by Robin Furth
See KING, STEPHEN
HAVERTY, JOHN
See HAMBRY CHARACTERS: HAMBRY MAYOR’S HOUSE (SEAFRONT): THORIN, OLIVE
HAWK GUARDIAN
See GUARDIANS OF THE BEAM
HAWK-HEADED MAN
See TAHEEN: BIRDMEN TAHEEN: JEY
**HAX
Hax was the GILEAD’s castle head cook and the absolute ruler of the West Kitchen. He was a large, dark-skinned man with a gold hoop in his right ear. Although he loved children, he was a faithful follower of JOHN FARSON (THE GOOD MAN). To serve the cause of revolution, Hax was prepared to poison the men, women, and children of the town of FARSON. (In the 2003 version of The Gunslinger, Hax plots to poison the town of TAUNTON, not Farson.) Hax’s plan was discovered by eleven-year-old Roland and his best friend CUTHBERT ALLGOOD. Hax was hanged for his crime and both Roland and Cuthbert were allowed to watch. Roland took a splinter from the gallows tree.
I:100–106, I:107–11 (hanged), I:137, I:158, I:159, II:105, III:37–38, III:39, III:40, III:41, IV:161, IV:302–3, IV:417, IV:656, V:590 (indirect), VII:526, VII:585 (cook), VII:748, VII:801
HAX’S KITCHEN ASSOCIATES:
MAGGIE: Maggie worked in the kitchens of GILEAD’s castle. She was Hax’s assistant cook. I:101
HAYCOX, LOUIS
See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: FARMERS (SMALLHOLD)
HAYLIS OF CHAYVEN
See MUTANTS: CHILDREN OF RODERICK
HEATH, ARTHUR
See ALLGOOD, CUTHBERT
HEATH, GEORGE
See ALLGOOD, CUTHBERT
HENRY THE TALL
See DESCHAIN, HENRY
HEDDA JAFFORDS
See JAFFORDS FAMILY
HEDDON JAFFORDS
See JAFFORDS FAMILY
HEDRON
See MANNI
HENCHICK
See MANNI
HENRY THE TALL
See DESCHAIN, HENRY
HITLER BROTHERS
See CALLAHAN, FATHER DONALD FRANK: CALLAHAN AND THE HITLER BROTHERS
HO FAT II
Ho Fat II is the rickshaw which the robot STUTTERING BILL gives to SUSANNAH, Roland, PATRICK, and OY so that they can travel from THE FEDERAL (located on the edges of the WHITE LANDS OF EMPATHICA) to the DARK TOWER. Susannah christens it Ho Fat II after their previous vehicle.
VII:720–24, VII:725–50, VII:756–65, VII:767–82
HO FAT III
Ho Fat III is the small electric scooter which STUTTERING BILL makes for SUSANNAH DEAN so that she can ride the final miles toward the DARK TOWER. In many ways, it is the perfect replacement for Susannah’s Cruisin Trike, which she left in the DEVAR-TOI. Susannah ends up taking Ho Fat III through PATRICK DANVILLE’s version of the UNFOUND DOOR and over to an alternative version of NEW YORK CITY where everybody else is driving Takuro Spirits.
VII:720–50 (742–43 Ho Fat III is named directly), VII:807–13
HO FAT’S LUXURY TAXI
Roland and SUSANNAH DEAN use this rickshaw while traveling through the BADLANDS beyond CASTLE DISCORDIA.
VII:579, VII:580–644 (replaced by a travois in the snowlands), VII:697
HODIAK
See TREE VILLAGE, CHARACTERS
HODJI, WALTER
See WALTER
HOLDEN (“FAT JOHNNY” HOLDEN)
Stocky, black-haired “Fat Johnny” is the brother-in-law of JUSTIN CLEMENTS. He works at CLEMENTS GUNS AND SPORTING GOODS.
