Shapeshifter
From Glen Cook Wiki
This article is about the wizard in the Black Company series. For information about the shapeshifting humanoids in the Garrett series, see Shapechangers.
Shapeshifter is one of the Ten Who Were Taken. He appears as an enormous shambling man in crumbling scarlet robes with an incredibly long, matted beard; his skin, where it is visible, is pallid and liver-spotted. His voice is deep and powerful even for his size. He smells particularly bad. He carries a unusual staff resembling a completely perfect, incredibly elongated nude woman. According to some legends, he created the staff from a woman who betrayed him. It is primarily striking because it is so beautiful that it seems out of place with the filthy wizard.
Shapeshifter has the usual arsenal of destructive powers common among the Taken, but his specialty is the ability to assume the form (and abilities) of other creatures and, presumably, people. He can change the appearance of people surrounding him, such as when he attempted to ambush The Limper. In the first three books, he is seen to take the shape of a forvalaka and a horse. He is also able to heal major wounds. By his own admission, weather magic is not his strength.
Details on the actual Domination are sketchy, but some have speculated that his real name was Barthelme of Jaunt.
History
Shapeshifter was reportedly the first of the Taken suborned by the Dominator. At least some of the Taken are supposed to have been kings, and Shifter's once-rich attire suggests that he was one of these. Since he joined the Dominator at the outset of the Domination, got to wreak mayhem as a Taken for a full century before being interred in the Barrowland by the White Rose along with the rest of the Dominator's champions. He was released centuries later when the wizard Bomanz accidentally set the Lady free. While some of the Taken secretly worked against the Lady and tried to resurrect the Dominator, Shapeshifter appears to have remained loyal to her.
Initially Shapeshifter is described as Soulcatcher's closest ally among the Taken. He poses as the forvalaka in Beryl to assassinate the Syndic in a venture which may or may not have been sanctioned by the Lady. However, this alliance fractures when Soulcatcher and Stormbringer refuse to help save the Hanged Man from a major head wound. During the Battle of Charm, Shifter is reported killed by Stormbringer.
Much later, the Company learns that Shifter actually survived the battle; Lady had secretly "salvaged" him and sent him south with Lisa Dae Bowalk, just in case she ever needed to flee the Empire. Shifter rejoins Lady, in secret at first, as she travels south with the Company after losing her powers. His loyalty appears remarkable given the Lady's loss of power, but it later becomes clear that he mainly wanted her help in locating and defeating another renegade Taken, Stormbringer. He succeeds in finding her, but they fight to a standstill despite his powerful combat abilities - he accuses Soulcatcher of clandestinely helping his would-be victim. The Company takes advantage of their weakened state to knock them both out, and kills them carefully to make sure they stay dead. (One-Eye sews all their orifices shut and fingers together, and then they are burned and the ashes scattered.)
Miscellaneous
The wizard Bomanz, posing as an archeologist in the Barrowland before the Lady and Taken were released, finds Shapeshifter's armor in a dig. It is described as ebony with a bright silver emblem of a half-man/half-beast on the breastplate. Shapeshifter led the TelleKurre knights at the final battle against the original White Rose.
