History Characters / TheStormlightArchiveOther

* HeelFaceDoorSlam: The heroes defeat Eshonai not knowing she was anything more than just another bloodthirsty Parshendi general, completely unaware of Odium's corruption over her. [[spoiler:Her final flashback in ''RhythmOfWar'' reveals that not only did she actually beat Odium's corruption in the end, but even managed to become a ''Radiant''... unfortunately literal moments before she dies alone in the chasms. The only witness to her internal victory is the Stormfather, who congratulates her for honoring her Listener ancestors and [[PetTheDog even goes out of his way to grant her spirit a final reward]] - a free ride in the highstorm to see the world - before she passes on.]]

* DisneyVillainDeath: Adolin headbutts her into a chasm. She's wearing Shardplate at the time, so she probably survived the actual fall, but a highstorm and an Everstorm crashed into each other right above her head, so her survival remains ambiguous. In ''Oathbringer'', she turns out to be dead, having drowned in the dual storm's floodwaters. ''Rhythm of War'' reveals she survived the fall, and fought her damndest to survive the flood, and very nearly succeeded.

* FightingFromTheInside: After changing to stormform, she gathers all those who refuse to change together, thinking that it will make them easier to execute once the rest of her people are Voidbringers. But she puts some of her closest friends in charge of guarding them, who then lead them down into the chasms, implying that her true self was manipulating her Voidbringer mind into giving them a chance to escape.

* TragicVillain: Originally started out as nothing more than a curious, kindhearted explorer. War forced upon her circumstances that caused her to become desperate enough to take stormform, which resultin in her losing control of her mind and becoming a tyrant.

* TheSymbiote: Larkins need to bond with a special form of mandras ('luckspren') found only on Aimia in order to be healthy. The Mandras help it overcome the square-cube law, particularly in order to fly.

[[folder: Vstim]]

[[folder: Arclo]]

* TragicVillain: Originally started out as nothing more than a curious, kindhearted explorer. War forced upon her circumstances that caused her to become desperate enough to take stormform, which loses control of her mind and become a tyrant.

* NotMeThisTime: Lin's an abusive monster and part of a shady organization, but he genuinely didn't kill his first wife.

[[folder:Rysn and Vstim]]
!Rysn and Vstim

A young Thaylen merchant apprentice and her [[{{Mentor}} babsk]]. Rysm is the protagonist of the novella ''Literature/{{Dawnshard}}''.

* GoneHorriblyRight: Vstim pretends to be sick so that Rysn has to take the lead in negotiating, but she believes that he's dying and goes to desperate lengths to fulfill what she sees as his last wishes.

* HonestCorporateExecutive: Vstim. While it doesn't appear that true corporations have evolved quite yet in Thaylenah, they still teach that it's best to screw over your customers and competitors before they do it to you first. Vstim, on the other hand, insists on learning the ways of the culture he is trading with, discovering what they value and treating them with respect. With the Shin, he goes out of his way to provide them Soulcast metal that was not mined directly from stone (since the Shin revere stone), while with the Reshi he participated in a hunt and managed to kill a dangerous creature largely by himself.

* {{Mentor}}: Vstim takes Rysn as an apprentice and travels the world with her to pass down his decades of knowledge of trade and the various peoples of Roshar.

* OneMansTrashIsAnothersTreasure: A large part of how Vstim makes such a good living is by taking this literally. We see it on several occasions. He trades worthless metal castoffs from Soulcasting training to the Shin, who [[FantasticReligiousWeirdness revere stone and will pay a premium for metal that was never mined.]] He also teaches Rysn about a culture that will buy wormy grain as long as it isn't rotten because the insects are a part of their cuisine.
* SimpleYetAwesome: As a trading strategy. They simply see their job as finding out what people need and supplying it. They aren't looking to cheat anyone or haggle out one sided bargains for things they don't want.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Vstim only briefly appears in the interludes, but he was the one who bought Szeth as a slave from the Shin, and then traded him to the Parshendi, which kicked off the entire plot of the greater story. He also gave Rysn the training she needed to negotiate with the Sleepless and become the Dawnshard, which has truly cosmic implications.

!!Kharbranth
[[folder:Taravangian]]

!King Taravangian
->''"Sometimes, you must tear down a structure to build a new one with stronger walls. And we are going to need strong walls in the coming years. Very, very strong walls."''\\\

The king of the small city-state Kharbranth. He is thought somewhat dull by his peers. However, he is well-liked due to funding hospitals throughout the city for those who can't afford medical care. Or at least, that's how he appears on the outside. He is afflicted by a mixed blessing and curse from the Nightwatcher that changes how intelligent and empathetic he is on each particular day. \\\

He is also the leader of a secret organization known as the Diagram, devoted to an incredibly complex and highly accurate document written by Taravangian himself on a day of massive, transcendent intelligence, that will supposedly save the world - albeit at a terrible cost.

---> ''See [[Characters/TheStormlightArchiveOdiumForces Odium's Forces]]''

!!Historical Characters

!!Other Characters

* CainAndAbel: Eshonai is set up as the Abel to Venli's Cain. [[spoiler: The story then subverts this by turning Eshonai into a TragicVillain and giving Venli a HeelFaceTurn.]]

* KilledOffscreen: She dies in-between Literature/WordsOfRadiance and Literature/{{Oathbringer}}. [[SubvertedTrope Her final moments are shown in a flashback chapter of]] ''Literature/RhythmOfWar''.

* TragicVillain: [[spoiler:Becomes one once she obtains stormform and loses control of her mind.]]

!!Frostlands

[[folder:Taravangian]]
!King Taravangian
->''"Sometimes, you must tear down a structure to build a new one with stronger walls. And we are going to need strong walls in the coming years. Very, very strong walls."''\\\

The king of the small city-state Kharbranth. He is thought somewhat dull by his peers. However, he is well-liked due to funding hospitals throughout the city for those who can't afford medical care. Or at least, that's how he appears on the outside. He is afflicted by a mixed blessing and curse from the Nightwatcher that changes how intelligent and empathetic he is on each particular day. \\\

He is also the leader of a secret organization known as the Diagram, devoted to an incredibly complex and highly accurate document written by Taravangian himself on a day of massive, transcendent intelligence, that will supposedly save the world - albeit at a terrible cost.

---> ''See [[Characters/TheStormlightArchiveOdiumForces Odium's Forces]]''

[[folder:Stick]]
!A Stick
-> ''"I am a stick."''\\\

A stick found in the Frostlands. With Pattern translating, Shallan tries to convince it to become fire. She fails miserably.

