This article is about the film character Lord Cob. For the character in the Earthsea books, see Cob.
Cob in the 2006 film
Cob appears in the 2006 film Tales from Earthsea loosely based on the Earthsea books. The Lord Cob of the film differs somewhat from the character Cob from the novel The Farthest Shore.
Lord Cob was a Dark Wizard (Necromancer) who was banished by Sparrowhawk to the Dry Lands, where he survived by building a fortress out of Dragon bones. Well trained in the Wisdom of the Ages, he was a dangerous wizard who secretly acquired the power-equivalent of the Archmage by spending years studying magic. His ambition was to open the Door between Life and Death, and thus attain eternal life. He was defeated by Ged in The Farthest Shore and by Prince Arren and Therru in the anime adaptation.
Appearance and Personality[]
He is portrayed as a tall, slender figure, significantly taller than Hare in the film. He wields a staff which emits purple light, as opposed to Sparrowhawk's bright orange beacon, when in combat. He is mentally unstable as such, a psychotic killer obsessed with finding the secret of eternal life and living forever. He has a soft, whispering voice, although this changes drastically into a livid shrieking tone later in the film, or whenever he is angry. He uses his magic powers to make him appear unnaturally younger and like a woman.He has long purple-blue hair and prefers to wear a simple purple robe. He has animal-like claws which indicate his inhumanly evil nature.
He has the power to overwhelm anyone with fear and instill rage and hate inside them, which he uses to control them. This spell, although his favorite modus operandi, requires several years of penance and practice in order to accomplish the desired effect, and, to date, has only one survivor, Prince Arren.
He can effortlessly murder anyone using the Summoning Spell, which he can use to squash the victim's heart.
Hierachy/ Dominance[]
He is powerful and revered throughout Gont, as he is the "only wizard in these parts which holds on to his powers'". This is later revealed to be true, as most of the wizards and sorceresses in Hort were forced to abandon magic and resort to methods of trickery and hypocrisy in order to sell their goods. He indulges in the local slave trade, which he uses to labor as his servants or just sell them for a higher price so that the yield allows him to practice Dark Magic.