The Wheel of Time/Characters: Difference between revisions

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Note that, due to the [[Loads and Loads of Characters]] nature of this series, this list is nowhere near complete or comprehensive, and is nowhere near enough to allow you to actually understand the plot.

 

As always, this page is still under construction. If you have the time and inclination, feel free to contribute.

 

 

== Ta'veren ==

[[File:RandAlThor 4537.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[The Call Knows Where You Live]]: And it's sending a bazillion shadowspawn to say hello.

* [[Celibate Hero]]: For the first five books or so in the series, Rand is pretty much one of these. Although at least part of it is that he considers himself in a (heretofore non-sexual) relationship first with [[Childhood Marriage Promise|Egwene]] and then with Elayne. Sort of. Still, he has a LOT of opportunities that he turns down, and he's explicitly the last of the three Two Rivers boys to get laid. The explanation is probably that he's confused and playing it safe.

* [[Changeling Fantasy]]

* [[The Chosen One]]: Who chose him? Everyone! He's The Dragon Reborn for the Westlands and Seachan Empire; he's He Who Comes With The Dawn for the Aiel; he's The Coramoor for the Sea Folk...

** Hell even the wolves have a name for him: Shadowkiller

* [[Fights Like a Normal]]: For the first half of the series, he sticks to fighting with a sword, since he's not sure exactly what's going to happen when he tries to channel.

* [[Fisher King]]: Particularly apparent in ''Towers of Midnight''.

* [[Good Is Not Nice]]: Well, to start with, even if Rand wins, the world's still gonna be a shambles.

** {{spoiler|Subverted as of Towers of Midnight.}}

* [[Heroic BSOD]]: An epic version.

* [[Honor Before Reason]]

* [[Hurting Hero]]: He's a [[Destructive Savior]]. He's the Dragon Reborn in a world where the Dragon's Fang is a symbol for evil. He's fully aware that his magic is tainted and will drive him mad. {{spoiler|Fain sends Trollocs to ravage his hometown just to hurt him. People who should really be on his side lock him in a box, taking him out only to beat him. Semirhage nearly forces him to kill his lover.}}

** Going along with the [[Destructive Savior]] motif, Rand is kind of a Lucifer figure, in certain respects. In much the same way that Rand al'Thor sounds vaguely reminiscent of Arthur, Lews Therin Telamon (AKA The Dragon, Rand's last incarnation) sounds like Lucifer. Add to this that one of Lews Therin's apellations was Lord of the Morning ("Lucifer" = "[[Bilingual Bonus|morning star]]"), that Rand himself is known as He Who Comes with the Dawn among the Aiel, and the manner in which the Dragon is regarded in Rand's era, and there you go. Not a 100% match, obviously, but still, it's there.

* [[Idiot Ball]]: All the time. He is hardly alone in this; [[Idiot Ball]] seems to be a [[Signature Style]] for Robert Jordan in this series. This is exacerabated by the fact that, with their wits about them, Jordan's characters are fairly competent and sometimes even [[Genre Savvy]].

* [[It Sucks to Be the Chosen One]]: boy howdy.

{{quote|'''Jasin Natael:''' “I would not take your place for all the world, not with the fate that accompanies it. Death or madness, or both. ‘His blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul... ’ That is what The Karaethon Cycle, the Prophecies of the Dragon, says, is it not? That you must die to save fools who will heave a sigh of relief at your death. No, I would not accept that for all your power and more.”}}

* [[Jerkass Facade]] - Is annoyingly fond of assuming these in order to [[It's Not You, It's My Enemies|protect his loved ones]], particularly in the older books but spread throughout.

* [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope]]: {{spoiler|Stops himself just in time at the end of ''The Gathering Storm''}}

* [[No Guy Wants an Amazon]]: Averted. Rand has one in [[Fan Nickname|his harem]].

* [[Not Distracted by the Sexy]]

* [[Parental Abandonment]]:

** [[Death by Childbirth]]: {{spoiler|Shaiel, a member of the local [[Amazon Brigade]], during the aftermath of a battle.}}

** [[Good Parents]]: And despite the early loss of Kari, Rand is the first to admit that Tam gave him a good upbringing and after seeing Tam's [[Heartwarming Moments|heartwarming]] [[So Proud of You|interactions]] [[Berserk Button|and]] [[Papa Wolf|fierce]] [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|protectiveness]] of his son in the latest books, it's ''very'' clear why Rand loves his [[Badass Normal|father]] so much.

* {{spoiler|[[Past Life Memories]]: As Lews Therin Telamon}}

* [[Person of Mass Destruction]]: All channelrs are to a degree, but Rand stands out at times.

* [[Power Levels]]: Rand, being [[The Chosen One]], is one of the most powerful channelers in the entire series. Other channelers describe him as being pretty much off the charts in every dimension.

** {{spoiler|And he becomes even more powerful after coming down from Dragonmount in Towers of Midnight. The aforementioned [[One-Man Army]] entry has him splitting his flows thousands of times, so much that the Asha'man with him couldn't count them all. Rand was completely unaided when doing this, by any channeling bond or angreal/sa'angreal.}}

*** In fact, only [[The Dragon|The Nae'blis]] equals him.

* [[Readings Are Off the Scale]]

* [[Redheaded Hero]]

* [[Reincarnation]]

* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: When Rand hears a rumour that one of the Forsaken killed {{spoiler|Elayne's mother,}} he does not take it well.

** [[The Hecate Sisters]] / [[The Three Faces of Eve]]: Only loosely and symbolically, in that Aviendha is a [[Amazon Brigade|Maiden of the Spear]], Elayne is a queen ({{spoiler|and eventually pregnant}}), and Min can see the future. Otherwise, the personalities don't match at all.