* ADayInTheLimelight: Has his own "deleted" interlude. It can be found [[http://brandonsanderson.com/words-of-radiance-deleted-interlude-stick/ here]]. Predictably, it was released on AprilFoolsDay.
* {{Determinator}}: The stickiest of sticks and will not be persuaded otherwise.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: It's a stick.
* NoSell: He does not want to become fire. He is a stick.
* OneWordVocabulary: Does not seem to be capable of saying anything other than "I am a stick."

-----

!!Ghostbloods
[[folder:In General]]

A mysterious group acting in the shadow's of Roshar, with access to resources from other worlds entirely, and rather questionable methods for imposing their influence.

* OutsideContextProblem: In comparison to the mostly localized conflicts on Roshar, the Ghostbloods have members from entirely different planets, and with that comes things that have never before been seen on Roshar, and are overall above the current conflict between Odium and the Knight Radiant. They influence events and send assassins after major figures on Roshar, while very few from Roshar even know they exist. Even those that do often don't fully understand what they are dealing with until they get an explantion from other, similarly outside context, figures, or even until the Ghostbloods themselves explain what they are.
* RenegadeSplinterFaction: [[spoiler:In ''Literature/TheLostMetal'', Prasavna's narration speaks of Iyatil "running amok on Roshar", and there is a notable disconnect between what we've seen of the Scadrian and Rosharan branches of the Ghostbloods. However, it still remains to be seen if they are actually separate, given that the Rosharan branch still seems to be loyal to Thaidakar.]]

[[folder:Thaidakar]]
!Thaidakar

The leader of the Ghostbloods. A shadowy figure who wants the secrets of Roshar for himself.

* DimensionalTraveler: It’s directly stated that he’s from another planet. And that planet is [[spoiler:''[[Franchise/{{Mistborn}} Scadrial]]'']].
* TheGhost: Despite being a very important character, he hasn't been seen yet, at least not in the ''Stormlight'' books.
* TheLeader: Leads the Ghostbloods.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Mraize claims that he's suffering from a similar "ailment" as the Heralds, which would mean [[spoiler: that he's a Cognitive Shadow stapled to a body, which is confirmed in ''Literature/TheLostMetal'' when he shows up in person with a hemalurgic spike]].
* NotMeThisTime: Twice.
** Gavilar assumes that he's the one who sent Szeth after him. Szeth has never heard of the man; if Thaidakar had sent an assassin, Szeth got there first.
** As of ''Literature/RhythmOfWar'', he's mistakenly presumed to be behind the death of Jezrien.
* RedBaron: He is known as [[spoiler:the "Lord of Scars."]] It’s all but stated that he’s really [[spoiler:[[Characters/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy Kelsier]], which would be confirmed in ''Literature/TheLostMetal'' when he shows up in the flesh]].
* WalkingSpoiler: It’s hard to talk about him without mentioning he’s [[spoiler:Kelsier. And the mere fact that he’s still around is a spoiler for the ''Franchise/{{Mistborn}}'' series.]]

[[folder:Kabsal]]
!Kabsal
->''"You still appear conflicted. What must I do to put you at ease? Shall I step up onto this desk here and do a jig?"''\\\

A member of the ardentia. He believes in Vorinism, and has made it his mission to convert the notorious heretic Jasnah Kholin to its teachings. Along the way, he becomes friends with Shallan Davar. He is actually a Ghostblood.

* AffablyEvil: He seems like a nice person and truly does like Shallan, but he still tries to use her as a tool to kill Jasnah.
* CharacterDeath: He dies in the first book.
* EpicFail: In ''Rhythm of War'', Adolin describes his last act as "failing to not kill" Shallan. A failure which also failed.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: He is killed by his own poisoned bread.
* TheMole: Revealed to be one of the Ghostbloods, tasked to assassinate Jasnah Kholin.
* OddFriendship: With Shallan Davar.
* SinisterMinister: Of a sort. He's not malicious to anyone but Jasnah as far as is known, but he did try to kill her.

[[folder:Mraize]]
!Mraize
->''"I hired the hunter I felt best for the task, and I understood the risks."''\\\

One of the Ghostbloods who Shallan meets in the Alethi warcamps.