II:343–59, II:371–73, II:377
MOTHER: II:356
HOLLIDAY, DOC
See GUNSLINGERS (OUR WORLD)
HOLLINGS, ERNEST “FRITZ”
See CALLAHAN, FATHER DONALD FRANK: CALLAHAN’S HIDDEN HIGHWAYS ASSOCIATES
HOLLIS, DAVE
See HAMBRY CHARACTERS: SHERIFF’S OFFICE
HOLLIS, JUDY
See HAMBRY CHARACTERS: SHERIFF’S OFFICE
HOLMES, ALICE (SARAH WALKER HOLMES)
Alice Holmes (called Sarah Walker Holmes in The Waste Lands and ALLIE in The Drawing of the Three) was SUSANNAH DEAN’s (ODETTA HOLMES’s) mother. She was born in ODETTA, ARKANSAS, and christened her only child with the name of her hometown. One of Susannah’s youthful memories is of borrowing her mother’s White Shoulders perfume. Alice Holmes died before the accident which claimed her daughter’s legs.
II:199–201 (Alice), II:235–38, II:295, II:320–24 (and Mort), III:15 (Sarah Walker Holmes), V:101, V:121 (mama), VI:80, VI:101, VI:237 (white lie; this actually refers to Susannah/Odetta), VI:358 (indirect), VI:361–63, VII:643 (mother), VII:696 (mother)
HOLMES, DAN
Dan Holmes was ODETTA HOLMES’s father and the founder of the extremely successful HOLMES DENTAL INDUSTRIES. He is described as a thin black man with gray hair and steel-rimmed spectacles. Born into a poor Southern family, Dan Holmes rose to success despite the prejudices of a hostile and racist society. Owing to unpleasant memories, he refused to discuss his early life with his daughter. However, these experiences probably fed his profound cynicism.
Dan Holmes was both a trained dentist and a talented inventor. He patented orthodontic and cosmetic procedures which made him extremely rich. However, despite his intelligence, resourcefulness, and resilience, his life was not without its tragedies. After the death of his wife and then the accident which claimed his daughter’s legs, Dan Holmes suffered the first of a series of heart attacks for which his daughter, Odetta Holmes/SUSANNAH DEAN, felt personally responsible.
Until his health began to fail, Dan Holmes handled his business almost single-handedly. Then he turned financial responsibility over to his longtime friend MOSES CARVER. Carver continued to manage Holmes Dental after his friend’s death in 1962.
In The Dark Tower, Moses Carver tells Roland that the Western writer BEN SLIGHTMAN JR., author of CALVIN TOWER’s valuable misprinted book, The Dogan, wrote science fiction under the name Dan Holmes.
II:199–201, II:235–38, II:320–24 (and Mort), II:389, III:258, III:310–11, III:394–96, V:100–101, V:103, V:122, V:181 (father), V:597 (father of Odetta), VI:268, VI:350, VI:361, VII:57, VII:497, VII:508, VII:534, VII:637, VII:657, VII:672, VII:732
MURDOCK, REVEREND: Minister of Grace Methodist Church. He once gave a sermon entitled “God Speaks to Each of Us Every Day.” The subject made Dan Holmes laugh. Susannah’s father believed that people put words into God’s mouth and hear what they want to hear. III:311
HOLMES, ODETTA
See DEAN, SUSANNAH: SUSANNAH’S OTHER SELVES
HOLMES DENTAL INDUSTRIES
Holmes Dental Industries was founded by DAN HOLMES, father of SUSANNAH DEAN. Begun with the money Dan Holmes earned from his innovative dental-capping processes, Holmes Dental soon grew into a multimillion-dollar business. Until his first heart attack in 1959, Dan Holmes managed the financial aspects of his enterprise almost single-handedly. However, after this unfortunate event, he handed over financial responsibility to his close friend MOSES CARVER. Pop Mose continued to manage the business for ODETTA HOLMES (Susannah Dean’s previous personality) after her father’s death.
The success of Holmes Dental was a spectacular feat and speaks volumes for the cleverness and tenacity of its founder. Born into a poor Southern family, Dan Holmes became a dentist and built up both his practice and his business despite the oppression of a racist society.
Under the leadership of Moses Carver, JOHN CULLUM, and AARON DEEPNEAU, Holmes Dental merged with the TET CORPORATION—the brainchild of EDDIE DEAN—which was formed to protect the ROSE.
