Carl Kolchak is a talented but outspoken investigative reporter with an affinity for bizarre and supernatural occurrences, obtaining information driving around Chicago in his yellow Ford Mustang convertible and snatching exclusives armed with his compact Rollei 16 camera and portable cassette recorder. Using only limited information, Kolchak has cracked several cases relying on gut instinct and often prevailing through sheer dumb luck.
Often Kolchak's prospects are hampered by incompetent law enforcement personnel, and the destruction or confiscation of evidence which prove his claims which advance the sheer implausibility of his stories where his peers, particularly his editor, are concerned. On other occasions, his investigations have led to demotion or relocation of varying authority figures, though reasons for these actions are never fully disclosed.
In the television series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and the television films The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler, Kolchak is performed by Darren McGavin.
In the television series Night Stalker, Kolchak is portrayed by Stuart Townsend.