* [[Theme Naming]]: Lessee, Rand ''al'Thor'', who <s>is in love</s> was friends with a girl named E''gwene al'Vere'', an Obi-Wan named Thom ''Merrilin'' and draws a sword named ''Callandor'' out of a stone... [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]? [[King Arthur]], maybe?

* [[Tranquil Fury]]: In ''The Gathering Storm'', {{spoiler|after killing Semirhage, Rand spends the rest of the book in this. The rest of the characters find it ''incredibly disturbing''.}}

* [[Winds of Destiny Change]]: ''Ta'veren'' cause probability to go all out of whack. [[Contrived Coincidence]] is literally an explicit power for them, and [[Heads-Tails-Edge]] is pretty normal as well.

* [[Wouldn't Hit a Girl]]: He has extreme difficulty harming a woman or even having anything bad happen to them, which can [[Honor Before Reason|get in the way of reason]], sometimes. {{spoiler|he does kill a woman once, however, during Book 3, by decapitation with a flaming power-wrought sword. This causes him lasting guilt for several books on.}}

** Later on we get a bit more insight into what's going on here. Rand hangs on to this one ''[[Invoked Trope|on purpose]]'' because, to his own tortured psychology, it represents the [[Moral Event Horizon]] and becoming an [[The Unfettered|Unfettered]] [[Complete Monster]]. This is why, when he is ''[[Attack Its Weak Point|forced]]'' to give up on it later ({{spoiler|Semirhage, in ''The Gathering Storm''}}), he [[It Got Worse|basically goes batshit crazy]].

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[[File:Mat 3444.jpg|frame]]

 

** [[Badass Normal]]: Relatively normal, anyway. Aside from his luck, Mat doesn't have any powers of his own, although he does gain an [[Anti-Magic]] artifact.

* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]: {{spoiler|Mat blows his [[Three Wishes]] this way. Mind you, he ''thought'' he was going to get three true answers, and made his wishes in a frustrated rant. Fortunately for him, his wishes were actually pretty good ones even if he made them without realizing it.}}

** {{spoiler|[[Arranged Marriage]]: He said his vows in Book 9, she in 11. ([[It Makes Sense in Context|Don't ask.]])}}

** [[spoiler: [[Eyepatch of Power|Light of the world]]: book 13. {{spoiler|Rather than winning a battle or sacrificing others, he allows the Eelfinn to rip out his eye, permanently removing half the "light" of the world and dooming half of his vision to eternal darkness}}.

** [[Black Comedy Rape]]: Elayne jokes about how he's getting a taste of his own medicine, although she does apologize.

* {{spoiler|[[Eye Scream]]}}: {{spoiler|In ''Towers of Midnight'', the Eel'finn rip one of his eyes out as their price to release Moiraine.}}

* [[Friend to All Children]]: When he was infected with the [[Hate Plague]] the only people he relaxed around were children. He ends up rescuing Olver later.

* [[The Gambler]]

* [[Hypocritical Heartwarming]]: With a dash of [[Selective Obliviousness]]—repeatedly Mat keeps insisting he wants to protect Olver from harmful influences and would like to know who among the Band is corrupting him with swearing and [[Casanova]] / [[Chivalrous Pervert]] tendencies. But it should be fairly clear to the reader that said person is...Mat himself.

* [[I Just Want to Be Normal]]: He just wants to drink and gamble and chase girls. The Pattern keeps forcing him to deal with [[Witch Species|Aes Sedai]], nobles, and people trying to kill him.

*** After he {{spoiler|gets married, he continually insists that just because his wife is a noble, it does NOT make him a noble. Cue several characters telling him "Yes, it does."}}

* {{spoiler|[[Instant Expert]]}}: After picking up an [[Artifact of Doom]] and being cured of its [[Hate Plague]], Mat wakes up with "holes" in his memory. {{spoiler|Later, they are filled (and/or over-filled) with ''hundreds'' of people's memories, all of whom are soldiers. With so many leaders to draw on, he can step into the role of [[The Strategist]] with ease.}}

{{quote|The Amyrlin gave an exasperated sigh. “You remind me of my uncle Huan. No one could ever pin him down. He liked to gamble, too, and he’d much rather have fun than work. He died pulling children out of a burning house. He wouldn’t stop going back as long as there was one left inside. Are you like him, Mat? Will you be there when the flames are high?”}}

* [[Ladykiller in Love]]: Meaning that...

* [[Nice Hat]]: Picks one up on his journey through the Aiel Wastes. He keeps it throughout the rest of the series and even invokes this trope by name.

{{quote|'''Mat:''' When Thom puts this all into song, he better remember my hat. It really is a nice hat.}}

* [[Rule of Symbolism]]: Mat is frequently characterized as having things in common with Odin, a [[Trickster Archetype]] from [[Norse Mythology]]. Notably, Odin once sacrificed an eye for wisdom, which might explain that "[[Chekhov's Gun|give up half the light of the world to save the world]]" thing...

** Not forgetting that Odin had himself hanged in order to gain wisdom.

* [[Self-Fulfilling Prophecy]]: Mat's [[Accidental Marriage]] to {{spoiler|Tuon.}}

* [[The Strategist]]: From Book 5 and onwards.

* [[The Trickster]]

* [[Upper Class Twit]]: How Mat looks upon every noble alive.

* [[Winds of Destiny Change]]: Again, Mat is a ''ta'veren''. This is par for the course for him. Unlike Rand and Perrin, though, he normally gets ''good'' contrived coincidences, whereas theirs can go either way.

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[[File:Perrin 2757.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Farm Boy]]: He gets called this on a regular basis by Faile.

* [[First Girl Wins]]

* [[Gentle Giant]]

* [[Henpecked Husband]]: He dearly loves Faile, and he's very careful not to lose his temper in general. She would actually like it if he was more forceful.

