Cormoran Strike - a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and an ex-SIB investigator who was honourably discharged from the military after losing half of his right leg in a bomb attack and wanted to leave fearing he might go insane.
Noel Brockbank - a former major from Barrow-in-Furness, who had served in both the first Gulf War and Bosnia, before becoming another longtime enemy of Strike's.