V:539, VI:188, VI:268 (merger with Tet Corporation), VII:37, VII:40, VII:125
HOLSTEN, RAND
See KING, STEPHEN
HOOKEY, BRIAN
See HAMBRY CHARACTERS: OTHER CHARACTERS
HOONIK, ZALIA
See ORIZA, SISTERS OF: JAFFORDS, ZALIA
HOONIK, ZALMAN
See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: ROONTS
HOOTS
See GRAYS: GRAY HIGH COMMAND
**HORN OF DESCHAIN
See ELD, ARTHUR: H
ORN OF ELD
**HORN OF ELD
See ELD, ARTHUR: HORN OF ELD
HORSE GUARDIAN
See GUARDIANS OF THE BEAM
HORSEMEN’S ASSOCIATION
See HAMBRY CHARACTERS: HORSEMEN’S ASSOCIATION
HOSSA
See WARRIORS OF THE SCARLET EYE: DIXIE PIG CHARACTERS: HUMANS: JOCHABIM, SON OF HOSSA
HOSTLER (DEBARIA)
See DEBARIA CHARACTERS
HOT STOKES
See TREE VILLAGE CHARACTERS: STOKES, DUSTIN
HOTCHKISS, MR.
See PIPER SCHOOL CHARACTERS
HOUNDS OF THE FALLS
During their terrifying ride on BLAINE the Insane Mono, our ka-tet sees these magnificent stone statues jutting over a waterfall between RILEA and DASHERVILLE. Although their bodies resemble those of enormous snarling dogs, their purpose is to gather the force of the BEAM and transform it into electricity. Blaine uses this energy to recharge his batteries. See also BLAINE’S ROUTE in MID-WORLD PLACES.
IV:32–35, IV:41–42
HOWARD
See DEAN, SUSANNAH: ODETTA HOLMES’S ASSOCIATES
HUCKMAN, WARD
See CALLAHAN, FATHER DONALD FRANK: CALLAHAN’S LIGHTHOUSE SHELTER ASSOCIATES
HUCKSTER ROBOT
See NORTH CENTRAL POSITRONICS: FEDIC ROBOTS
HUMMA O’ TEGO
See TAHEEN: OTHER TAHEEN
HYPERBOREAN WANDERER
See CHAMBERS, JAKE
I
IL ROCHE
See BALAZAR, ENRICO
IMMORTAL TIGER
See ROSE
IMPERIUM
See NORTH CENTRAL POSITRONICS
INSIDE VIEW
Inside View is the kind of pseudo-news rag that prints stories about alligator-boys and Elvis sightings.
V:140
INTERLOPER
See TULL CHARACTERS: PITTSTON, SYLVIA and DEMONS/SPIRITS/ DEVILS
IRONWOOD
Throughout the Dark Tower series, objects both sacred and profane are made of ironwood. The staff which CORT carried into GILEAD’s SQUARE YARD, and which apprentice gunslingers were required to take from him in order to win their guns, was made of this strong and resilient wood. The boxes for both MAERLYN’S GRAPEFRUIT and BLACK THIRTEEN were made of ironwood, though the latter was created out of the rarer form known as black ironwood, or ghost wood. The three magic BEACH DOORS which Roland found in Drawing of the Three were made of ironwood, as were many of the DOORWAYS BETWEEN WORLDS located beneath the FEDIC DOGAN. The magical door within DOORWAY CAVE and the coff which held the MANNI’s BRANNI BOB were also made of this enduring and sacred material. In The Drawing of the Three we were told that the grips of Roland’s guns were made of ironwood rather than sandalwood (elsewhere they remain sandalwood), and in The Wolves of the Calla we discovered that the feast table in SUSANNAHMIO’s dream version of CASTLE DISCORDIA was also made of this sacred substance.
In The Wind Through the Keyhole, we find out much more about these strange trees that, once upon a bye, grew deep in the NORTH’RD BARONY’s ENDLESS FOREST, north of NEW CANAAN. According to the COVENANT MAN, the ironwoods of the Endless Forest could think, and that was why woodsmen always cried the trees’ pardon before beginning work. The old folken of TREE VILLAGE believed that when the winds came out of the north, the sweet-sour smell of the ironwood forest brought visions. For NELL ROSS, who had lost her beloved husband, JACK ROSS, to the ironwood forest, this scent was both bitter and sweet, like blood and strawberries.
