Character from The Black Company by Glen Cook
The Taken who becomes things — animals, people, nightmares. You never know who Shapeshifter is until it's too late.
Shapeshifter's power is in the name — he transforms physically into other beings, whether human, animal, or something worse. This makes him the Taken's ultimate infiltrator and the person everyone is slightly paranoid about. Is that guard actually a guard? Is that dog actually a dog? Around Shapeshifter, the answer might be no. He's dispatched to the south during the later books, where his shape-changing abilities make him a particularly effective terror weapon. He's one of the Taken who operates best alone — his skill set is suited for espionage and assassination rather than battlefield command.
Varies, by definition. In default form: large, dark, and menacing. But Shapeshifter's default form is as unreliable as anything else about him — he can be anyone, any creature, any shape. The transformation is complete enough to fool other Taken.
Also known as: Shapeshifter