* TheApprentice: Shallan is surprised to find that he is Iyatil's apprentice, rather than the other way around.
* AwesomeByAnalysis: He likes trying to understand cultures by analyzing their weapons.
* ArcVillain: Is shaping up to be this for Shallan's subplot.
* BizarreAlienSenses: Various scenes imply he possesses Life Sense [[Literature/{{Warbreaker}} from a fairly high Heightening.]]
* BatmanGambit: He acquires a number of priceless paintings of the Heralds, knowing that at some point, it would bring Shalash to him so she could destroy one with her face on it.
* BewareTheHonestOnes: Strangely, for the most notable contact with a secret society, so far as we can tell he has been completely straightforward in all his dealings with Shallan. Manipulative, but open and honest.
* BondCreature: He keeps [[Literature/SixthOfTheDusk an Aviar,]] though the power it grants is unknown.
* ColdHam: He is remarkably dramatic, in an understated way. Just as an example, he leaves a startling note where a Radiant will see it and instinctively draw in Stormlight, darkening the hall. This reveals the lit room where he is waiting for a meeting.
* CollectorOfTheStrange: He likes to collect trophies from around the Cosmere, from [[ComicBook/WhiteSand Taldain sand]] to [[Literature/SixthOfTheDusk an Aviar.]]
* CrypticBackgroundReference: Makes quite a few of these. In ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'', Shallan lampshades that all the information he gives her comes with hints towards things she didn't actually ask about, such as a Surgebinder in Amaram's army who died long before Helaran tried to kill Amaram. [[ManipulativeBastard He's doing it deliberately, stringing her along with more secrets.]]
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Mraize views everyone as either hunters or prey, and it seeps into all his interactions and perspectives.
* DimensionalTraveler: It's not made clear exactly where he's from, but he initially implies and later outright admits he is aware of other worlds. In ''Literature/RhythmOfWar'', [[spoiler:he namedrops [[Literature/{{Warbreaker}} Nalthis]] and [[Franchise/{{Mistborn}} Scadrial]], and comments that the Ghostbloods' interest in Urithiru was in controlling the Oathgates to get free access to Shadesmar. Their intent is to dominate the (literal) power trade by figuring out a way to take the freely-available Investiture in Roshar's highstorms and trade that to other worlds where it is much harder to access.]]
* EvilMentor: He is steadily becoming this to Shallan, giving her genuine praise and instruction and challenge as he works to recruit her.
* GoneHorriblyRight: He wants to [[EvilMentor hone Shallan's skills]] to make her more valuable to the Ghostbloods, and succeeds very well. [[spoiler: His tutelage will be very valuable to her when she comes for him.]]
* ManipulativeBastard:
** He isn't always the best actor, but he is exceptional at giving people what they really want in order to manipulate them.
** His efforts to draw Shallan into the Ghostbloods are particularly effective. He draws her deeper by giving her assignments she already wants to complete, [[SlowlySlippingIntoEvil while encouraging her to push her moral boundaries]] and giving knowledge and instruction she is genuinely interested in as reward. It is subtle enough that, by ''Literature/RhythmOfWar'', Shallan realizes she has essentially been acting as a perfect deep cover agent for the Ghostbloods despite the fact that she is allegedly spying on them.
* MoralityPet: Shallan appears to be his, but it just highlights how cruel he is to everyone else. In ''Literature/RhythmOfWar'', he [[spoiler:kidnaps Lift and sells her into slavery, and abuses his Seon to the point that they're afraid of him]]. He drops it the minute [[spoiler:Shallan moves against him by helping Restares instead of killing him]].
* MysteriousBacker: Shallan has no idea what his end goals are. She initially assumes he's doing something evil, but the fact that he claims [[NotSoDifferentRemark Jasnah had also assassinated several of his people as well]] casts his actions in a different light.
* ObviouslyEvil: He looks like he's been through the wringer, covered with scars and with badly broken and poorly healed fingers.
* PetTheDog:
** He coos over Shallan's drawings like a proud father, and compliments her on completing a task without him even noticing she had attempted it.
--->'''Mraize:''' It is not often that I am proven a fool. Well done.
** At the end of ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance'', he tells Shallan he will bring her family to the Shattered Plains and Urithiru. Not as hostages or in exchange for anything, but as a gift in recognition of Shallan's accomplishments. And he keeps his word.
** Over the course of ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'', he gives Shallan the information she asks for, mostly as a reward for doing things she's already doing in the first place.
** [[NiceToTheWaiter He considers his personal laundrywoman a powerful hunter]] because she is ''very'' good at her job.
* ProperlyParanoid: He keeps on killing cremlings with his blowgun. Partly he's messing around. Mostly he's keeping away Sleepless and Voidspren spies.
* PsychoKnifeNut: part of his EvilMentor schtick is throwing sharp things in Shallan's direction to judge her reactions.
* SecretTestOfCharacter: When he accepts Shallan as a provisional member, he idly notes that while Ghostbloods are not allowed to kill each other, killing provisional members is another story. Shallan takes the hint, and is careful to dodge the assassins that try to follow her.
* SeenItAll: Iyatil mentions that he is ''very'' hard to surprise, as he has apparently seen much in his lifetime.
* SharpDressedMan: Once he gets out of his disguises, Mraize adores finery and well-tailored outfits.
* ThisMeansWar: As of the end of ''Literature/RhythmOfWar'', [[spoiler: he says that Shallan turning on them has put her at war with the Ghostbloods. [[BringIt She is unimpressed,]] and tells him [[IronicEcho she looks forward to the hunt.]]]]
* WouldHurtAChild: Goes after Lift the moment he spots her during the [[spoiler:singer conquest of Urithiru]] in ''Literature/RhythmOfWar''. [[spoiler:He catches her, locks her a [[PowerNullifier small aluminum cage]], and sells her to a Fused.]]

[[folder:Iyatil]]
!Iyatil
->''"I have many times asked myself, why those of you here go about so brazenly with features exposed to all who would see them. My mask reserves my self. Besides, it gives me the ability to adapt."''\\\

A Ghostblood woman who Shallan initially mistakes for a boy, both for her figure and the fact that she wears a mask.

* CoolMask: Her mask is made of some kind of orange carapace, possibly Parshendi. She threatens to kill the ardents who try to remove it. [[spoiler:It's confirmation that she's actually [[Literature/WaxAndWayne a South Scadrian.]]]]
* DimensionalTraveler: She's indirectly confirmed to be a worldhopper by [[spoiler:''Literature/TheBandsOfMourning'', when we meet her people. They are a clan from the southern reaches of Scadrial called the Hunters. All South Scadrians wear masks, but only the Hunters let their faces grow into them.]]
* TheMentor: She's actually Mraize's master, not the other way around. He specifically refers to her as his ''babsk'', the Thaylen word for this.
* MadnessMantra: She fakes one when pretending to be Shallan's crazy sister.
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: When she realizes that Shallan's plan to [[WeNeedADistraction sneak into the ardentia]] is to pretend that Iyatil is her crazy sister. To her credit, she plays along like a champ.

[[folder:Lin Davar]]
!Lin Davar
->''"Everywhere I step, I find only corners. Slowly, they trap me."''\\\

Shallan's abusive father. Revealed posthumously to be a member of the Ghostbloods.

* AbusiveParents: He beat all of his sons and treated them horribly. He would not beat Shallan, but he emotionally abused her by restricting what she could do and punished her for disobeying him by beating the servants instead.
* DomesticAbuse: After Shallan killed her mother, he pretended that he had been the killer to protect her. But the stress of this caused him to become genuinely abusive to his sons and his second wife, Malise Gevelmar, who he later murdered. But not Shallan. Never Shallan.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: As cruel as he became, Lin never stopped loving Shallan.
* KickTheDog: He starts doing this more and more as he slides further into being an abusive father, first by beating his second wife and then beating the servants as a way to punish Shallan for disobeying him. When Nan Balat talks back at him, insinuating Lin is a murderer, he responds by [[EvilIsPetty having Balat's axehound puppies killed.]]
* NotMeThisTime: Lin's an abusive monster and part of a shady organization, but he genuinely didn't kill his first wife.
* PosthumousCharacter: Dead before the story begins, but still gets significant character development in Shallan's flashbacks.
* SecondEpisodeIntroduction: Of a sort. His name is given in ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance'', the second book.
* StartOfDarkness: When he took the blame for the death of his wife and the man who was not her lover, both actually killed by young Radiant Shallan in self defense.

