Iorek Byrnison
From His Dark Materials
During the first book of the His Dark Materials trilogy, Northern Lights, Iorek Byrnison is found shaping metal for humans in an Arctic port town. These humans had deceived Iorek by giving him alcohol, then stolen his "sky-iron" armour while he was intoxicated. This left him no choice but to work for the humans. He tells Lyra Belacqua that if he had his armour, he would kill the humans that stole it, but that without it he would simply be gunned down attempting to get it back. Upon hearing this, Lyra decides to use her Alethiometer to find the location of his armour, so that he can break free and help the group she is travelling with.
Using the Alethiometer, Lyra discovers that the humans have his armour hidden in the cellar of the local priest's house. Almost immediately upon hearing this, Iorek rushes off to find his armour, waiting only to finish his work hours. The humans, suddenly realizing his intent, try to kill him. Iorek is about to crush one of the attackers' heads when Lyra reminds him that he promised her he wouldn't hurt anyone if she told him where his armour was.
Later in the story, Pullman reveals that by bloodline, Iorek would have become King of the bears in his homeland, Svalbard, had it not been for his exile. This exile was mainly the fault of Iofur Raknison, Iorek's successor as King, who was suspected, but never explicitly proven to have used drugs on another bear in order to make him act unusually. This befuddled bear went up against Iorek Byrnison in a ritual of dominance to win over a female bear. In his drugged state, however, the bear went against normal procedures and would not back down when any bear would normally have done. This situation ended in Iorek killing the bear, which is strictly forbidden and condemned him to exile. When he returns to Svalbard, Iorek fights and kills Iofur Rakinson reclaiming his rightful place. This ends his role in the first book.
In the third book (The Amber Spyglass), he is forced to take his bears on a voyage down to the Himalayas because the climate in his home country of Svalbard has become inhospitable due to Lord Asriel's unintentional changing of the climate by opening a rift between two worlds.
He later uses his blacksmithing skills to repair the Subtle Knife with the help of Lyra and Will. He fears that a great disaster will happen after the reforging of the knife. He also says that it is unlike a bear to doubt like a human being.
Iorek and a regiment of his subjects fight on Lord Asriel's side in the battle on the plains. He takes Lyra and Will to find their lost dæmons. He later returns to Svalbard with the other bears that came with him, finding it was impossible for them to live there.
