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Practically ever since I met them one or both had been recovering from some kind of wound. It was what they were known for. They were icons, practically. Otto and Hagop could not be killed, only injured, and as long as they stayed alive the Black Company would survive.

Murgen, She Is the Darkness, ch. 72

Hagop was one of the longest-serving members of the Black Company, surviving through the chaotic opening of the first chronicle and several other bloody events, including the Battle of the Barrowland, the Siege of Dejagore, and even the Captivity. He was typically found alongside his eternal sidekick Otto; both men were well known for surviving every fight despite usually receiving at least one wound which would require the attention of Croaker the physician.

Croaker described Hagop as a man of "no particular color" who was "unencumbered by much excess of scruple" and who "did not say much ordinarily so everybody paused to listen" when he spoke. He was praised as an excellent scout and was an expert shot with his sniper's crossbow.

Before The Black Company[]

Hagop and Otto were both born in Rebosa, a city of the southern continent several hundred miles to the south of coastal Beryl. Like Croaker who was raised in nearby Padora, Hagop had a polytheistic upbringing and used phrases like "on the gods' green earth".

The Black Company[]

Hagop survived the tumultuous, bloody events in Beryl during the Company's service to the Syndic there. He was one of the original Company soldiers who sailed aboard the Imperial flagship, The Dark Wings, from Beryl, across the Sea of Torments, to Opal, in The Black Company. (About 15 years later, in Shadow Games, he would be one of the only 5 survivors to make the return trip aboard the same vessel.)

Now in the north, Hagop played an important role in the death of the enemy sorcerer Raker in the city of Roses. He and Otto were out drinking when Raker, for unknown reasons, blew his cover and stabbed Otto. Hagop ran back to the Company's apartment, where he told Croaker and Raven what happened. Hagop remained behind while those two proceeded to track Raker through the city and kill him.

Shadows Linger[]

Although he was not mentioned by name, Hagop was very likely selected to be part of the advance team of 25 Company men that were flown from the Barrowland, into the city of Juniper, by the new Taken via flying carpet. This team was led by Elmo and included the physician and Annalist Croaker; the veterans Otto, Pawnbroker, and Kingpin; and other trusted soldiers like SharkeyTickleCrakeWalleye, and Stork. If he was part of this elite group, it meant he made the trip to Juniper ahead of the rest of the Company, and was therefore spared the long march across the northern continent and through the frigid Wolander Mountains. He survived much of the violent Battle of Juniper, and sailed with many other senior members to Meadenvil before that battle ended.

On The Long Run short stories[]

Hagop was mentioned in 3 of the short stories of the On The Long Run arc: "Cranky Bitch", Leta of the Thousand Sorrows", and "Bone Eaters". These events took place during the first 4 years of the 6-year gap between Shadows Linger and The White Rose. Also, at some unspecified point during these 4 years, the Black Company suffered a devastating defeat at the Battle of Queen's Bridge, but Hagop was one of the survivors.

"Cranky Bitch"[]

Hagop was present with the Black Company during their seafaring missions across the Gap in service to the mercantile factors of Chimney in "Cranky Bitch".

During their second northbound convoy, the Company's vessel led a convoy of 19 ships through a storm and approached the south end of the Gap. That night, the strange teenager Luckless was spotted so far up the mainmast, that he was at the edge of Darling's null, and they presumed the boy was signaling their enemies. As ordered, Hagop fired his sniper’s crossbow, piercing Luckless with his first shot. The wound was not fatal, however.

"Leta of the Thousand Sorrows"[]

The Black Company has disembarked from Cranky Bitch for the last time, and they are now traveling across a wild untamed landscape with the new Taken on their trail. In "Leta of the Thousand Sorrows", Hagop is with Darling, Croaker, Silent, and Otto in the vanguard group more than a day's march ahead of the rest of the Company. Otto and Hagop were "pathfinding for the pathfinders" at the forefront of this group, and they were the first to discover a strange clearing. Startled, they reported back to Elmo and Croaker. Later, Hagop was almost certainly one of the many men who became temporarily paired off with one of the Letas – lustful supernatural women crafted by ancient sorcery emanating from the ground of this clearing.