The woodsmen of Tree both loved and feared the ironwood forest, which was wise. The forest fed and clothed the men’s families, but like a living being it also needed to eat, and its food was often the woodsmen themselves. Despite the risks, cutting ironwood was a lucrative job. Both seaworthy and rot resistant (ironwood coffins would last a thousand years), this unusual wood fetched such a high price that it was paid for in silver rather than scrip. Still, many woodsmen contented themselves with harvesting the blossies that grew at the forest edge rather than attempting to cut the more valuable commodity. Only very brave and strong men—like Big Ross and his partner, BIG KELLS—dared to go deeper to where the good ironwood grew. And not even Ross or his treacherous partner dared to travel to the edge of the FAGONARD where ironwoods grew bigger than houses.
According to TIM ROSS, the ironwoods at the heart of the Endless Forest were as tall, straight, and solemn as Manni elders at a funeral. Although they were completely smooth for the first forty feet, above that their branches leaped skyward like upraised arms, tangling the narrow IRONWOOD TRAIL with a cobweb of shadows. Anyone foolish enough to wander off the trail or go beyond it quickly became lost in a maze.
Perhaps it was the dangerousness of the ironwood forest that inspired the people of Tree to link it to the afterlife. In DUSTIN STOKES burial parlor, there was a little room with forest scenes painted on the walls. In the center was an ironwood bier, an open space that represented the clearing at the end of life’s path. See also NORTH’RD BARONY: IRONWOOD FOREST in MID-WORLD PLACES
I:56 (2003 edition), I:178 (2003 edition), I:179(2003 edition), I:180 (2003 edition), I:182 (2003 edition), I:209 (2003 edition), I:210 (2003 edition), I:217 (2003 edition), II:18, IV:117, IV:171, IV:178, IV:218, IV:519, V:73, V:81, V:131, V:294, V:313, V:352, V:409, V:411, V:612, VI:28, VII:194, VII:560, VII:679, VII:724, VII:779, W:47, W:109, W:110, W:111, W:114, W:115 (forest), W:117, W:118 (forest), W:119, W:122, W:125, W:127, W:129, W:133, W:136, W:139, W:145, W:146–64 (Tim in the forest), W:168, W:172, W:175, 177 (and clearing), W:181, W:182, W;183, W:189–255 (Tim in forest, in Fagonard, at Dogan), W:257, W:285
ISRAEL
See MAINE CHARACTERS
ITTAWAY, DAVE
See BREAKERS
J
JAFFORDS FAMILY (KA-JAFFORDS)
The Jaffords clan of CALLA BRYN STURGIS owns a smallhold farm near the banks of the RIVER WHYE. Unlike the other Calla folken, they have consistently resisted the WOLVES of THUNDERCLAP. Seventy years before our story began, JAMIE JAFFORDS and a moit of friends fought the Wolves on the EAST ROAD. Jamie was the only one of the WOLF POSSE to survive, but thanks to him, Roland and his tet find out that the Wolves are actually robots produced by the sinister company NORTH CENTRAL POSITRONICS. TIAN JAFFORDS, Jamie’s grandson, is the first in his village to suggest that the town should stand against the Wolves, paving the way for Roland’s battle against the child-stealing villains of Thunderclap. ZALIA, Tian’s wife, is one of the SISTERS OF ORIZA. She and the other Sisters of the Plate fight alongside Roland and his tet during the East Road battle.
V:1, V:3, V:8, V:321, V:340, V:343, V:353, V:380, V:394, V:396, V:401, V:488, V:492, VI:178 (Jaffords’s Rentals in Maine), VI:184 (Jaffords’s Rentals in Maine)
HOONIK, ZALMAN: ZALIA JAFFORDS’s ROONT brother, who lives with the Jaffords family. See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: ROONTS
JAFFORDS, AARON: Aaron Jaffords is the two-year-old son of TIAN and ZALIA JAFFORDS. He is their youngest child, and a singleton. Unlike twins, singletons are safe from the WOLVES. V:9, V:10 (children), V:14 (indirect), V:15, V:25, V:143, V:146, V:162 (indirect), V:344–46, V:351–56, V:379 (indirect), V:380, V:397 (indirect), V:488–92 (present), V:494 (baby)
JAFFORDS, GRAN-PERE (JAMIE): Gran-pere Jaffords is the father of the deceased LUKE JAFFORDS and the grandfather of TIAN JAFFORDS. He is also the oldest person in the Calla. Although he is now toothless and spends most of his time dozing by the fire, in his youth he was full of thorn and bark. Seventy years before our story began, when Jamie was just NINETEEN years old, he and his friends MOLLY DOOLIN, EAMON DOOLIN, and POKEY SLIDELL formed a POSSE to defeat the WOLVES of THUNDERCLAP. Molly Doolin managed to kill one of the invaders with her ORIZA, but Jamie was the only human to survive the standoff.
