Niklaren "Niko" Goldeye is a character of Tamora Pierce's creation, who appears in The Circle of Magic quartet and in Shatterglass of The Circle Opens quartet, although he is mentioned in all four books of both quartets. Niklaren Goldeye, also known more fondly as Niko, mentions that he is fifty-three years of age when the Circle of Magic books take place. He is also said to be very slender, with black eyes under thick eyebrows and long, gray-streaked black hair. Briar Moss, a former thief, describes Niko's dress as that of a "Money-Bag's", meaning his choice of wardrobe is quite expensive.
Magic
Niko is a very well known and powerful Seer. Niko can scry into the future to get a hint of what may come. He was able to See where Sandrilene fa Toren, Trisana Chandler, Daja Kisubo, and Briar Moss were in order to bring them all to Winding Circle. This ability of his is called on in Sandry's Book and Daja's Book, then further described in Shatterglass. Niko is also a famous Truthsayer and there is evidence of this in Sandry's Book, Shatterglass, and Daja's Book. However, his specialization is "looking" or "finding." He can see things that are "hidden" or very unobvious. He utilizes this to call up an image of the past, which is something that was said only he can do. Niko is also the first to introduce the four children to meditation, a process which helps them control their magic. Although he is equally important in all four children's lives, he became Tris' mentor and helped guide her in learning more about her powers of weather.
Students
Niko takes Tris as his student, who has power over the weather. In Tris's Book, Niko takes Tris into a destroyed tower to see the events that had happened in the past. Tris has a large store of power which Niko taps from. His magic allowed him and Tris to see that pirates had blown up the tower. Niko also takes Tris into the sewers to trace the origin of a disease called the Blue Pox that had infected Summersea. In a way, Briar, Tris, Sandry, and Daja were all his students, because he was the one that had brought them together into a cottage. He taught them about meditation and the basic arts of being a mage. He also taught Tris to see magic in the form of silvery light, which becomes an important part of Briar's Book when Tris confirms Briar's suspicion that there was magic in the Blue Pox.
