| |
|---|---|
| Verroq | |
| Biographical Information | |
| Also known as |
The Mercenary |
| Occupation |
Mercenary |
| Resilience |
Resistance to Magic |
| Physical Description | |
| Gender |
Male |
| Hair color |
Black |
| Behind the scenes | |
| Appearances | |
Verroq, better known as the Mercenary, was a huge, muscular man who appears in all three books of the trilogy. He was instrumental in all of the rebellions attempted in the trilogy. It is unknown exactly where he comes from, but he appears to be from the same Middle-Eastern sect as the assassins who are killed by Bartimaeus in the Ancient Egypt.
Appearance and Biography
Verroq wears black clothes, a wide-brimmed hat and has a bushy beard. His voice is very deep. He has the criss-cross scars on the back of his hand, similar to the assassins that attempted to kill Ptolemy in 125 B.C.
Not much is known about him only that he was a skilled mercenary, physically strong, and had potent resilience, the strongest displayed in the series although it was not enough to save him from the pestilence that killed him.
His employer at book 1 seemed to have been Simon Lovelace. He appeared again in book 2 which raised the question on who was giving him missions. Book 3 revealed that Quentin Makepeace, also the leader of Simon Lovelace, was the employer of the mercenary.
Abilities
- "The secret is to avoid magic, Bartimaeus. The fellow’s resilience is excessive; it almost seems to feed off our energies."
- —Faquarl to Bartimaeus during the spirits' coup.
Possessing an enormous amount of resilience (resistance to magic and the the ability to see on all seven planes), Verroq is very difficult to defeat by magical means. His physical endurance is also very high, as he survives being hit by a statue and getting thrown down a mountainside. He possesses great skill with silver weapons as well, coming very close to killing Bartimaeus several times.
In The Books
The Amulet of Samarkand
The Mercenary is seen by Nathaniel while giving a mysterious package to Lovelace. Nathaniel's imp notes the fresh blood on his cloak, later it is revealed that The Mercenary killed the previous keeper of the Amulet of Samarkand, and delivered it to Lovelace.
The Mercenary is also shown as the guard of HeddleHam hall. It is here that The Mercenary is revealed to be very strong and has an even stronger resilience when Bartimaeus fights him and crushes him underneath a concrete statue. After Lovelace is stopped, The Mercenary is seen running away
The Golem's Eye
In this book The Mercenary is hired to deliver Golem activation manuscripts from Kavka to Duvall. While Kavka is talking to Nataniel and Bartimaeus, The Mercenary appears to collect the second manuscript. In the following chaos Nataniel and Bartimaeus closely escape with their lives
Ptolemy's Gate
The Mercenary dies in Ptolemy's Gate after being ravaged by a Pestilence, his resilience having been reduced after a previous magical attack. Faquarl notes that it seems to 'feed' off the essence of spirits. The Mercenary is motivated solely by wealth and his survival; he joins the spirits in the Ptolemy's Gate as he knows he cannot defeat them and they had promised him wealth.
Character Arc
He was a mercenary who showed no empathy towards anyone, and only driven by greed and self-preservation. He executed his missions without remorse; he had stolen, extorted, and killed. He switched to aid the spirits during the Spirit Revolt who found use of him and offered payment; and, so he can save himself.