Tonker Halter
| Magda "Tonker" Halter | |
| [[Image:|thumb|center|240px|{{{1}}}]] | |
| Name | Magda Halter |
| Race | human |
| Age | Late teens or early 20s |
| Occupation | soldier, former inmate of the Girls' Working School |
| Physical appearance | big with short red hair |
| Residence | Borogravia |
| Death | |
| Parents | |
| Relatives | |
| Children | |
| Marital Status | single |
| Appearances | |
| Books | Monstrous Regiment |
| Cameos | |
"Tonker" Halter is one of the recruits from Monstrous Regiment who joined up with Polly Perks. Her real name is Magda.
"Tonker" is described as being big with red hair, which she wears cut very short. She is the last one Polly can identify as a girl and only after a tip from Maladict.
Little is known of her life story. She came from the Girls' Working School in Munz, where the mistreatment hardened her until she became a cynic with a barely-controlled temper. Polly's first impression is one of "nervousness that didn't quite conceal some bubbling anger". Tonker describes herself as having "no middle gears". While she is relatively talkative where Lofty Tewt and Wazzer Goom are concerned, she hardly gives any information about her own life, neither at the school nor before. She and Lofty are always found close together, leading Polly to believe that Lofty is "his" girl. Tonker also seems to be the only one able to get some sense out of her very quiet friend.
She and Lofty escaped from the School when a window in the basement was left unlocked, but Tonker has promised her friend to go back in summer, when the building will burn better. Despite their close friendship, which seems to be rather a dependency, especially on Lofty's side, the latter can frighten even Tonker when she gets her hand on a match...
After the treaty, she and Lofty disappeared, but shortly afterwards the Working School burned down and a bank was robbed by two slim hooded figures.
Character Annotation
It is possible that Tonker's real name, Magda, is a reference to the Magdalene Laundries, which were at least as bleak as the Girls' Working School.
"Tonker" is a, er, dwarven word used in connection with Lancre's decidedly masculine Long Man earthworks. In her search for an alias that sounded really manly, Magda may have overcompensated.