Pack Leader

The Pack Leader is the alpha male of a pack of mutant coyotes capable of human speech, that serves the Gaiaphage.

This character is unique in that it is not the same character throughout the series; rather, the name refers to the currently incumbent leader of the pack of the coyotes. As in any other packs of coyotes, when one pack leader dies, another one will rise up to take their place in the pack. Over the course of the series, a total of three pack leaders are seen, each of whom has a different personality, that heavily influences how the pack acts and behaves in terms of their relationship with the residents of Perdido Beach and surrounding lands.

The pack leaders are shown to have an extreme fear of the Gaiaphage, even going as ensuring that their pack does not kill any humans by the time that the events of Fear takes place; the reasoning for this being that the Gaiaphage had ordered them not to harm anyone. This action leads the pack into starvation, though the Pack Leader is given a saving grace in the form of Drake killing off Howard and giving his dead body to them as food.

Original Pack Leader
The original Pack Leader is an ugly coyote with mange on his muzzle, teeth sticking out from his jaw, and large ears, one of which is almost completely torn off.

The original Pack Leader, appearing first in Gone, is a messenger of the Gaiaphage who hunts down Lana. He attempts to force her to teach the coyotes how to kill humans. Pack Leader leads the attack on Hermit Jim's shack and burns it down, calling the mutated coyotes to the attention of Sam, Astrid, Quinn, and Edilio. The coyote next brings Drake to the Gaiaphage along with Lana, so she can give him his whip hand. Drake joins the Gaiaphage and the coyotes, led by Pack Leader, to assist in the attack on Perdido Beach.

In Hunger, the original Pack Leader is killed by Lana as she attempts to destroy the Gaiaphage, and another pack leader takes over his responsibilities, introducing himself to Dekka later on in the novel.

Second Pack Leader
The second Pack Leader is a younger, smaller, healthier coyote.

During Plague, the second Pack Leader is discovered by Sam, who also discovered the Pack Leader to be infected with the same parasitic bugs that Hunter and Roscoe were infected with. He asks Sam to kill him so that he won't have to die a very painful death being eaten alive from the inside. Sam promises to do what he says under the condition that he show him and Dekka the place where the Greenies live. Pack Leader fulfills his promise and is then killed by Sam.

Third Pack Leader
The third Pack Leader is a much smarter coyote, but he is also more cowardly.

At the beginning of Fear, Drake is seen talking to the third Pack Leader, who complains about his pack being very hungry, and not being allowed to kill humans due to orders from the Gaiaphage. He then adds mischievously that the Gaiaphage didn't say anything about eating already dead humans. Drake and the pack then go looking for people wandering alone and come across Howard. Drake kills Howard by suffocating him, and he is then eaten by the starving coyotes. Later in the book, the pack attacks Sanjit and a group of children, with Pack Leader distracting the kids by pretending to bargain. Despite Sanjit putting up a fight, the coyotes manage to kill and eat most of the children, with only some managing to escape. In Light, Brianna gets the job to kill all of the coyotes.

A coyote who may have been Pack Leader was also chased away from Dahra by Orc. He may have been burnt or killed when the FAYZ ended.