Character from The First Law by Joe Abercrombie
The wise mentor who is secretly the villain of the entire world — an immortal wizard who has been manipulating kings, wars, and economies for centuries, and who considers human beings a renewable resource.
Bayaz speaks in the patient, reasonable tone of a teacher explaining something obvious to a slow student. He tells stories, offers wisdom, makes you feel like you're being guided by someone who genuinely cares. This is the most dangerous thing about him, because he genuinely doesn't. He is centuries old and has spent those centuries building and destroying civilizations to serve his feud with Khalul, the other surviving Magi. The Union exists because Bayaz created it. Its kings rule because Bayaz allows it. Its wars happen because Bayaz needs them to. He is not the power behind the throne — he is the throne, and everything else is furniture. He broke the Second Law (eating the flesh of men) and the First Law (touching the Other Side), and he'll break whatever else he needs to. He used the Seed to devastate Adua and kill thousands of civilians to win his war with Khalul. He installed Jezal as king, bankrupted the Union through his banking proxy, and crushed anyone who threatened his control. The most terrifying thing about Bayaz is that he's right — he's kept the Union stable for centuries. The most terrifying thing after that is what 'stable' means to him.
Bald, broad, and built more like a butcher than a wizard. His face is blunt and unrefined, his smile avuncular and warm — the kindly uncle look that makes everyone underestimate him. Dresses in traveler's clothes rather than wizard robes. His eyes are the tell: old, cold, and calculating in a way that his folksy manner can't quite disguise.
Also known as: Bayaz, First of the Magi, The First of the Magi