Character · from book 3

The Popov brothers

Dmitri and Maxim Popov, two men in one two-headed Nodling — an Illusionist and a Bogatyr with a meteor hammer — ninth on the leaderboard after Hekla, sixth by the fifth floor, hunting the crawlers who prey on the weak. On the sixth floor Dmitri wants only to meet the cat, delivers a sponsor's stick to her, and dies with his brother under a burning stag in the castle pit; their race, chosen on a guide's advice, splits them into two yearlings at death, Ineligible as children, and they are transferred to the surface. 'Those crazy bastards escaped.'

Race and class, since book 5: Nodling Yearling · Visionary and Bogatyr

First appears: Book 3

Series arc

Through book 7

Pregnancy, 'kicked out of the dungeon like the Popov brothers' — one of Katia's three doors (B7 ch. 56).

Through book 3

Dmitri and Maxim Popov, listed together as a Nodling Illusionist and Bogatyr, who share ninth place on the leaderboard after Hekla's death, to Donut's outrage (B3 ch. 25).

Through book 4

A two-headed Nodling, sixth on the leaderboard (B4 ch. 4), seen on a pirate ship firing cannons at other pirate ships (B4 ch. 17), and at the end looking for archers to hunt down team Cichociemni, who prey on weak crawlers (B4 ch. 34).

Through book 5

Knocked flat by a giant foot mid-swing on the recap (B5 ch. 8); two men in one nodling at CrawlCon, with a meteor hammer and a kitten named Kapitan Whiskers, wanting only to meet the cat (B5 ch. 40, B5 ch. 41); Dmitri delivers a sponsor's stick to Donut, starstruck (B5 ch. 63). The hammer clears the ballroom and brains an elf over Carl's head before a burning sambhur goes through them both — 'I miss my cat' (B5 ch. 75, B5 ch. 76). Dug out of the gore as two yearlings, Ineligible as children, transferred to the kinder facility on the surface: a guide chose their race for this (B5 ch. 77).

Through book 6

What happened to them made the box urgent (B6 ch. 19).

Where they appear

Book	Chapters they are in (of the book's)	Where
3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook	2/35	Ch. 25, Ch. 35 · the book's own page
4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods	3/35	Ch. 4, Ch. 17, Ch. 34 · the book's own page
5 — The Butcher's Masquerade	20/78	8, 21, 25, 29, 32, 36, 40–42, 61, 63, 65–67, 70, 72, 74–77 · the book's own page
6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride	4/74	Ch. 12, Ch. 19, Ch. 41, Ch. 64 · the book's own page
7 — This Inevitable Ruin	1/89	Ch. 56 · the book's own page

By book

The Popov brothers in book 3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook

Ninth together after Hekla's death (ch. 25); butting heads with team Cichociemni, per Odette (epilogue).

The Popov brothers in book 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods

Sixth on the board (ch. 4); fifth when the recap shows them on a pirate ship (ch. 17), and fifth at the end (ch. 34); recruiting archers against Cichociemni at the end (ch. 34). Fifth on the final board, both alive (ch. 34).

The Popov brothers in book 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade

Knocked flat by a giant foot mid-swing on the recap (ch. 8); at CrawlCon, two men in one nodling with a meteor hammer and a kitten named Kapitan Whiskers (ch. 40, ch. 41); Dmitri delivers a stick to Donut, starstruck (ch. 63). The hammer clears a ballroom (ch. 75) and brains an elf over Carl's head before a burning sambhur goes through them both — 'I miss my cat' (ch. 76). Dug out of the gore as two yearlings, Ineligible, free (ch. 77).

The Popov brothers in book 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

The room that still smells of rotisserie chicken, and the studio where Carl signed autographs with them and stabbed a reporter with a pen (ch. 12); what happened to Dmitri and Maxim made the crown urgent (ch. 19); an ogre like they would have been had they not been ejected (ch. 41); their meteor hammer in Katia's inventory (ch. 64).

The Popov brothers in book 7 — This Inevitable Ruin

Pregnant and out, the way the Popovs went: one of Katia's three choices (ch. 56).