Kaz Brekker

Please be aware that the follow includes spoilers of Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom, and Rule of Wolves.

"My mother is Ketterdam. She birthed me in the harbor. And my father is profit. I honor him daily."

Kaz Brekker is the leader of the Dregs gang in Ketterdam. He is a lean young man with sharp features, pale skin, and dark hair. His walk has a noticeable limp though his cane is as much a weapon as a mobility aid. He is highly intelligent, strategic, and emotionally reserved. People see him as always being several steps ahead. He works as a criminal mastermind and strategist with a reputation from high-risk heists with precision and control.

Childhood

Kaz Rietveld grew up on a farm near Lij, a settlement in southern Kerch, with his father and older brother, Jordie Rietveld. When Kaz was nine, his father tragically died in a plough accident. Following his death, the two brothers moved to Ketterdam and were introduced to Pekka Rollins under the alias of Jakob Hertzoon who influenced Kaz to learn magic tricks and hired Jordie as a Runner.

That seems like cheating,” Kaz had whispered to Jordie.
“It isn’t cheating,” Jordie had snorted. “It’s just good business. And how are ordinary people supposed to move up in the world without a little extra help?”

Yet, the support given to them from ‘Hertzoon’ and his ‘family’ turned out to be part of a scam after they tricked them into giving all the money from selling their father’s farm. Without any funds, the brothers couldn’t stay in the boarding house so resorted to sleeping on the streets. During this time, the Queen’s Lady Plague became prominent in Ketterdam with both brothers falling sick with firepox. Jordie passed away from the fever but Kaz survived. However, in his illness, he had been mistaken for dead so put on the Reaper’s Barge along with his brother. He was too weak to swim back to shore on his own so was forced to use his brother's corpse as a buoyancy aid. The trauma from this event left Kaz with haphephobia, the fear of touching. As a result, he began wearing gloves whenever in public.

The Dregs

Kaz parted with his Rietveld surname and instead took on Brekker after seeing the name on a piece of dock machinery. With the loss of his remaining family member, Kaz had to fend for himself so began working amongst the gambling dens on East Stave. However, he was soon banned due to his skillful card trickery. Despite meticulously wearing gloves, Kaz earnt the nickname ‘Dirtyhands’ from gangs in the Barrel as he began stealing. This resorted with him landing in jail on two occasions. One day Kaz finally saw Pekka Rollins again and learnt two key pieces of information: Jakob Hertzoon had been a fake name and Pekka Rollins was the leader of the Dime Lions. The next day Kaz joined the Dregs, beginning as a grunt. Kaz became an official member of the Dregs at age twelve and rose through the ranks to become a lieutenant several years later. Kaz’s total arrests rose to six after he was jailed a final time during a Stadwatch search of a gambling hall. Aged fourteen, Kaz formed a crew to help him exact revenge on Pekka Rollins. The plan entailed robbing the bank that had played a part in conning him and his brother. During the heist, Kaz broke his right leg getting off the bank’s rooftop leading him to become reliant on a cane as the injury never fully healed. Later in his life, Genya Safin would offer to heal his leg which he declined. He feels his limp gives him strength and serves as a reminder of his ability to overcome adversity. It is particularly an advantage in fights since opponents underestimate his physical capability.

“Who’d deny a poor cripple his cane?”
“If the cripple is you, then any man with sense.”

His cane was crafted by a Fabrikator and has lead-lining to increase the weight of its swing allowing it to be used as a weapon. In addition to the cane, Kaz is known for carrying at least three knives, one of which is a small oyster shucking knife.

There was no part of him that was not broken, that had not healed wrong, and there was no part of him that was not stronger for having been broken. The cane became a part of the myth he built. No one knew who he was. No one knew where he came from. He’d become Kaz Brekker, cripple and confident man, bastard of the Barrel.

Kaz became the floor boss of the Crow Club for over two years and helped the Dregs’ profits and reputation soar. Using funds from the Crow Club to redevelop Fifth Harbor, he helped drive the Dregs as a leading gang in Ketterdam. And as Kaz began to recruit more members, loyalty began to switch to view him as the true leader instead of Per Haskell.

Six of Crows

“Why do you guys say that, anyway? No mourners, no funerals? Why not just say good luck or be safe?”
“We like to keep our expectations low.”