!!Historical Characters

[[folder:Nohadon]]
!Nohadon/Bajerden
->''"I walked from Abamabar to Urithiru."''\\\

A legendary king that wrote the in-universe book "The Way Of Kings", which formed the basis of the Ideals of the Knights Radiant. He is known for uniting the Silver Kingdoms in ancient times. Although a great king, the current Vorin culture dismisses his teachings, and his book was nearly banned.\\\

In one of his visions, Dalinar meets a young king who he believes to be Nohadon. In the aftermath of a Desolation, this young man is distraught, and is worried about how willing spren are to bond with bad people who stir up chaos. He tells Dalinar that he will unite Roshar by force.

* TheGoodKing: He was renowned as one of the greatest kings ever, due to his humility, wisdom, and honor.
* KingIncognito: On his famous walk from Abamabar to Urithiru, he didn't mention his being the king to anyone, so he was unrecognized.
* MetaphoricallyTrue: Subverted; even in his own time, everyone assumed that his famous walk was a metaphor, and he just walked from Abamabar to a city with an Oathgate. But he really did walk all the way to the foothills of Urithiru and then up through the tunnels of the mountain. His only "cheat" was taking a ferry over a river.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Sort of. "Nohadon", the name he's most well known by on Roshar is actually his holy name. Bajerden, the other name he's known by, may not even have been his real name.
* ShroudedInMyth: There are a lot of legends about Nohadon, and some people don't even think he even existed.
* TookALevelInCheerfulness: In his youth, he was quite dour and often thought about how to save the world. In his elderly days, he's much more lighthearted and chirpy, cracking jokes and traveling to the grocery store.

[[folder:The Sunmaker]]
!Sadees "The Sunmaker"

The last man to unite the Alethi highprinces, which he did when he was only seventeen years old.

* TheConqueror: He conquered all of Alethkar in the past.
* {{Expy}}: He is, for all intents and purposes, the Roshar equivalent of Alexander the Great, including how he died young and left his empire to fall apart.
* {{Greed}}: His empire fell when he tried to conquer too much and failed.
* LegendaryWeapon: The Shardblade "Oathbringer" was said to have been his weapon in life.
* WrittenByTheWinners: He's a legendary figure to the Alethi for unifying the nation, defeating its theocracy, and establishing international trade routes that supported a scientific and cultural revolution. Outside Alethkar, he's despised as a genocidal tyrant who killed 10% of the entire population of Azir simply because he didn't have any use for them. That history proves problematic for Dalinar when he tries to ally with countries that Sadees had conquered or menaced.
* YoungAndInCharge: Was the leader of Alethkar when he was only seventeen. This dooms his empire when he meets an early death, since he hadn't considered appointing a successor.

!!Other Characters

[[folder:Eshonai]]
!Eshonai
->''"Where are you, Blackthorn? Why have you not come to face me again?"''\\\

A Parshendi Shardbearer who seems to know Dalinar Kholin, fights him during the Second Battle of the Tower, and can also speak Alethi. She is revealed in ''Words of Radiance'' to be a general of the Parshendi, and due to the respect the other Parshendi have for her, she is essentially their leader. She seeks to save her people by any means possible, even if it requires assuming a dangerous new form and bringing back their people's ancient gods.\\\

Has flashbacks in Book 4, ''Rhythm of War'', alongside her sister Venli.

* AndIMustScream: After she gains stormform, becoming a Voidbringer, she is frequently disturbed by her true self screaming in her head.
* AntiVillain: As with most of the Parshendi, Eshonai's main goal is the defense of her people while trapped between two near-equally bad options: either fight the Alethi in a slow battle of attrition, or allow Gavilar to complete whatever his plans were that would bring back the Parshendi's gods and start up another Desolation.
* BoldExplorer: She wants nothing less than to travel the world by herself, finding new peoples and places. In fact, this wanderlust is what led to the Alethi and the Parshendi meeting in the first place.
* {{BFS}}[=/=]CoolSword: The Shardblade she wields is noted to be big even for a Shardblade.
* CainAndAbel: Eshonai is set up as the Abel to Venli's Cain. [[spoiler: The story then subverts this by turning Eshonai into a TragicVillain and giving Venli a HeelFaceTurn.]]
* ChekhovsGunman: Appears briefly to fight Dalinar in ''The Way of Kings''. ''Words of Radiance'' reveals that she's essentially the leader of the Parshendi, and she plays a very important role in the book.
* DecoyProtagonist: Eshonai is set up to be the main viewpoint character of the series from the singers' side, but dies offscreen between ''Words of Radiance'' and ''Oathbringer'', with Venli becoming the more prominent singer viewpoint.
* DisneyVillainDeath: Adolin headbutts her into a chasm. She's wearing Shardplate at the time, so she probably survived the actual fall, but a highstorm and an Everstorm crashed into each other right above her head, so her survival remains ambiguous. In ''Oathbringer'', she turns out to be dead, having drowned in the dual storm's floodwaters. ''Rhythm of War'' reveals she survived the fall, and fought her damndest to survive the flood, and very nearly succeeded.
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:The last flashback chapter in ''Rhythm of War'' reveals that she recited the oaths in her mind as she drowned, which allowed her to become a Radiant and die free of Odium's corruption.]]
* FightingFromTheInside: After changing to stormform, she gathers all those who refuse to change together, thinking that it will make them easier to execute once the rest of her people are Voidbringers. But she puts some of her closest friends in charge of guarding them, who then lead them down into the chasms, implying that her true self was manipulating her Voidbringer mind into giving them a chance to escape.
* FourStarBadass: A general with a Shardblade. The last Shardbearer among the Parshendi, actually.
* JustYouAndMeAndMyGuards: Rather conspicuously only engages other Shardbearers after they've been weakened by regular Parshendi warriors. Understandable since the Alethi have a considerable advantage in the number of Shards they have.
* KilledOffscreen: She dies in-between Literature/WordsOfRadiance and Literature/{{Oathbringer}}. [[SubvertedTrope Her final moments are shown in a flashback chapter of]] ''Literature/RhythmOfWar''.
* LargeAndInCharge: The highest-ranked Parshendi military leader left alive, and towers over her soldiers at seven feet tall. Looks even bigger since her Shardplate bulges out due to her warform carapace underneath.
* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: She notes that she prefers to act contrary to the instincts the forms force on her. Workers are non-aggressive to a fault; when in workform she sought out confrontation. Mates are playful and useless; she forced herself to remain productive. She even orders her soldiers to attempt to paint while in warform, despite the fact that they are both physically and mentally unsuited for it. This neatly foreshadow the FightingFromTheInside above.
* ShockAndAwe: Gains lightning powers by assuming stormform.
* TragicVillain: [[spoiler:Becomes one once she obtains stormform and loses control of her mind.]]
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: She accidentally caused most of the plot of the series by stumbling upon the Alethi while she was out exploring. Admittedly the Everstorm and the Desolation likely would have happened eventually anyway, but she feels understandably guilty about the exact events leading up to it.
* WorthyOpponent: Thinks of Dalinar this way.

