Nowak is a former mercenary who becomes an inquisitor in the anime Orb: On the Movements of the Earth. He is a major character and the main antagonist of the story. His background as a mercenary shapes his pragmatic and detached approach to his duties as an inquisitor. He is known for his laid-back manners and hard-to-read personality, which contrasts with the brutality of his actions. Nowak carries out harsh tortures and executions of heretics as part of his job, showing no qualms about the violence he inflicts. His primary motivation is to protect the peace of the world, including his own daughter, and he is willing to do anything cruel in service of this goal. He does not hold any particular ideology but enforces the Church's doctrine to maintain order.

Nowak plays a central role in the story by persecuting those who research the forbidden heliocentric theory. He arrests the scholar Hubert for his heretic research and later targets the child prodigy Rafal, whose sketches of the heliocentric model he discovers. Nowak's actions drive the plot forward, leading to the deaths of several main characters across different timelines. A key relationship is with his daughter, Jolenta, who becomes a heretic leader opposing the Church. Nowak is unaware of her involvement until his final moments, when he hallucinates Rafal and realizes that Jolenta was the heretic leader he had been hunting. In his dying moments, he admits to being the villain of the story and prays for Jolenta's soul, revealing a genuine love for her beneath his cruel exterior. His development culminates in a moment of self-awareness as he recognizes his role in perpetuating the system that led to his daughter's fate. Nowak's notable abilities include his skill in combat from his mercenary past and his expertise in interrogation and execution methods, which he uses ruthlessly to suppress heresy.