Kaz was kidnapped at seventeen years old by Jan Van Eck after parting ways with the Dregs amidst their celebration after destroying the Black Tips gang. Witnessing the effects of Jurda Parem, Kaz negotiates a fee of thirty million kruge for Jan Van Eck’s demand to rescue Bo Yul-Bayur from the Ice Court in Fjerda. Despite the seemingly impossible demand, Kaz is convinced by the payout and gathers a crew composed of himself, Inej Ghafa, Nina Zenik, Jesper Fahey and Wylan Van Eck. They are joined by Matthias Helvar, Nina’s lover, after breaking him out of Hellgate prison.

“Greed is your god, Kaz."
He almost laughed at that. "No, Inej. Greed bows to me. It is my servant and my lever.”

His crew survives the perilous journey only to find that Bo Yul-Bayur had died. Instead, they take his son, Kuwei Yul-Bo. During the heist, Kaz chooses to free Pekka Rollins so he can take revenge for Jordie properly.

"You knew?"
"No, I took precautions. It's what I do, Jesper."

Kaz is not someone to make the same mistake twice so plans for the worst. Nina tailors Wylan to appear as Kuwei while Kuwei is stashed at Black Veil. This unleashes a web of trickery as Jan Van Eck reveals he had set them up to help expand his trading empire with the jurda parem formula for himself (that of which Bo Yul-Bayur created). Kaz responds with his own revelation that he has the real Kuwei and will only exchange him for the promised thirty million kruge.

“A liar, a thief, and utterly without conscience. But he'll keep to any deal you strike with him”

In an effort to turn the tables, Van Eck uses Grisha who have taken jurda parem to take back the money and kidnap Inej after he realises that Kaz cares for her. Kaz’s vulnerability over Inej is revealed as he becomes desperate to get her back. While planning, he goes to Pekka Rollins to collect payment for saving Rollins in the Ice Court as well as stealing every valuable item on Rollins’ person during the conversation. As he comes to terms with the weight of losing Inej, Kaz struggles between the emotional balance of being Dirtyhands, who is a ruthless fighter, and Kaz Rietveld, through which he can admit his love for Inej.

Crooked Kingdom

The crew kidnaps Alys, Van Eck’s wife, to trade her for Inej. Yet, the exchange is messy as Jan Van Eck enlists the Stadwatch to invade but Kaz and the gang, including Inej, are able to escape. Kaz formulates a plan to destroy Van Eck’s sugar holdings to then frame him for price increases. The plan doesn’t go smoothly with all of the crew facing trouble. Kaz and Wylan are cornered by Pekka Rollins and his Dime Lions while trying to steal from Van Eck’s safe break into Van Eck’s house to steal his seal from his safe. They escape thanks to Kaz dropping a highly corrosive chemical agent that burns a hole in the floor which they exit through.

His coat clung to him in perfectly tailored lines. He stood leaning on his cane, hair neatly pushed back from his pale brow, a black glass boy of deadly edges.

Shortly after, Kaz raises a new plan that involves putting Kuwei up for auction and rigging it so Ravka will win. Ketterdam has unwavering respect for commerce which protects the auction. However, the Council of Tides raises charges that the Shu have rigged the auction instead of the Ravkans leading Kaz to successfully frame Van Eck. Kaz returns after the success of his scheme to his reclaimed position as leader of the Dregs after he best Per Haskell for it. The gang are able to claim the reward from Van Eck and Rollins flees Ketterdam after Kaz tricks him into thinking he buried his son alive.

“I would have come for you. And if I couldn't walk, I'd crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we'd fight our way out together-knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that's what we do. We never stop fighting.”

Kaz uses the funds to buy Inej a slaver-hunting ship and promises her his support. He takes a major step in overcoming his condition as he holds Inej’s hand gloveless and kisses her neck. It is a promise to continue to shed the emotional armour that allowed him to survive on his own in the Barrel and begin to open himself up to her.

Rule of Wolves

Kaz receives a request from Nikolai Lantsov to steal titanium from Rentveer in order to help Ravka in the war against Fjerda. Kaz meets with Nikolai and Zoya Nazyalensky beneath the canals and agrees to assist them under their promise to protect Inej. He recruits Jesper Fahey and Wylan Van Eck to carry out a well thought through plan. Kaz wisely accounts for the Suli capturing them and manages to break them into the Renveer and steal the titanium, swapping it for aluminum to avoid detection.

“Get a message to the Crow Club,” she said. “Tell Kaz Brekker the queen of Ravka has a job for him.”

When Zoya is made Queen of Ravka, she enlists Kaz’s help to steal Sankt Feliks's heart in order to grant the Darkling a true death.