User:Drew First/Sandbox

Main articles: Roland of Gilead, and, and , and , and

Roland Deschain is the central character of the series. He is the last gunslinger, a kind of knight charged with maintaining order and civilization (the White) and fighting the forces of chaos and evil (the Red). Following the fall of Gilead, the last civilized Barony, this purpose no longer has meaning, and Roland begins his predestined quest for the Dark Tower. (See also the related concepts of destiny and predestination.) The nature and purpose of this quest is a mystery, even to Roland:  It is (initially) unclear whether the ultimate boon of Roland's quest will be the restoration of civilization or if it will be his own spiritual enlightenment. What is clear, however, is that the quest has become Roland's sole obsession, in the pursuit of which Roland has committed any number of atrocities, betrayals, and personal degradations. As he remarks in The Drawing of the Three, "I'm damned for my duty, and why should the damned turn aside?" Consequently, much of the series is the story of Roland's redemption, evidenced in part by the subtitles attached to the books and in changes to some of his characteristic traits over the course of his quest.

Roland, like the Man With No Name, is a man of few words, preferring mostly to allow his actions to speak for him. His speech is direct and minimal. He keeps his own council, sharing his mind and his secrets only relunctantly. He has little sense of humor, and smiles infrequently. Although he is not a man given to much introspection (acting instead on intuition and deeply-ingrained training), he is deeply romantic, and is consumed by the romance of his own quest. He is enigmatically described as "a man who might straighten bad pictures in strange hotel rooms." He is stubborn: not particularly imaginative, but possessed of great will (making him ideally suited for his quest). He is resouceful and utterly ruthless. Roland says of himself in The Waste Lands, "I could always haul a gun faster than any of my mates, and shoot straighter, buy I've never been much good at thinking around corners." His speed and skill with his guns are unparralleled, and border on the superhuman.

Roland is maimed at the beginning of The Drawing of the Three, losing the index and middle fingers of his right hand and a toe.

Roland has been invested with the power of "Drawing," that is, to draw three gunslingers to him to aid him in his quest. Each of these three (Eddie, Susannah, and Jake) exhibit traits similar to Roland's original ka-tet, and it is through the relationships he foms with this new ka-tet that he is redeemed; his redemption is what allows him to ultimately attain the Tower.