Croaker
From Glen Cook Wiki
Croaker (aka Widowmaker) is the Company's physician, Annalist and, for a time, Captain. He stands six feet four inches tall, and is about 48 years old at the time of the Company's arrival in the South. His hair is brown and getting scarce in front. His eyes are narrow, icy blue, humourless and deeply set. His face bears scars of a childhood pox, and a ragged, greying beard around his mouth. He has a thin-lipped mouth that rarely smiles. He has gone by the name "Croaker" for so long that he has nearly forgotten his real name, which is never given in the series.
Croaker is the primary narrator and the central character for most of the series. He is a self-confessed romantic, but plenty pragmatic when he needs to be.
History: North
Croaker was born in an unnamed "great crossroads of trade" no more than two hundred miles or so south of the Sea of Torments. The reasons why he joined the Company are never explained, though he is clear that he would never be welcomed back by his family "even as an Imperial legate". He joined the Company young and took over as physician from One-Eye, who helped train him and gave him the name "Croaker".
Croaker is steeped in the Company's history and serves as its conscience, historical reference library, etc. He attracts the attention first of Soulcatcher and then of the Lady. He is initially infatuated with Lady from afar, an infatuation which gives way first to fear and then respect over the first three books. He respects the spark of light within her, which drives her to put the good of the world ahead of her own ambitions. In turn, Lady finds in Croaker a trustworthy and moral confidant who becomes her first real friend.
After the near destruction of the Company at the Barrowland, he assumes the Captaincy and heads south to return the Annals to Khatovar.
History: South
Croaker leads the Company south to Taglios, rebuilding the ranks along the way. In Taglios he finds the way blocked by the Shadowlands, an empire run by evil sorcerers. He takes up a commission in Taglios and spends years fighting for them. During this time he and Lady conceive a child, who later becomes the Daughter of Night.
He is kidnapped briefly by Soulcatcher, who forces him to reattach her severed head. It is months before he is reunited with Lady. He resumes the struggle and eventually leads the Company to victory over the Shadowlanders. After this he takes the Company to the Glittering Plain in search of Khatovar, but are trapped in the Fortress of the Glittering Plain for 15 years by Soulcatcher.
When he is released the Captaincy has passed to Sleepy, and the Company spends years in the Land of Unknown Shadows. They finally return to seek vengeance on Soulcatcher and Mogaba, succeeding in defeating them. Croaker then orchestrates the destruction of Kina, With this obligation fulfilled, he agrees to trade places with the golem Shivetya, becoming an immortal and near-omniscient being who can savor the histories of all the worlds.
