Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Roland Deschain of Gilead is a fictional character, the protagonist and antihero of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. He is the son of Steven and Gabrielle Deschain and is descended from a long line of "gunslingers", peacekeepers and diplomats of Roland's society. His image and personality are largely inspired by the "Man with No Name" portrayed by Clint Eastwood in several of Sergio Leone's westerns, though his quest and many of his personal, internal conflicts are drawn from Robert Browning's poem Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came. His surname echoes Shane, the archetypal Western loner hero.