[[folder:Thinker]]
!Demoux

A man searching for Hoid alongside Blunt (Baon) and Grump (Galladon). He's Demoux from ''Mistborn'', and he is now a part of the Worldhopping organization known as the Seventeenth Shard.

* TheCameo: He is Demoux from ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy''.
* DimensionalTraveler: He somehow managed to arrive from Scadrial.
* PlotArmor: WordOfGod is that he will live and get a girlfriend.
* RealPersonCameo: He’s based on a personal friend of [[Creator/BrandonSanderson Brandon’s]].
* ScarsAreForever: He still has the scar he received 300 years ago in ''The Hero of Ages''.

[[folder:Grump]]
!Galladon

A man searching for Hoid alongside Thinker (Demoux) and Blunt (Baon). He's Galladon from ''Elantris'', and he has joined up with the worldhopping organization known as the Seventeenth Shard.

* TheCameo: He is Galladon from ''Literature/{{Elantris}}''.
* DimensionalTraveler: He somehow managed to arrive from Sel.
* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Aside from his occasional lines similar to those from his book of origin in Alethi, he also says a sentence that is noticeable as Duladen.
* YouDontLookLikeYou: His appearance is very different from [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation that which he had]] in the end of ''Literature/{{Elantris}}'', which takes place chronologically prior in Literature/TheCosmere. However, this could be due to [[MasterOfIllusion Selish Lightweaving]].

[[folder:Blunt]]
!Baon

A man searching for Hoid alongside Grump (Galladon) and Thinker (Demoux). He is Baon, a character from ''ComicBook/WhiteSand'', and he has joined the worldhopping organization known as the Seventeenth Shard. He's also an archer.

* TheCameo: He is Baon from ''ComicBook/WhiteSand''.
* TheDitz: Appears to be a bit of one when he tells the others that he wants to use a magic fish to find Hoid. [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight Then again, the fish of the Purelake do show every sign of being magical]].
* EarlyBirdCameo: He appears here before his official debut in ''ComicBook/WhiteSand''.

[[folder:Zahel]]
!Zahel/Vasher
->''"Kid, two people live in this room. The first is a grouchy swordsman who has a soft spot for kids who are in over their heads. He comes out by day. The other is a very, '''very''' grouchy swordsman who finds everything and everyone utterly contemptible. He comes out when some fool wakes him at a horrid hour of the night. I suggest you ask the first man and not the second. All right?"''\\\

A swordsman who instructed Adolin and Renarin in swordsmanship.

* BlindIdiotTranslation: He's prone to spouting odd sayings that confound his interlocutors, then complaining that the language they're speaking has no good idioms. It's left ambiguous if this is the result of TranslatorMicrobes or if he's just being overly literal. This is an early hint that he isn't native to Roshar.
* CynicalMentor: As per usual, he's not a nice person, but he does help.
* DimensionalTraveler: He is actually [[Literature/{{Warbreaker}} Vasher, who somehow traveled from Nalthis to Roshar.]] [[WordOfGod Word of Brandon]] is this isn't his first time.
* MasterSwordsman: Teaches the Kholin brothers swordsmanship.
* MeaningfulRename: His new name is [[https://wob.coppermind.net/events/373-skyward-chicago-signing/#e12060 intentionally close to]] Nahel (like Nahel bond, the bond between a spren and Radiant), which means "connection to the divine." This fits nicely with his status as a [[CameBackStrong Returned]].
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: As a Returned, he's been around for a very, very long time, even before he traveled from Nalthis to Roshar.
* RetiredBadass: Word of Brandon describes his moving from Nalthis to Roshar as retiring. While he doesn't participate in combat anymore, his appearance in ''Rhythm of War'' proves he's still extremely skilled.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rysn and Vstim]]
!Rysn and Vstim

A young Thaylen merchant apprentice and her [[{{Mentor}} babsk]]. Rysm is the protagonist of the novella ''Literature/{{Dawnshard}}''.