* [[My Greatest Failure]]: In the fourth book, Perrin rushes home to protect his family. It doesn't work.

* [[Our Werewolves Are Different]]: Perrin is a "wolfbrother" and can communicate telepathically with wolves. He also has "wolf dreams" in which he ''is'' a wolf, Young Bull, and has met other wolfbrothers who have become [[Shapeshifter Mode Lock|Mode Locked]] in wolf-think, which only increases his fears of [[Becoming the Mask]]. Finally, he has the aforementioned [[Eyes of Gold]], not to mention enhanced senses.{{spoiler|Eventually he learns that the risk of [[Becoming the Mask]] was never really a threat, and strikes a balance with his wolf side}}

* [[Scarily Competent Tracker]]

* [[Sensor Character]]: Perrin's connection to wolves grants him a sense of sight and smell on par with that of a wolf. He routinely notices people walking up behind him by catching their scent before they make a sound.

* [[Winds of Destiny Change]]: ''Ta'veren'', remember?

** Played amusingly when Galina {{spoiler|(a Black Ajah Aes Sedai)}} needs an excuse to curry sympathy with the Shaido Aiel. She tells Perrin to hit her, which startles him away from ignoring everything else but rescuing Faile. Naturally, he refuses, even though it was Galina's request to be hit. Berelain does it for him.

 

 

== Others from the Two Rivers ==

[[File:Egwene 2761.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Promoted to Opening Titles]]: not literally, but Egwene started the series looking like a supporting character and love interest, but by now is absolutely integral to the plot. By some measures she's ''more'' important than Perrin and Mat.

* [[They Do]]: finally, as of Book 13.

* [[Ungrateful Bastard]]: To Mat in Book 3. Unlike Nyneave and Elayne, has never made up for it. Also to Nynaeve, in several books, but especially in [[Break the Haughty|Book 5]]. [[Karma Houdini|Has never made up for that, either.]]

* [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]]: To Rand; or Rand to her (depending on which character you like better).

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[[File:Nynaeve 5657.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[How Do I Shot Web?]]: "Wilders" manage to control their channeling by developing a "[[Restraining Bolt|mental block]]" to avoid knowing what it is they're actually doing. This block needs to be broken later so that the channeler can use the Power consistently. Nynaeve's is that [[Psychoactive Powers|she can't channel unless she's angry]], and it takes her ''seven books'' to get past it.

* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: a main perpetrator of it, due to a ferocious case of [[Selective Obliviousness]]. This may have something to do with the fandom's [[Love It or Hate It]] response to the character.

* [[The Medic]]: Nynaeve's main passion is Healing, up to and including inventing her own spells for it.

** [[Beyond the Impossible]]: A spell she discovers, which {{spoiler|heals [[Fate Worse Than Death|severing]]}}.

*** Another spell she discovers, which {{spoiler|heals taint-induced madness}}.

* [[Readings Are Off the Scale]]: Fortunately, Robert Jordan had the sense to avert actual [[Power Levels]], but it's known that Egwene is stronger than every living Aes Sedai by a large margin... and that Nynaeve is stronger than ''her'' by a large margin. The only channelers on this whole Characters page who equal or exceed her strength are 1) Rand and 2) Bad Guys.

* [[Recurring Boss]]: Moghedien, one of the Forsaken. [[It's Personal]] to both of them.

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Rand's horse at the beginning of the series, she gets passed around to different characters and has ended up seeing quite a bit of the world. Like Narg, below, she has become something of a literal [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]. Joking [[Fanon]] holds that Rand is a [[Decoy Protagonist]], and Bela will destroy the Dark One with her [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Belafire]].

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[[File:Elayne 9925.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Tempting Fate]]: Because Min has had a viewing that her twins will be born healthy, Elayne thinks she has [[Plot Armor]] until their birth. Other characters, Min included, are [[Genre Savvy]] enough to note that Elayne [[Wrong Genre Savvy|might be outsmarting herself here]].

** {{spoiler|And, surprise surprise, it happened. In Towers of Midnight, Elayne is stabbed in the stomach whilst interrogating the Black Ajah. She survives, but appears to have learned her lesson.}}

* [[Ungrateful Bastard]]: To Mat in Book 3. She has since made up for it.

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: Aviendha and Birgitte call her and Nyneave out for being Ungrateful Bastards to Mat.

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Queen of Andor, mother of Elayne and Gawyn, step-mother of Galad.

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* [[Badass Normal]]

* [[Master Swordsman]]: Became a blademaster when he killed Hammar (his own trainer) during the tower schism.

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Son of the disappeared former Daughter-Heir Tigraine, adopted by Morgase when she married his father and gained the throne. He is half-brother to Elayne and Gawyn through his father {{spoiler|and Rand through his mother}}.

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Former Daughter-Heir, mother of Galad {{spoiler|and Rand}}

== The White Tower ==

 

 

Aes Sedai are the [[Witch Species]] of the story. Remember how male channelers inevitably go mad and die? That means only women can safely channel, and do so under the aegis of the Aes Sedai. They run a [[Wizarding School]], the "White Tower," in the city of Tar Valon, and have representatives all over the world. While they aren't technically a nation, they are still a force to be reckoned with politically and militarily, and their leader, "The Amyrlin Seat," is certainly the most powerful person on the continent.

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[[File:Moiraine 7627.jpg|frame]]

 

In addition to all the standard Aes Sedai habits, Moiraine exhibits the following tropes:

 

** [[Badass Bookworm]]

** [[Badass Princess]]: Close enough, anyway.

* [[Dangerous Forbidden Technique]]: Balefire. She scolds Rand for using it in Book 5, despite having done so herself in Book 3, although that may have more to do with typical Aes Sedai "We know better of the Power than everyone" attitude than the balefire itself, as she seems fully aware that it is the only reliable way to kill Darkhounds.

