King Tygath

King Tygath is the main villain of the miniseries Earthsea. He is portrayed by Sebastian Roche.

Role
King Tygath was a ruthless tyrant who sought to obtain immortality by releasing the demons called Nameless Ones. He had a wizard tortured for the incantation to release them, and before dying, the wizard mentioned a prophecy about a wizard, Ged. Tygath sent some men to kill Ged, but Ged killed them instead.

Jasper betrayed the magic school of Roke to Tygath, who seemingly killed the archmagus and put Jasper in charge to take over Roke. However, the archmagus survived and disguised himself as Jasper, whom he turned into the village fool.

Tygath intended for his lover, Kossil, to be chosen as the successor to the high pristess Thar, so she could learn the incantation to release the Nameless Ones. However, Tenar was chosen instead, so Kossil killed the priestess Rosa and framed Tenar for it. Kossil attempted to get the incantation out of Tenar, and when she refused, Tygath killed Kossil and led Tenar to the gate of the Nameless Ones. He encountered Ged, who eventually told Tenar to give Tygath the incantation. Tenar released the Nameless Ones, who attacked and killed Tygath, either tearing him apart or dropping him from a great height.