* ADayInTheLimelight: Rysn is the protagonist of the novella ''Dawnshard'', which chronicles her voyage to Aimia.
* TheApprentice: Rysn apprentices under Vstim to learn how to become a fully-fledged Thaylen trademaster.
* BondCreatures: Rysn accidentally bonds with a hugely valuable creature called a larkin by [[ItMakesSenseInContext falling off a cliff.]] She names it Chiri-Chiri. It looks sort of like a cute winged crayfish. While we don't know the full significance of this, another character uses a captive larkin to drain the Stormlight from Lift. It can drain and metabolize Voidlight as well.
* CharacterDevelopment: Rysn starts off fairly entitled, judgmental of other cultures, and sulky. By ''Dawnshard'' she's quite embarrassed at her past self, and has grown into an empathetic and skilled trader.
* DontYouDarePityMe: A quiet but emphatic version. Rysn won't tolerate any CondescendingCompassion. And she has had more than enough of well-meaning people asking why she insists on taking care of herself and living as independently as possible when she's rich enough to not need to.
* GoneHorriblyRight: Vstim pretends to be sick so that Rysn has to take the lead in negotiating, but she believes that he's dying and goes to desperate lengths to fulfill what she sees as his last wishes.
* GuileHero: Rysn grows into one over the course of ''Dawnshard'', where she uses the diplomatic skills Vstim taught her to persuade her crew not to turn back despite the Sleepless' repeated sabotage. This culminates her in convincing the Sleepless to bend their centuries-long vigil and let her leave Aimia alive as the Dawnshard.
* HandicappedBadass: Rysn suffers a very nasty fall and has her legs paralyzed. While she is understandably depressed for a time, she goes on to become a badass GuileHero in ''Dawnshard''.
* HonestCorporateExecutive: Vstim. While it doesn't appear that true corporations have evolved quite yet in Thaylenah, they still teach that it's best to screw over your customers and competitors before they do it to you first. Vstim, on the other hand, insists on learning the ways of the culture he is trading with, discovering what they value and treating them with respect. With the Shin, he goes out of his way to provide them Soulcast metal that was not mined directly from stone (since the Shin revere stone), while with the Reshi he participated in a hunt and managed to kill a dangerous creature largely by himself.
* KeepingTheHandicap: After initially struggling with what happened, Rysn eventually accepts her paralysis so thoroughly that even a Knight Radiant can't heal her with Stormlight due to the injury now being part of her self-image.
* {{Mentor}}: Vstim takes Rysn as an apprentice and travels the world with her to pass down his decades of knowledge of trade and the various peoples of Roshar.
* MacGuffinGuardian: Larkins, as it turns out, are the appointed guardians of the Dawnshard. By the end of ''Dawnshard'', Rysn is the MacGuffin in question.
* OddFriendship: Rysn quickly becomes friends with the Lopen, in part [[CommonalityConnection because he understands what she's living with after losing his arm.]]
* OneMansTrashIsAnothersTreasure: A large part of how Vstim makes such a good living is by taking this literally. We see it on several occasions. He trades worthless metal castoffs from Soulcasting training to the Shin, who [[FantasticReligiousWeirdness revere stone and will pay a premium for metal that was never mined.]] He also teaches Rysn about a culture that will buy wormy grain as long as it isn't rotten because the insects are a part of their cuisine.
* SimpleYetAwesome: As a trading strategy. They simply see their job as finding out what people need and supplying it. They aren't looking to cheat anyone or haggle out one sided bargains for things they don't want.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Vstim only briefly appears in the interludes, but he was the one who bought Szeth as a slave from the Shin, and then traded him to the Parshendi, which kicked off the entire plot of the greater story. He also gave Rysn the training she needed to negotiate with the Sleepless and become the Dawnshard, which has truly cosmic implications.
* StrongerWithAge: Larkins are the immature forms of greatshells called lanceryn.
* TheSymbiote: Larkins need to bond with a special form of mandras ('luckspren') found only on Aimia in order to be healthy. The Mandras help it overcome the square-cube law, particularly in order to fly.
* ToBeAMaster: Rysn aims to be a master trader like her babsk Vstim.
* YouAreNotAlone: After her injury she eventually starts corresponding via spanreed with other people living with handicaps. She finds the community and sense of shared experience enormously empowering.

[[folder:Axies]]
!Axies the Collector

A Siah Aimian seeking to learn the secrets of the spren.

* AnimatedTattoo: He marks his body with his notes, and can change their color in order to see them. This is useful, seeing as he is a scientist and is regularly robbed blind.
* CosmicPlaything: He appears to be literally cursed with horrible luck, and is regularly beaten thrown in jail or robbed blind. He never seems to take it hard though, mostly because he [[BewareTheNiceOnes is implied never to be in real danger.]]
* ForScience: He has dedicated his (apparently very long) life to learning the secrets of all spren. He considers going on a bender in a bad part of town to determine if intoxicationspren exist to be perfectly reasonable. They do exist, by the way.
* GottaCatchEmAll: His attitude concerning the spren. Or rather, Gotta Catalogue 'Em All.
* HumanNotepad: Uses his tattoos to store his research notes.
* IronButtMonkey: As mentioned, he is literally cursed with bad luck. The results range from being stripped naked beaten and robbed to [[NoodleIncident somehow offending people enough to be hung upside down from a rope to eventually be fed to a greatshell]]. He's entirely unfazed by all this.
* MuggingTheMonster: According to Vstim's reaction to seeing an Aimian, people are constantly doing this and just don't realize it because he's too nice to fight back. Apparently escaping from being thoroughly tied up, upside-down, ready to be fed to a greatshell shouldn't actually be a problem for him.
* TheShadowKnows: His shadow goes towards the light, rather than away.

[[folder:Helaran Davar]]
!Nan Helaran Davar

->"''We can't have vengeance yet. Balat can't lead the house, and I must be away. Soon, though."''\\\

Eldest child of Lin Davar, heir of the Davar family, and Shallan's oldest brother. He left home after their mother died, as he blamed his father and refused to be in the house with him. He spent much of his time on mysterious errands with unknown groups, and received a full set of Shards soon after he left home the first time. The entire family considered him the greatest and bravest of them.

* CoolSword: He had a Shardblade, given to him by one of his mysterious friends. Amaram ends up with it after Kaladin kills Helaran.
* DarkSecret: He doesn't have one (that we know of), but when Kaladin realizes he killed him, he decides to keep it a secret from Shallan. Eventually Shallan finds out the truth from Adolin, ''but'' she gets over it relatively quickly, realizing Kaladin was just a soldier protecting his highlord at the time and couldn't really be blamed for acting accordingly.
* MysteriousBacker: Someone trusted him a ''lot'' to give him a full set of Shards. Amaram thinks he was a member of the Ghostbloods, and Mraize mentions him, but he also had some dealings with the Skybreakers. Turns out he was with the Skybreakers, and Amaram's assassination was a mission given to him to prove his worth.
* PosthumousCharacter: We only ever see him in flashbacks, because he's revealed to be the shardbearer Kaladin killed at the end of the latter's time serving in Amaram's army, two years prior to the "present day" events of the first novel.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Is one of these, and suffers from one of these.
** On the one hand, killing Kaladin's squad kicked one of the darkest storylines in the books into high gear. He did it for no reason other than that they got in his way--with their spears and his Plate, he literally could have just ignored them if he was feeling merciful.
** On the other hand, if he had been allowed to kill Amaram, not only would that dark storyline have been averted at least to an extent, but the Sons of Honor would have been dealt a crippling blow.

[[folder: Arclo]]
!Arclo

A beggar philosopher camped outside an orphanage in Tashikk, whom Lift befriends on her way through.

* BewareTheQuietOnes: Wipes the floor with two of Nalan's minions, who were seeking to execute him for Surgebinding in the name of their master.
* CoverBlowingSuperpower: Is reported as "vanishing" and "changing his face," and is thus mistaken for a [[MasterOfIllusion Lightweaver]] by two of Nalan's minions. These reports are factually accurate, but the source of Arclo's powers, the VoluntaryShapeshifting of [[TheWormThatWalks a Dysian Aiman]], is entirely different than those of Surgebinders.
* HorrifyingHero: Sleepless are like that. He's harmless enough if not provoked, and he certainly helps Lift, but he is indeed completely horrifying.
* MuggingTheMonster: Two Skybreaker Radiants try to kill him, mistaking him for a Lightweaver. The fight is so one-sided he admits he can't even call killing them self defense.
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: ''Dawnshard'' reveals that the rest of his kind consider him to be a traitor because of his willingness to work with the Radiants.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Lift comes to his defense only moments after he's dispatched the two, thus revealing his secret.
* WalkingSpoiler: There's so much hidden about him that it's a wonder this entry has any normal text at all.
* TheWormThatWalks: He's a Sleepless, a collection of highly specialized cremlings linked in a HiveMind.

