Character from The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Father's adopted son and student of war — he has mastered every form of violence that has ever existed and has been to hell so many times that he barely remembers what peace feels like.
David is what happens when you take a child and immerse him in the study of violence for thousands of years. His catalog is war — every martial art, every weapon, every strategy, every form of killing that any civilization has ever devised. He has also died and gone to hell repeatedly as part of his training, and each return has stripped away something human. He functions now as a nearly feral predator wearing a human shape. He communicates in grunts and short sentences. He grills burgers in the backyard with the same calm focus he brings to dismembering enemies. He is not stupid — his tactical intelligence is extraordinary — but he has lost most of his interest in anything that isn't combat, food, or the simple companionship of his siblings. He is loyal to the family in an animal way. When he fights, it's not dramatic or showy — it's efficient and absolute, like watching a natural disaster with intent. The other librarians are afraid of him. They should be.
Massively built, covered in a roadmap of scars, burns, and old wounds that would have killed a normal person dozens of times over. Usually shirtless. Moves with an unsettling economy — no wasted motion, ever. His eyes track movement the way a predator's do. Often has blood under his fingernails that may or may not be his.
Also known as: David, the war librarian