Smug Snake: Kasreyn is extremely clever, but he's also supremely confident of his own invincibility and didn't expect that the combination of Linden, Covenant, and Findail would be able to undo him. Non-Action Guy: Covenant has no military training and finds killing repellant, and his leprosy makes him even more fragile than a normal person. A physician from the "real" world, Linden is a driven and dedicated healer but is haunted by the ghosts of her past, particularly witnessing her father's suicide at age 8 and pulling her dying mother off life support in her teens. After moving to Covenant's home-town, Linden has a run-in with the mysterious old beggar who may or may not be the Creator, and subsequently joins Covenant in being transported to the Land. Like Covenant, Linden is forced to wrestle with outward manifestations of her own demons, but eventually manages to find her own strength and becomes a hero of the Land in her own right. Lord Foul's Bane is a 1977 fantasy novel by American writer Stephen R. Donaldson, the first book of the first trilogy of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series. It is followed by The Illearth War. Despair Event Horizon: Particularly in the Second Chronicles she wrestles with depression and nearly crosses this several times. She Who Must Not Be Named also tries to force her over it in the Third Chronicles.

I Know Your True Name: An Insequent's true name gives its speaker power over them, which is why they usually go by titles. Squishy Wizard: Despite his frailty, on those occasions he can make his ring work, he wields more magical power than almost anyone else in the Land. Metaphorically True: Technically he never lies, but he's perfectly willing to phrase the truth in such a way as to leave a false impression. As he notes to Roger in The Last Dark, he always tells the truth, but that doesn't mean people always hear the truth. Glowing Eyes of Doom: His glowing yellow eyes are his most obvious and defining feature regardless of the form he takes.Demoted to Dragon: The Ravers actually predate Foul's arrival in the Land; they were its reigning supreme evils for a while, until Foul showed up and the Ravers were drawn to him like moths to a flame. Of course, seeing as personality-wise there's little difference between Lord Foul and a Raver, they still get to do pretty much what they would have done anyway except with a more powerful patron, so they're generally content in their servitude.

Lord Foul's counterpart, the mysterious being who created the Land and its world. May or may not like to hang around on Earth disguised as an old beggar-man. Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Resurrecting Covenant in Fatal Revenant, which seemed like a good idea at the time but also woke up the Worm of World's end. Oops. Bond Creatures: The twist is the Ranyhyn choose the rider, not the reverse. The only one they don't choose is Covenant — they all offer themselves to him, and they hate him. Sapient Steed: Exactly how intelligent they are isn't explicitly stated, but they are implied to be at least as smart as people and have an intuitive sense of the world around them. They also seem to be psychic, knowing when they need to be summoned well in advance of the summons.The main character of the stories is Thomas Covenant, an embittered and cynical writer, afflicted with leprosy and shunned by society, and fated to become the heroic savior of the Land, an alternate world. In ten novels, published between 1977 and 2013, he struggles against Lord Foul, "the Despiser", who intends to escape the bondage of the physical universe and wreak revenge upon his arch-enemy, "the Creator". Demonic Possession: Partway through the Second Chronicles, Linden learns to do this. She spends much of her time wrestling with the moral implications of using this ability. Hope Crusher: In his very first appearance, he declares his intention to annihilate hope from the Land. He spends the rest of the series angling for exactly that. Allergic to Evil: Has the ability to sense health or disease in living things. She then finds herself in a world ravaged by a supernatural curse, in which every living thing is diseased. Almighty Janitor: The Mahdoubt works as a servant in Revelstone while secretly being a powerful magic-user.

Weak-Willed: They're explicitly noted to have strong bodies but weak minds, and long ago most of them were corrupted by Foul. Evil Sorcerer: An exceptionally skillful thaumaturge and completely without conscience when it comes to acquiring more power. Powerfully magical horses, the Ranyhyn are revered across the Land as Earthpower incarnate, and are often seen to bear Lords and Bloodguard into battle. Ascended Extra: He's only an infant in Lord Foul's Bane; when he makes an appearance again he's a grown man.Ravers are bodiless evil spirits with the ability to possess and control some lesser creatures, and most humans as well. Giants and Bloodguard are typically immune to this power, and there are no known instances of a Raver possessing a Ranyhyn. There are only three Ravers, ancient brothers who each have many names but are commonly called Turiya Herem, Samadhi Sheol, and Moksha Jehannum. Their greatest hatred is reserved for the trees of the One Forest of old, and their loathing of the Earthpower and all good things has led them to become Lord Foul's willing servants. The Despiser is somehow able to enhance their abilities when he pleases, but can prevent them from possessing individuals he deems too powerful (They were not allowed to possess Thomas Covenant, for instance, because his ring would make them too powerful for Lord Foul to control). This possession can be, and in some cases needs to be, facilitated by some external power. In the 'Illearth War' the Ravers were only able to possess their giant 'hosts' when they worked in harmony with the power of the Illearth Stone. They often serve as leaders in Lord Foul's armies, or as spies among his enemies. Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The names that others have for them (Jehannum, Herem, and Sheol) are all terms for condemnation or damnation, reflecting how the other inhabitants of the Land see them. In their Giant forms their names are Fleshharrower, Kinslaughterer and Satansfist. Evil Chancellor: Samadhi played this role to the last king of Doriendor Corishev (the guy Berek Halfhand rebelled against). Moksha later did it to Kastenessen, riding herd on the mad Elohim and keeping him focused on things that would aid Lord Foul's purposes.

Following their ordeal, Covenant attempts to help the Giants grieve by giving Longwrath's corpse a caamora with wild magic, but is interrupted by Linden's return. Mahrtiir, as the new Forestal Caerwood ur-Mahrtiir, sprouts nature and aliantha in front of the shrine's entrance. Covenant asks Linden to marry him; she accepts and they exchange rings and embrace. Was Once a Man: The price that the Forestal Caerroil Wildwood exacts for helping Troy destroy Fleshharrower is that Troy will become a Forestal himself. The Dividual: The three Ravers are more-or-less interchangeable, less three distinct character and more one evil creature that has three independent sections. Word of God notes that they were brothers together, became Ravers together, and entered Foul's service together, resulting in their being essentially no differentiation between them in terms of ability, personality, or rank. The Demondim are a now-extinct race spawned by the Viles. They had a semi-corporeal nature, and could only achieve physical presence by animating dead bodies. They were not originally wholly evil, but their inherent self-loathing was used by Lord Foul to gain their allegiance. They spawned two other races, the Waynhim and the ur-viles.Unwitting Pawn: Drool apparently trusted Foul to give him good advice in the use of his powers. That... is one of the worst mistakes possible to make in these books.