* [[Defrosting Ice Queen]]: Moiraine has that whole "Aes Sedai poise" down to a science. While no defrosting has actually happened yet, the fandom can read between the lines.

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[[File:Lan 5072.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Married At Sea]]

** [[Author Appeal]]: Lan and Nynaeve get married by a Sea Folk captain, who have a custom that whoever gives commands in public must take them in private. [[Brains and Brawn|Nynaeve is the brains, Lan is the brawn]]. [[Conveniently-Common Kink|You can see where this is going]].

* [[Pillars of Moral Character]]

* [[Rightful King Returns]]

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[[File:Siuan 930.jpg|frame]]

 

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An Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah, formerly the adviser to Queen Morgase of Andor, [[Jerkass|and a monumental bitch with delusions of grandeur]]. Was Accepted when Siuan and Moiraine were novices, and an Aes Sedai for five years when they were Accepted. Always disliked them, but also did her best to ensure they would both become Aes Sedai since they were both so strong in the One Power and the White Tower would need them for the Last Battle. [[Seers|Has the Foretelling]]. Attached herself to Morgase because she (secretly) Foretold the Trakand line would be instrumental in defeating the Dark One. Eventually, she instigated a coup (encouraged by [[Evil Chancellor|Alviarin]] and, though she didn't know it, [[The Man Behind the Man|Mesaana]]) to tear down Siuan Sanche and install herself as the Amyrlin Seat. From there she proceeded to become an arrogant, vain, petty tyrant.

* [[Light Is Not Good]]: While she isn't a Darkfriend, Elaida is certainly not a hero, yet she is still on the side of the Light. In the end her idiocy, stubbornness, pride, and outright bitchiness cause as much trouble for Rand and his allies as anything the Shadow does.

* [[Not So Different]]: With Siuan Sanche. Each rose from humble (or at least obscure) beginnings to become Amyrlin Seat, each was one of the most powerful Aes Sedai of her generation, each knew the Last Battle was coming and tried to prepare for it. But where Siuan wanted to merely guide Rand, Elaida tried to control and contain him, and while they both wanted to save the world, Elaida wanted to do so in a way that would give her fame and greatness. [[Foil|Despite the similarities]], they have always hated each other.

* [[Pride]]

** {{spoiler|[[Pride Before a Fall]]}}

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: Despite everything, she isn't a Black. Her Foretelling warned her (and rightly so) of the pain and devastation that would occur with Rand's coming, she genuinely believed Siuan was leading the Aes Sedai and the world to ruin, and much of her early 'villainy' was brought about due to Alviarin's manipulations. Even the torture Rand undergoes, while nominally sanctioned by her, was Galina's idea and not something she decreed, having only wanted the Dragon Reborn brought to her to keep him (and the world) safe until the Last Battle. (Of course, [[Idiot Ball|that would have kept him from fulfilling the prophecies]]...) In the end her egotism, nastiness, and ignorance are as much due to Fain's corruption as her own failings, so there's no way to know what would have happened if he hadn't influenced her. A good example of her extremism, though, aside from the whole gentling men thing and her treatment of Rand, is one which dates to well before any tainting: her claim that channeling men are 'unbelievers'--that is, that because they channel (even though they can't help it), something which will lead to insanity and death and is therefore against the Pattern and the will of the Creator, they must not believe in the Light.

* [[Wrong Genre Savvy]]: Elaida had basically attached herself to House Trakand of Andor because she had a fortelling that the royal line of Andor would be all important in the Last Battle. {{spoiler|Unfortunately, as it turns out, Rand Al'Thor, the prophesised saviour of the world just happens to be the son of a previous heir to the throne who went AWOL. Whoops.}}.

 

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The Highest of the Red Ajah {{spoiler|and one of the two second in commands of the Black Ajah.}}. Elaida puts her in charge of the expedition to capture Rand. This {{spoiler|fails and she is captured by the Shaido Aiel, tortured, and made to swear an Oath of obedience on a second Oath Rod and ultimately broken.}}.

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A dreamy Brown Ajah who is very interested in books. Is smarter and more observant than she appears. Helps Perrin in the Two Rivers, then goes off to advise Rand. {{spoiler|Later returns to the White Tower where she kills herself to betray the Black Ajah.}}

* {{spoiler|[[Redemption Equals Death]]}}

 

 

One of the oldest and most respected Aes Sedai alive (possibly ''the'' most in both categories), Cadsuane is something of a living legend for her adventures, the number of male channelers she's managed to deal with, and for being one of the Most Triumphant Examples of an [[Iron Lady]] to walk the halls of fiction. She appears out of nowhere (that is, Ghealdan) in the seventh book to add herself to the growing list of hangers-on around Rand, and the two have a very contentious relationship.

== Independent Characters ==

 

[[File:Thom 2438.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Guile Hero]]

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: Although he survives.

* [[My Greatest Failure]]: His nephew, Owyn, was a male channeler whom he wasn't able to save.

* [[Mysterious Past]]: An extremely talented performer who is well-versed in politics... is wasting time traveling to backwater villages? Would this have anything to do with tales about Elayne's mother Morgase and her lover, a bard, whom she suddenly became angry with and had chased out? Is that why Elayne seems to find him familiar?

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[[File:Min 8565.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[It's Not You, It's My Enemies]]: She's the only one on whom this doesn't work.

* [[Knife Nut]]

** Subverted, she had a viewing that she knew meant she would love him, but she wasn't in love with him at the time.

* [[Oracular Urchin]]: When Min looks at you, sometimes she'll see an image. About half the time she knows what it means. Whatever it is, and whether she knows what it means or not, it will ''always'' come true. ''Wheel of Time'' fansites will often have an entire [[Wild Mass Guess]] section devoted exclusively to Min's "viewings" (as they're called) and [[Chekhov's Gun|how they might play out]].