Although Gran-pere lives with Tian and his family, he and his grandson have not spoken civilly for years. Their long feud began when Luke Jaffords allowed seventeen-year-old Tian to site the family well with a drotta, or do
wsing stick, against Jamie’s wishes. Tian found water, but when his father tried to dig the well, the ground collapsed under him and he was buried alive in the clay-filled water.
Like many of the people of the Calla, Gran-pere Jaffords wears a Jesus-tree. However, he doesn’t seem particularly pious. During dinner grace he picks his nose. Despite his advanced years, Jamie Jaffords still has an eye for pretty ladies. He especially likes his granddaughter-in-law, ZALIA. V:1, V:10, V:11, V:12, V:13, V:14, V:25, V:27, V:162, V:236–37, V:322, V:346–48, V:352–69, V:377, V:396, V:401, V:405, V:419–20, V:485–86, V:484–92 (present), V:494, V:509, V:530, V:601–17 (present; mentioned directly on 601, 603, 608, 610, 611), V:621, V:664, V:679, VII:385
GRAN-PERE’S GRAN-PERE: V:12
GRAN-PERE’S TWIN: See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: ROONTS
JAFFORDS, HEDDA: Hedda Jaffords is HEDDON JAFFORDS’s twin. She and Heddon are the oldest of TIAN and ZALIA’s five children. They are ten-year-old dark blonds. Hedda is the cleverer of the twins, but her brother is better-tempered. Tian describes her as good but plain-faced. V:9, V:10, V:12, V:13, V:14 (children), V:15 (children), V:23, V:144–45, V:146, V:162 (indirect), V:344–46, V:351–56, V:357, V:379 (indirect), V:380 (indirect), V:397 (indirect), V:488–92 (present), V:494, V:601–17 (present; mentioned directly on 603, 605), V:662–67 (with children)
JAFFORDS, HEDDON: Heddon Jaffords is HEDDA JAFFORDS’s twin. He is not as clever as his sister but is more agreeable. He and Hedda are ten-year-old dark blonds. V:9, V:10, V:12, V:13, V:14 (children), V:15 (children), V:23, V:144–45, V:146, V:162 (indirect), V:344–46, V:351–56, V:357, V:379 (indirect), V:380 (indirect), V:397 (indirect), V:488–92 (present), V:494, V:601–17 (present; mentioned directly on 603), V:662–67 (with children), V:696
JAFFORDS, JAMIE: See JAFFORDS, GRAN-PERE, listed above
JAFFORDS, LIA: Lia is LYMAN JAFFORDS’s twin. She is five years old. V:9, V:10, V:12, V:14 (indirect), V:15 (indirect), V:23, V:146, V:162 (indirect), V:344–46, V:351–56, V:357, V:379, V:380 (indirect), V:397 (indirect), V:488–92 (present), V:494, V:662–67 (with children), V:693
JAFFORDS, LUKE: Luke Jaffords was the son of JAMIE JAFFORDS and the father of TIAN and TIA JAFFORDS. After Tia was taken to THUNDERCLAP and returned roont, Luke Jaffords doted on Tian. He even let his seventeen-year-old son site the family’s new well, using a drotta, or dowsing stick, despite negative predictions by Jamie. Tian found the water they’d been searching for, but when his father dug the well, its clay sides collapsed and buried Luke alive. The grief and anger that resulted from this tragic and avoidable death set Tian and Jamie against each other forever after. V:8 (Tian’s father), V:15, V:24, V:123, V:347, V:368, V:485
