Goblin

From Glen Cook Wiki

Goblin is the fourth of the Company's initial wizards, besides One-Eye, Tom-Tom and Silent. He is a short, balding man with a homely face and a very wide grin; he is fairly old in the first book, and reaches well over a hundred by the last. Not much is known about his background.

Like One-Eye, Goblin is a fairly minor wizard whose principal talent is creating illusions. However, he is a very effective part of the team because he uses his skills discreetly and generally as one component of a broader military operation. He spends much of his time scheming against One-Eye. Goblin almost always gets the upper hand in their sorcerous spats, partly because he keeps his cool better.

History

Goblin is one of the few original Company characters to persist through most of the series. When Croaker and the Lady are captured and imprisoned in the fortress of the Glittering Plain for 15 years, he becomes the principal field spellcaster as One-Eye becomes too frail to continue work in the field. Even into his last years, he undertakes dangerous guerrilla missions.

He is present with Croaker when they find the imprisoned demon/goddess Kina, and sacrifices himself to allow the others to escape by striking her with the Company standard, actually a powerful artifact called the Lance of Passion. He is believed dead, but four years later the Company "rescues" him from the prison. Actually, the rescued Goblin is an animated corpse, with his imprisoned soul suborned by a sliver of Kina's soul; it calls itself Khadidas, meaning "slave of Khadi". The Company eventually captures him with the aid of One-Eye's hat, which the old wizard had enchanted for just such an emergency. The hat and One-Eye's Black Spear allow the real Goblin's spirit to take control back from Khadidas, and he once again sacrifices himself, this time by slaying Kina.