* [[Real Women Never Wear Dresses]]: [[Invoked|Which is why Min doesn't.]]

* [[The Smart Guy]]: Her most recent adopted role has been to pore over the Prophecies and philosophical notes for anything that can give an edge to Rand in the Last Battle. She's the one who comes up with the plan to {{spoiler|destroy the Dark One's seals}}.

* [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]]: Min is essentially both sides of this dichotomy—especially when she goes into hiding at The White Tower and Siuan forces her to masquerade as an "Elmindreda" to throw people off the trail.

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[[File:Loial 4318.jpg|frame]]

 

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A Wolfbrother like Perrin, who teaches him about his abilities early in the series and reappears later on to aid him in his adventures.

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[[File:TaimSmaller 8536.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Devil in Plain Sight]]: He's a boundlessly ambitious military commander who's been channeling for a decade with no sign of madness, who resents the Dragon, and whose subordinates ''avoid speaking his name, preferring instead to refer to him by a vaguely ominous-sounding word in the Old Tongue''. Logain seems to be the only person to see any danger signs in this.

* [[Manipulative Bastard]]

* [[The Resenter]]

* [[Red Herring]]: {{spoiler|Taim is introduced in the same book as Demandred, only a few chapters after Demandred gets an important task from the Dark One. When he and Rand come face to face for the first time, Lews Therin starts screaming about killing the Forsaken in Rand's head. At the end of the book, after Taim plays an integral part in the climax, Demandred is lauded for the success of his plan by the Dark One. Despite the obvious hints, Robert Jordan confirmed that Taim is not Demandred in disguise.}} Despite this, he is still likely one of the Forsaken, as at one point he refers to Asha'man being "severed", which is a term for stilling used in the Age of Legends.

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[[File:Faile 2451.jpg|frame]]

 

== The Aiel ==

 

 

[[File:Aviendha 6656.jpg|frame]]

 

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The Clan Chief of the Taardad Aiel and one of Rand's closest supporters. As is not unusual among the Aiel, he has two wives, Amys and Lian. He journeyed into the Westlands along with Aviendha in search of He Who Comes With The Dawn. Rhuarc is there when Rand first takes Callandor from the Stone of Tear and reveals that the Aiel are actually the fabled People of the Dragon.

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A Jumai Aiel of the Shaido clan, one of the main non-darkfriend antagonists to Rand. She opposed recognition of Rand as Car'a'carn and supported her husband, Couladin, in his bid for power. Once he is defeated in battle she takes on the role as leader of the Shaido. She wages a war of pillage and plunder across the Westlands, taking many people prisoner as ''gai'shain'', including Faile, which launches Perrin into his [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]].

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A Wise One from the Jarra sept. Sorilea is barely able to channel, but is one of the oldest and most revered Wise Ones. She has a formidable and forceful personality and can be quite frightening.

 

An organisation dedicated to fighting the Dark One wherever his influence appears. Sadly, the current Whitecloaks have devolved into fanatical [[Knight Templar]]s who arrest and torture anyone they even slightly suspect of being a Darkfriend. This extends to Aes Sedai, whom the Whitecloaks believe are the Dark One's foremost servants.

 

The Lord Captain Commander of the Whitecloaks by the time the story begins. Niall is renowned as one of the Five Great Captains, with few enemies defeating him once and none twice. Niall believes Rand to be another False Dragon and his every move is calculated to both bring him down and expand the influence of the Whitecloaks.

 

Almost a thousand years before events in the book, the legendary king Artur Hawkwing (the [[King Arthur]] of the WoT universe) united the Westlands under his empire. He sent his son with a huge contingent of troops across the Aryth Ocean to the west to discover new lands for his kingdom. They never returned and were thought to be lost at sea. Hawkwing's empire eventually crumbled after his death, resulting in the independent nations of the series' present. However, the expedition survived the journey and set up a new empire in the continent they discovered. Utilizing the strange creatures native to the land as well as [[Empire with a Dark Secret|fearsome devices for controling channelers]], they conquered the indigenous peoples. Now, they are returning to the Westlands, determined to retake their homelands which they believe is their birthright and will stop at nothing to see the Hawkwing Empire restored.

 

[[File:Tuon 1456.jpg|frame]]

 

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Egeanin Tamarath was a ship captain in the Seanchan fleet. After the fall of Falme, she is sent to the Westlands to help round up escaped ''sul'dam'' and ''damane''. After realizing that much of what she knew about channelers was wrong, she suffers a [[To Be Lawful or Good|crisis of conscience]].

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High Lady Suroth Sabelle Meldarath is in charge of securing a foothold in the Westlands to prepare for the return of the Seanchan. She is a cold and calculating individual who does not tolerate dissention amongst her ranks. Although she suffers a great defeat early on, her subsequent victories elsewhere lead some to believe that she may have secret ambitions inappropriate for her station. {{spoiler|This is later verified as she is a Darkfriend under Semirhage with plans to make her the new Empress}}.

== The Shadow & Darkfriends ==

 

 

The ultimate evil, equal and opposite of [[God|the Creator]], imprisoned by him at the beginning of time. Partially released during the War of Power and resealed by mortals, his ultimate goal is complete freedom and the annihilation of reality.

 

* [[I Have Many Names]]: Or at least many epithets. Father of Lies, Sightblinder, Leafblighter, Lord of the Grave, Grassburner...

* [[Name's the Same]]: There are many fictional characters called The Dark One

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: Shai'tan.

