 A cyborg, Shardik was built by North Central Positronics to serve as one of the twelve Guardians of the Beams.At the time that he is encountered by Roland, he is several thousand years old, malfunctioning, slowly dying, and infested with parasites (a reference to Richard Adams's novel "Shardik").Driven insane by his illness, he attacks Roland and his ka-tet, and they are forced to kill him.