for the deaths of several named characters and comes horrificaly close to killing . Twice.
 * Inspector Javert: Initially appears to be