* [[Omnicidal Maniac]]

* [[Ultimate Evil]]

 

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In the previous War Of Power, Lews lead the forces of light supported by a team of lieutenants and trusted advisers. Many died, but a many also turned cloak and joined with The Shadow and The Dark One. These best-and-brightest were called "The Chosen" by the servants of the Shadow, "The Forsaken" by everyone else. There where oringaly somwhere around thirty of these ranging in skill from tactical generals to doctors, scientists, artists, philosophers and so on, [[Thirteen Is Unlucky|thirteen]] surived, sealed inside Shaylo Ghoul at the some moment the Lews placed the Thirteen Seals on The Dark One, but with the Seals wearing down, they are starting to get free...

 

 

* '''Aginor / {{spoiler|Osan'gar}} / {{spoiler|Corlan Dashiva}} / Ishar Morrad Chuain:'''

Formerly known as Ishar Morrad Chuain, he was a famous biologist, but his lack of ethics got his licesne revoked so he turned to the Shadow for more....''creative freedom''. He created most the Shadowspawn that still terrorize the world an Age latter.

 

** [[Evilutionary Biologist]]: Created [[Our Orcs Are Different|trollocs]] and other Shadowspawn, and thus indirectly created the Myrddraal.

** [[Mad Scientist]]: Turned to the Shadow because, hey, when your boss is an omnicidal force of utter evil, nobody bothers you about ethics in your research.

** {{spoiler|[[Reincarnation]]: Aginor is killed off after 5 pages of fight scene in the first book, but The Dark One eventually manages to stick his soul into someone else's body. The same happens with Balthamel, Ishamael and Lanfear. He then went into hiding, spending several books as an unimportant secondary character, managing to accomplish little of importance... then he teleported onto the wrong hilltop at the wrong time and got glassed again. Poor bugger.}}

** [[Unskilled but Strong]]: He's second-strongest of the male Forsaken, but he's neither a fighter nor a general. Even his choice of cover identity isn't great; a number of savvy fans noticed that ''something'' was up with the man, though (in fairness) few thought there would be a freaking ''Forsaken'' [[Hidden in Plain Sight]].

{{quote|''...he began to skulk from tree to tree in what he imagined was a stealthy manner. It was toward the key that he skulked.''}}

 

[[File:Asmodean 9096.jpg|frame]]

 

 

** [[A Lighter Shade of Black]]: He's definitely the nicest of the Forsaken. And as compliments go, [[Damning With Faint Praise|that's not one]].

** [[Evil Is Petty]]: In the previous Age, while Governor of his assigned domains in the service of the Dark One, he didn't really get up to many atrocities (compared to the rest, that is); ''however'', he ''did'' order every single musician, artist and any professional creative talent he could get his hands on to be ''maimed''- they lived, but they could no longer perform their craft. He particularly focused on those who had slighted him, were rivals, or had suggested he would never amount to anything.

** [[Heel Face Turn]]: Forced on him by Lanfear, who threatened to arrange for his death unless he taught Rand to channel.

*** [[Famous Last Words]]: "[[Oh Crap|You? No!]]"

** [[Punch Clock Villain]]: Was lured to The Shadow because immortality would give him the chance to... [[Stupid Evil|listen to more music]]??

** [[Depraved Bisexual]]: {{spoiler|As Aran'gar.}}

** [[Gender Bender]]: {{spoiler|Balthamel was a man, but was reincarnated as a woman by The Dark One.}}

** [[The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body]]: {{spoiler|By [[Word of God]], his sexual preference was "expanded" when he was turned into a woman.}}

** [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: {{spoiler|An aran'gar is a dagger dipped in slow poison.}}

* '''Demandred / Barid Bel Medar/ {{spoiler|We Still Don't Know}}:'''

 

 

 

** [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] / [[Evil Is Petty]] / [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: One of the first things he did as general of the Shadow was feed entire cities to Trollocs; specifically, he went after cities he felt slighted him while he was on the side of the Light.

** [[Shadow Archetype]]: [[All There in the Manual|As the Guide puts it]], "almost" is the story of his life in relation to Lews Therin. He was born shortly after him, almost as old; he was very good looking except for his hooked-nose, almost as handsome; he was almost as strong in the One Power; he was almost as best-selling an author; he was almost as brilliant as general, he almost got the girl, etc., etc. His [[Face Heel Turn]] was explicitly prompted when Lews was chosen as the top general of the Light over him, as his [[Berserk Button]] is being told he is second to Lews in ''anything''. Now he's transferred that rivalrly to Rand. Of course, being slightly inferior to the most [[Badass]] man on the planet means that you are still incredibly [[Badass]] yourself, which makes him a very, very dangerous enemy.

** [[The Un-Reveal]]: Only one book left, and Demandred is the only Forsaken with complete anonymity: he rules a country, but nobody knows which—and, as of RJ's death, his cover identity had never appeared "on-screen". While there are about [[Fanon|forty]] [[Wild Mass Guessing|million]] [[Epileptic Trees|theories]], the truth is that we do not know who he is masquerading as, and we are not supposed to.

*** [[Jossed]]: The popular "Taimandred" theory that Demandred is masquerading as Mazrim Taim. (Notably, Jordan rarely Jossed anything over the course of his life. Some fans still think he changed it out of spite.)

 

** [[Bad Powers, Bad People]] / [[Good Powers, Bad People]]: She appears on both tropes, which note that she is very good at [[Mind Control]] because of her background in psychology as an analyst and therapist.

** [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]]: She will use anything as an excuse to backstab her fellow Forsaken like {{spoiler|Asmodean }} and {{spoiler|Aran'gar }} . Of course any of the other Forsaken would have done the same in her position.

** [[Depraved Bisexual]] / [[Head-Tiltingly Kinky]]: Today she's more then just an [[Arrested Development (TV series)|analrapist]]. (And when it's ''other Forsaken'' who think she's depraved, you know she's out there.)

