The Big Coffin Hunters are a group of three bandits in The Dark Tower Series, whom Roland encountered in his youth. They are also referred to as "Regulators". Eldred Jonas was their leader, and considerably senior to the other two, Clay Reynolds and Roy Depape, who had learned much by Jonas' teachings and example. They can be identified by their personal sigul of a coffin tattooed between index finger and thumb which they received in Wind when Eldred decided they should ally themselves with John Farson, they acted as antagonists in Wizard and Glass acting as Sheriffs in Hambry; a position which was instated by Kimba Rimer, although they had been in Hambry for months at the orders of George Latigo. Originally they were a group of freelance regulators.
They are instructed by Kimba Rimer to give Maerlyn's Grapefruit to Rhea of the Cöos for safe keeping, even though Eldred wished to hide the sphere.
We first meet the Big Coffin Hunters shortly after Roland, Cuthbert and Alain ride into Hambry under aliases on a mission ordered by Roland's father. The local sheriff had allowed them to operate under the pretence of law enforcement. When Roy Depape decided one night to torment and threaten local simpleton Sheemie, Cuthbert sprang to Sheemie's rescue by getting the drop on Depape. The subsequent involvement by Clay Reynolds, Alain, Eldred Jonas and finally Roland himself resulted in an awkward stalemate that only the sheriff's arrival was able to break. But the sheriff, being for all his bluster as afraid of the Affiliation as of John Farson, the Coffin Hunters' true master, fails to take any effective action against either side and the Coffin Hunters are allowed to continue their nefarious actions.
The efforts of Roland's ka-tet and his love Susan eventually uncover the truth; the Big Coffin Hunters are allied with John Farson, their primary duty being to prepare the way for Farson's mechanized forces to reach the local oil field, Citgo.
While the Big Coffin Hunters only appear in the fourth volume, the term "Big Coffin Hunter" continues to provide a frame of reference to the adult Roland and his ka-tet when encountering foes such as Jack Andolini's soldiers or the guards of Algul Siento - all of them enforcers who, in contrast to gunslingers, are devoid of moral principles.
The Big Coffin Hunter were done after the death of Eldred Jonas and Roy Depape. Clay Reynolds, the only living member left, became a bank robber, together with Coral Thorin.
It is also noted that another man bearing the same tattoo as the Big Coffin Hunters once attempted an assassination on Steven Deschain, however the attempt failed.
In Hambry, a group of wayward boys were sometimes referred to as "Little Coffin Hunters".