Forbartz Xylo
The condemned protagonist of Sentenced to Be a Hero. A former death row inmate turned Penal Hero against his will.
A dead man walking. That's what Forbartz is—was, technically, before the kingdom decided his corpse would be more useful fighting monsters than rotting in a cell.
He didn't ask for redemption. He didn't want a second chance. The system assigned him one anyway, chaining magical shackles to his wrists that ensure compliance. Refuse a mission? The shackles tighten. Try to escape? They kill you faster than any monster could.
Forbartz isn't the tortured hero with a heart of gold waiting to be uncovered. He's bitter. Pragmatic. Brutally efficient because inefficiency means death. The kingdom calls men like him "heroes." He calls it what it is: slavery with extra steps.
What makes him compelling isn't some hidden nobility. It's his refusal to pretend the system is anything but corrupt. He fights because he has to. He survives because spite is a better motivator than hope. And somewhere in that hollow defiance, there's something terrifyingly human.
The kingdom wanted a weapon. They got a ticking time bomb.