** [[The Hedonist]]

** [[Jerkass]]: Pushed Mesaana's [[Berserk Button]] in Lord of Chaos for no real reason.

** [[Mind Control]]: The best of the Forsaken at Compulsion and uses it in various degrees for almost everything.

** [[Start of Darkness]]: Her POV in ''Towers of Midnight'' shows she and several of the other Forsaken had these happen to them long ago. She then uses Semirhage as a counter example of someone who was always utterly evil.

 

** [[A God Am I]]: Occasionally, he thinks that he is The Dark One himself, or an aspect thereof. It's not totally clear if he's wrong, either.

** [[Ax Crazy]]: The other Forsaken agree he's nuts.

** [[Bad Powers, Bad People]]: The True Power, which is like the One Power but derives from The Dark One, and is much more dangerous and addictive.

** [[Jossed]]: {{spoiler|Robert Jordan reacted with surprise/disgust to the idea that Moridin was the mysterious "You!" at the end of Book 5, thus turning "and then [[Meaningful Name|death]] took him" into a horrific pun.}}

** [[The Man Behind the Man]]: Ishamael was not fully imprisoned, and, calling himself Ba'alzamon, was able to influence events unopposed for a couple of millennia. For instance, he started a world war.

** [[The Philosopher]]: Seems [[Genre Savvy]] to the endless repetition of the Wheel of Time.

*** [[Nietzsche Wannabe]]: The philosophical outlook he ultimately arrived at, which led him to ally with the Dark One in the first place. Ironically Rand is the Nietzschean Superman who has managed to accept [[Eternal Recurrance]] while Ishamael's failure at this led to his downfall.

** [[Power Levels]]: Again, Jordan is fairly vague with this, but it's stated multiple times that Ishamael was comparable in power to Lews Therin during the age of legends, and is probably the single strongest channeler of either gender in the modern world other than Rand. In the first three books, his complete insanity seems to have gotten in the way of his power, but now...

** {{spoiler|[[Red and Black and Evil All Over]]: As Moridin.}}

** [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]]

 

* [[Chekhov MIA]]: {{spoiler|This was the theory on him for a long time, because, in the narration, Robert Jordan has him trapped between a [[Fog of Doom]] on one side and Rand throwing [[Deader Than Dead|balefire]] down the other... but has Rand let up at the last second, thinking, "[[No One Could Survive That]]." He ''didn't'' survive that, but Rand [[Never Found the Body]], so "[[He's Just Hiding]]" basically became [[Fanon]]. It was only after RJ [[Jossed]] the idea himself that everyone calmed down. "[[Word of God|Sammael is toast]]."}}

* [[Green-Eyed Monster]], [[The Resenter]]

* [[The Napoleon]]: Hated the fact that he was so short.

* [[Red Herring]]: In the most recent books, {{spoiler|someone is impersonating him to commandeer a bunch of Shadowspawn. If not for the [[Word of God]] above, this might have just resurrected (no pun intended) those old [[Chekhov MIA]] theories. In a way, they're true, since Sammael did still come back to serve a purpose--it just isn't actually him.}}

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The Myrddraal are mutant [[The Usual Adversaries|Trollocs]] which resemble pale humans with smooth skin where their eyes should be. Commonly used as commanders of the Dark One's armies, they are much more intelligent than their brethren and possess great fighting skills as well as minor magic, but are much weaker than the average channeler. Shaidar Haran, the most powerful of the Myrddraal, is a different story entirely, a fearsome creature that can command the loyalty and fear of even the Forsaken. Its true nature is the subject of much debate, but it is unarguably one of, if not the, most powerful weapons in the Dark One's arsenal- and might be something more...

* [[Fan Nickname]]: 'Fade' is common in-universe slang for a Myrddraal. Therefore Haran is 'Superfade'.

* [[Fighting a Shadow]]: The most common fan theory is that Haran is some sort of manifestation of the Dark One himself.

* [[Large and In Charge]]: Ordinary Myrddraal are human-sized. Haran is almost half again as big.

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: His means "Hand of the [[Dark Is Evil|Shadow]]".

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[[File:Fain 8831.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Ax Crazy]]

* [[Evil Chancellor]]: As Mordeth. He's weaseled his way into this role a couple of times as Fain, too.

* [[Fog of Doom]]: He is now followed around by Mashadar.

* [[From Nobody to Nightmare]]

* [[Night of the Living Mooks]]

* [[Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping]]: His speech tends to veer back and forth between the lower-class accent of Fain and the more cultured, sophisticated one of Mordeth. This happens largely unconsciously, and creepily, it'll occasionally happen in the middle of a sentence.

* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]

* [[Scarily Competent Tracker]]: Granted the ability to find Rand, Mat, and Perrin wherever they are. The painfulness of the process where he acquired this ability is the main reason he hates both the Dark One and the heroes.

* [[Wild Card]]: To the point that both sides have assassins actively trying to kill him throughout the series [most of them end up dead, the lucky ones just never find him, or get killed by Fain without using his [[Artifact of Doom]]].

* [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]]: Starts out as your average corrupt-but-sane Darkfriend. The more powers he gets, the more off his rocker he goes, until by the most recent books he's potentially one of the most powerful beings in the world and is ''completely freakin' nuts''.

 

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Once two different men—Lord Luc, brother of Tigraine and blood-uncle to Rand, and Isam, cousin to Lan—who had a destined encounter in the Blight; Luc was there because he'd been sent by a Foretelling made by Gitara Moroso ([[The Chessmaster|the same one]] who foretold Rand's birth ''and'' sent Tigraine off to the Waste to become a Maiden of the Spear), while Isam was there because he was trying to reclaim Malkier after his mother colluded with the Darkfriend Cowin Fairheart to betray it to the Shadow. Now they have somehow become one entity and act as Chief Assassin of the Dark.