[[folder:Queen Fen Rnamdi]]

!Queen Fen Rnamdi

The queen of Theylenah.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Her introduction involves her personally answering Dalinar via spanreed (rather than having a scribe do it), cursing up a storm, and then closing off when Dalinar asks too much.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Although it still takes some convincing, she is still one of the most reasonable rulers Dalanar has to deal with in ''Oathbringer''.
* SirSwearsALot: When the Alethi contact her in ''Oathbringer'', she curses like a sailor, which surprises Dalinar; she was always perfectly polite whenever they spoke. Navani explains that while Fen knows how to affect a courtly demeanor, when she's more comfortable she has a very foul mouth. It's therefore a bad sign when she stops swearing, and Dalinar realizes he's offended her.
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: When Dalinar pulls her into one of his visions, he's absolutely stunned upon discovering that she had rallied the townspeople into an organized militia against the Voidbringers, commenting that she did a better job in the vision then he did. From Queen Fen's point of view, she thought it was all just a dream.

[[folder:Cord]]
!Cord (Hualinam'lunanaki'akilu)

One of Rock's daughters, who came down from the Peaks in ''Oathbringer''. She has the sacred Sight of her people, but disagrees with her father on the best way for the Peaks to survive. She is a major character in the novella ''Dawnshard''.

* IAmXSonOfY: "I am Hualinam'lunanaki'akilu, the daughter of Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamor, the Fal'ala'liki'nor, he who drew the Bow of Hours at the dawn of the new millennium, heralding the years of change!"
-->'''Nikli:''' I... have ''no idea'' what any of that means.\\
'''Cord:''' ...you don't?\\
'''Nikli:''' No.
* KingIncognito: She's actually a princess of her people, and has several sacred rights that others do not--though outsiders are rarely aware of such distinctions. She tries to use her status as the daughter of Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamor to her advantage against the Sleepless, as it is against an ancient pact for the gods to kill her. Turns out the Sleepless weren't involved in that pact.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: She spends most of her time as a cook, and is seeking Shards so that she can fight for her people.
* SecretKeeper: She's one of the few people in Roshar who knows that Rysn holds a Dawnshard.
* SeeTheInvisible: She has the same Sight as her father, and so can see spren at all times. This is why she was brought on the expedition in ''Dawnshard''.

[[folder:The Mink]]
!!Dieno "The Mink" Calah

->''"Alethi bloodlust has cost me many loved ones over the years, but I'd be a fool not to admit the value in pointing it--like the proverbial sword's blade--at '''someone else'''."''\\\

A genius general from Herdaz, known for his escape artistry and surviving impossible situations. The coalition recruits and rescues him in ''Rhythm of War'', after he spent a year holding out against the Fused.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Despite his strange personality quirks, he's an incredibly competent general and a frighteningly talented escape artist.
* EarlyBirdCameo: He shows up in ''Oathbringer'' offering an Alethi rapist a choice of executions, all while the Mink is cheerily practicing with handcuffs.
* EscapeArtist: He's very fond of escaping from handcuffs, and is often seen playing with them.
* HonestAdvisor: He asks Dalinar if he wants the truth or a pleasant lie. Dalinar says he wants the truth, and from then on the Mink does nothing but explain to him exactly what he needs to do--even though it involves abandoning Alethkar.
* NinjaLog: When Kaladin first meets him, he realizes he has disappeared, and what he was actually speaking to was a pile of clothes in the shape of a man. The Mink's bodyguards sigh and say he does this all the time.
* TheWonka: He is, in short, what the Lopen would be if he was a general instead of a Windrunner. More than a little silly, but also extremely competent.

* BewareTheHonestOnes: Strangely, for the most notable contact with a secret society, so far as we can tell he has been completely straightforward in all his dealings with Shallan.

* {{Catchphrase}}: “I am a stick”.

* [[Characters/TheStormlightArchiveMainCharacters Main Characters]] [[note]] Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar, Eshonai, Szeth [[/note]]
* [[Characters/TheStormlightArchiveUrithiru Urithiru]] [[note]] Bridge Four, the Unseen Court, other Radiants [[/note]]
* [[Characters/TheStormlightArchiveAlethkar Alethkar]] [[note]] The Kholin Family (Adolin, Renarin, Dalinar's Wife Evi, Jasnah, Elhokar, Gavilar, Navani, and Aesudan), the Alethi Highprinces (Sadaes, Roioin, Thanadal, Turinad Sebarial, Aladar, Hatham, Vamah, Bethab, and Ruthar), Others From Alethkar (Laral, Tien, Lirin, Hesina, Roshone, Gaz, Meridas Amaram, Cenn, Niter, Danlan, and Azure), Bridge Four (Teft, Rock, Lopen, Shen, Sigzil, Moash, Skar, Drehy, and Lyn) [[/note]]
* [[Characters/TheStormlightArchiveHeraldsKnightsAndSpren Heralds, Knights, and Spren]] [[note]] Heralds of the Almighty (Jezrien, Nale, Chanarach, Vedel, Paliah, Shalash, Battar, Kalak, Talenel, and Ishar), the Knights Radiant (and orders thereof), Radiant Spren (Sylphrena, The Nightwatcher, Pattern, Stormfather, Wyndle, Ivory, Timbre, and Mayalaran), Unmade (Yelig-nar, Sja-anat, Nergaoul, Moelach, Dai-gonarthis, Re-Shephir, Ashertmarn, Ba-Ado-Mishram, and Chemoarish), Other Beings of Magic (Sword-Nimi, Ulim) [[/note]]

* [[Characters/TheStormlightArchiveTheFused The Fused]][[note]]Leshwi, the Pursuer, Raboniel, El[[/note]]

A mysterious group acting in the shadow's of Roshar, with access to resources from other worlds entirely, and rather questionable methods for imposing ther influence.