"Wet Dream Fish Story"[]

Hagop is mentioned once in "Wet Dream Fish Story" as a leader of one of the Company scout groups pioneering through “the densest forest north of the Sea of Torments”. Other scout groups are led by Elmo and Otto. He is not mentioned again but he certainly witnessed the mermaids that appeared for the next several days.

"Bone Eaters"[]

Hagop, Otto, Croaker, Elmo, and Rusty acted as bodyguards for Darling during her incursion into the Village of Hungry Ghosts to defeat the hostile spirits there. After Croaker felled a wild ass that had been possessed by one of the spirits with his special black bow, Hagop retrieved the enchanted arrow from the carcass. When the group discovered a similarly "haunted" woman (hopelessly possessed), all the men pitied her and not even Hagop volunteered to deliver the mercy killing.

The White Rose[]

Hagop was among the 50 remaining Black Company brothers who joined the New White Rose Rebellion. They had been living in the Hole out on the Plain of Fear for two years before the opening events of The White Rose. He and Otto survived the Battle of the Barrowland. Despite Croaker's suggestion they disband, he chose to stay. He was among the 6 remaining Company brothers who trekked south toward their fabled origin, Khatovar.

Otto and Hagop (Shadows Linger) by Виталий Стрелец

Otto and Hagop (Shadows Linger) by Виталий Стрелец

Shadow Games[]

And Hagop and Otto were wounded. "Damn you two. Can’t you take a crap without getting hurt?" In the thirty or so years I had known them it seemed they had come up wounded about three times a year. And survived everything. I'd begun to suspect they were immortal and the blood was the price they paid.

Croaker, Shadow Games, ch. 27

At the Tower at Charm, Croaker was given the rank of general in the Imperial army, and was also appointed a legate. With his newfound powers, Croaker commissioned both Hagop and Otto as Imperial captains. Hagop would be one of only five original Company survivors to sail back across the Sea of Torments aboard the The Dark Wings in Shadow Games. The others were Otto, Croaker, One-Eye, and Goblin. Now, they were accompanied by relative newcomers: Murgen, the Lady herself, and four brand new recruits from Opal: Sparkle, Big Bucket, Red Rudy, and Candles.

Hagop successfully sponsored his nephew, Smiley, who joined the Company when they passed through Rebosa.

Hagop and Otto were placed in charge of forming the cavalry division of the first army raised in Taglios to fight the Shadowmasters' forces. During the second, final day of the Battle of Dejagore, their cavalry struck the enemy at an unimportant location. This was one of the several factors which unintentionally contributed to the Company's defeat.

Bleak Seasons[]

Hagop and Otto survived the hellish Siege of Dejagore, and were among the "oldest" of the Old Crew led by Murgen within the beleaguered city. These events were recorded in Murgen's flashback narrative of Bleak Seasons.

Shortly after the siege, the pair was sent northward – retracing the journey they had taken roughly 5 years prior in Shadow Games – to the Tower at Charm with letters from Lady and a Taglian delegation including Lanore Bonharj. Their mission was to help identify the mysterious sorcerer known as Longshadow. They made the return trek safely with a "plunder" of items including "a coffin full of papers", northern vegetable seeds for Murgen, and at least one hair from the head of a younger Soulcatcher. Their report to Croaker and Murgen was recorded in the "current events" narrative of Bleak Seasons. Later, on orders from Murgen, Hagop and Otto perfectly executed a carefully-planned raid on the decrepit building used by Soulcatcher as her hideout.

She Is the Darkness and aftermath[]

Hagop participated in the Shadowmaster wars until the Black Company led the armies of Taglios to victory. Then, at the end of She Is the Darkness, he became one of the Captured, imprisoned within the cave of the ancients by Soulcatcher. They remained in suspended animation there for 15 years until their eventual rescue by Sleepy at the end of Water Sleeps. About 3 years after his liberation – just one year before the opening events of Soldiers Live – Hagop died of natural causes at the Abode of Ravens in Hsien around the same time as Otto.

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