* [[Arch Enemy]]: To Perrin, partly due to opposing him in the Two Rivers but mostly due to his wolf-killing.

* [[Aristocrats Are Evil]]: Twice over! Though his Luc persona is much more nasty, it seems.

* [[Dream Land]]: He can enter it (in the flesh); make use of its morphability to fast travel, change things around him, and summon weapons; and stepping in and out of it is how he changes from one persona to the other.

* [[Egomaniac Hunter]]: Pretty much describes his interactions with the wolves. The way he acts toward Perrin, as well as the notion of killing Aes Sedai, puts him very close to crossing into [[Hunting the Most Dangerous Game]] territory.

* [[Enemy to All Living Things]]: Or at least wolves, though no animal seems to particularly like him. [[Egomaniac Hunter|And with good reason]].

* [[Fusion Dance]]: It is still left unexplained exactly how the Shadow accomplished this gestalt, but the end result is a Switcher situation, where Luc and Isam can each take over the 'body' and adapt it to their appearance. Since "one did die and one did live" during their Blight confrontation, it's implied the one who died was Isam and the one who lived was Luc, since he seems unable to be Isam except in the World of Dreams, but this has yet to be confirmed and may not even be true. It's revealed he was Isam when he killed the two Black Ajah, and though that may have been done in the World of Dreams because dying there kills you in the real world too, it seems difficult to believe nailing tongues to a door would carry over. And the Trollocs in the Two Rivers called him Isam.

** Made even more confusing because we have no real reason to think Luc was a bad guy before the combining; he braved the incredibly dangerous [[Garden of Evil]] Blight at the mysterious command of Gitara without any real personal benefit, for instance. Isam was apparently a sort of evil counterpart of Lan already. But now they're both one weirdly combined [[Jerkass]].

* [[The Munchausen]] / [[Miles Gloriosus]]: Much of his behavior in the Two Rivers in ''The Shadow Rising'' crosses back and forth between these tropes, as it isn't clear how much of his bragging about his warrior skills and his knowledge of tactics is real. (Though Isam for certain, and probably Luc too, would have a good wealth of knowledge of both.) Even once it's revealed he really can do some of what he says, the trope is subverted since a great deal of his activity either conceals more nefarious doings, works at cross-purposes to Perrin, or even gets Emond's Field in greater danger from the Shadowspawn and Whitecloaks alike.

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity|Obfuscating Vanity]]: Because he acts like a preening, self-absorbed, but somewhat helpful and mostly harmless lord, no one but Perrin suspects [[Villain with Good Publicity|he could be a villain]], at least at first.

* [[Punch Clock Villain]]: In some ways, Isam seems like this, at least in how he treats Perrin.

{{quote|'''Slayer''', ''as Isam'': Luc hates you, you know. Hates you deeply.

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One of the first Trollocs in the series and the only one given a distinctive name. Despite his early and ignominious death, he still fascinates the fandom on a level surpassed only by Bela, leading to his inclusion in lists where he really doesn't belong. For more information about the fandom's reaction to him, head over to [[YMMV/Wheel Of Time|YMMV]].

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Artificial beings created by Aginor during the War of Power, the Shadowspawn are notable for being [[Exclusively Evil]] and forming the bulk of the Dark One's forces. There are many different kinds of Shadowspawn, but the most notable are discussed below:

 

** [[Exclusively Evil]]: They're basically exceptionally aggressive, bloodthirsty animals; though they have their own language (and some speak the human language as well), your average Trolloc isn't interested in much but fighting and killing and their intelligence is generally subhuman.

** [[Mooks]]

*** They were designed by [[Mad Scientist|Aginor]] as ideal soldiers... except Aginor had never seen real combat, and actually had no idea what makes for a good soldier.

 

 

** [[Alien Blood]]: It's ''acid''

** [[Black Cloak]]: The standard Myrddraal "uniform" consists of a [[Black Cloak]] worn over formfitting black armor. The cloak is particularly notable because it always hangs flat, never rippling in the wind.

** [[Creepy Monotone]]

** [[Eyeless Face]]: They resemble eerily pale and graceful humans except for the fact that they have only smooth skin where eyes and sockets should be.

** [[Humanoid Abomination]]

** [[Keystone Army]]: the simplest way for a Myrddraal to keep control of its fist of Trollocs is to bind them to it mentally. But if you kill the Myrddraal, its entire squad gets knocked over too.

** [[One-Gender Race]]: They all look male, but are usually referred to as "it" rather than "he" in narration. (This despite their proclivity to rape.)

*** In the first book, Rand gets the impression that they feel hatred for every living thing; near the end, we are told that both Myrddraal Padan Fain was assigned to (as well as the Trollocs) treated him like absolute dirt and verbally and physically abused him, and one forced him to sleep in a cooking cauldron every night to remind him of what will happen if he fails (ie. Trolloc food). Sounds less like [[The Stoic]] than The Eternally Malevolvent. Its also clear that they can feel fear; for instance, theof Mashadar and Shadar Logoth.

** [[Villain Forgot to Level Grind]]: In the first few books, they're terrifying. Later on, the protagonists can kill them with only slightly more difficulty than Trollocs, though they're still a terrible threat to most people in the setting.

 

* '''Draghkar'''

* [[The Nondescript]]: Uses the superpowered version. They're next to impossible to see coming; they don't even trip the [[Spider Sense]] radar that channelers get with creatures of the Shadow. The only ways to survive a Grey Man attack are to get lucky (have their initial attempt miss or fail somehow, which reveals their presence), be ''very'' quick (they become a lot easier to notice right before they strike, because the "OH GOD HE HAS A KNIFE" mental response overrides their powers), or to have some other way of detecting them (Perrin, for example, can smell them coming).

* [[Non-Indicative Name]]: Yes, women can become Grey Men.