Iorek Byrnison

"Dim yellow light through the rear window of the bar showed a vast pale form crouching upright and gnawing at a haunch of meet which it held in both hands. Lyra had an impression of bloodstained muzzle and face, small malevolent black eyes, and an immensity of dirty matted yellowish fur."

Iorek Byrnison is an armored bear of Svalbard, a panserbjorne. He was exiled from his home because he killed another bear, Hjalmur Hjalmurson, over a female bear. Iorek would have been king of the bears if he would not have done this, but his rival Iofur got Hjalmur drunk enough to provoke Iorek's anger. Lyra and the gyptians find him in the village of Trollesund, devoid of his armor and drunk on spirits. Lyra helps him get his armor back from the villagers, and he agrees to help her and the gyptians rescue the children from Bolvangar.

He takes Lyra to find Tony Makarios, and teaches her that bears cannot be tricked- only humans can. Lyra eventually restores him to the throne of Svalbard by tricking Iofur into a fight- for Iofur wants to be a human, not a bear, and can therefore be tricked. For this, Iorek gives Lyra the name 'Silvertongue'.

Iorek does not show up again until book III, where he meets Will, and refuses to fight the knife. He helps Will save Lyra from Coulter, and reforges the knife when it is broken. Iorek at last leads his bears into battle on the side of Lord Asriel against the Authority- we are never told his fate.