See [[Characters/TheStormlightArchiveOdiumForces Odium's Forces]]

* AffablyEvil: Unless it's one of his extremely intelligent days where he suffers from a LackOfEmpathy, Taravangian normally respects and sympathizes with his enemies, feels remorse for his terrible actions, and only commits evil acts because he thinks it's the only way to save the world from Odium.
* AGodAmI: A twisted example, in which Taravangian considers the man he was on his day of near-omniscient intelligence to be a god, and what he wrote during that time to be virtually divine scripture. When he sees Odium casually recreate the Diagram in far greater detail, it completely breaks his resistance. [[spoiler: He eventually becomes a god in truth.]]
* BigBad: [[spoiler: Officially usurps this role when he kills Rayse and becomes the new Shardvessel for Odium]].
* TheChessmaster:
** Taravangian is much smarter than he appears, as shown by the multiple levels of backup plans and the specificity of his orders to Szeth. It is also implied that he has other pawns in the waiting.
** Later, it's revealed that he's working off of an immeasurably complex set of documents referred to as the Diagram; a massive set of writings, scribblings, sketches, and rantings that he produced while locked in his chambers on a day when his Old Magic-warped intelligence reached an unprecedented peak, with his compassion decreasing proportionately. The Diagram contains spot-on predictions for events all over the world and is practically a one-stop book of prophecy, but is so complex as to be virtually impossible to interpret.
** In ''Oathbringer'', a day comes when he gains intelligence closer to that day than ever before. He is able to recreate the Diagram on the walls and floors of his room in Urithiru, and then update it based on new information. Most importantly, he stops outright trying to disrupt Dalinar's efforts to play peacekeeper, and instead decides to try and usurp control over the coalition instead.
* LesCollaborateurs: He doesn't believe Odium can truly be beaten and is out to preserve as much of the world as he can. At the end of ''Oathbringer'', Taravangian makes an alliance with Odium, promising him help in exchange for sparing Kharbranth. He intended to originally make a deal for mankind's survival, but Odium met with him on a stupid day and, the survival of his city-state was the best offer he could get.
* ConLang: In-universe. During his most brilliant day, he invented an entirely new language because all existing ones were too imprecise.
* DragonAscendant: [[spoiler:At the end of ''Rhythm of War'', he uses Nightblood to kill Rayse and becomes the new vessel of Odium.]]
* DumbIsGood:
** Despite seeming stupid, he is unusually kind and compassionate for a king. He notes that his compassion and his intelligence seem to be inversely linked, so that he's kinder on his stupider days. Also defied: he specifically notes that this isn't the case for most people.
** On an average day in ''Oathbringer'', he expressed the belief that this was the price the Nightwatcher gave him; he can have the wisdom and acumen to help his people, just not both at once.
* TheEmpath: He believes that he varies between "smart" and "stupid" days. However, on his supposedly "stupid" days, he is actually an ''empathic'' genius, able to perfectly read people's emotions. This lets him manipulate and eventually kill Rayse.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He has grandchildren he adores and wants to ensure they never learn of the Diagram, or what he's done to realise its designs. He also has a close and affectionate relationship with Adrotagia, his second-in-command, going back to their youth.
* EvilOldFolks: He's a WellIntentionedExtremist old enough to have grandchildren.
* IAmAMonster: Szeth calls him one, and he doesn't object to it at all. His viewpoint chapters indicate that he really does agree.
-->'''Taravangian:''' Yes, but I am the monster who will save this world.
* InsufferableGenius: When he is in his intelligent mode, he is supremely arrogant in his intelligence. He's also ''dangerous'' in his intelligence and the arrogance associated with it. Being too self-assured in his intellect can be just as deadly as being too stupid, after all, which is why his staff has a limit, set up by him on one of his more balanced days, to how smart he can be before cutting him off from making policy decisions and interacting with people. He even tries to fool it on particularly intelligent days by deliberately failing certain questions, but his friends and subordinates are smart enough to catch on to the deception.
** His hyperintelligent sociopathy is, in some ways, fortunate for his advisors. When supremely intelligent he doesn't have the empathy to treat his advisers as intelligent in their own right. Which means he doesn't respect them enough to not be obvious when faking his test results, [[LoopholeAbuse scoring exactly below the threshold rather than a more sophisticated deception.]] Unfortunately for him, and fortunately for everyone else, they aren't having it.
* {{Irony}}: Jasnah thinks he is a great king for maintaining peace and prosperity without war, while other kingdoms think he's weak for the same reasons. He's actually working to plunge the entire world into war to put himself on top. Jasnah would be especially horrified to know that he's doing this in an attempt to weather the coming Desolation.
* LackOfEmpathy: He gets less empathetic and more ruthless the more intelligent he gets, as mentioned under DumbIsGood. On one of his more intelligent days, he sees nothing wrong with ordering the deaths of a choir of children that was distracting him rather than just telling them to stop singing. Luckily, he took precautions to limit his authority on those kinds of days, so the people he surrounds himself with don't act on those kinds of orders.
** [[spoiler: Subverted in the end. It’s Passion and Intelligence that are alternating. His dumbest day is when he kills Odium, making him the best candidate to be the new Odium.]]
* LeonineContract: In more ways than one. Taravangian believes he MUST make a deal with Odium to save anyone, while Odium only has to make an exchange if he thinks the price is right. Second, Odium can tell how intelligent Taravangian is on any given day, so Odium only shows up to negotiate on his stupider days, putting Taravangian at a huge disadvantage.
* LoopholeAbuse:
** At one of his moderately intelligent days, he created a series of tests to keep him from making any decrees when too far along either end of the intelligence scale. In ''Oathbringer'', he purposefully pretends that he can't understand a question in order to bypass this, though one of his advisors figures it out.
** His entire plan is predicated on one of these. He'll make a deal with Odium so that everyone he rules will be spared, and then take control of the entire world. Odium derails the entire Diagram simply by saying no, because he's not an idiot. It's possible that Taravangian could have made the deal work on one of his smarter days... which is why Odium came to him on one of his stupider ones. He then agrees to Odium's offer to spare his city, its residents, and those married to said residents.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Taravangian's solutions to problems usually start with killing people, often well beyond necessity. On his more intelligent days he does things like ordering a choir of children to be killed (rather than just requesting they stop singing) or decreeing that all unintelligent people should commit suicide for the good of society. Even his more empathetic days aren't immune, as shown when he and Dalinar discuss a problem in ''The Way of Kings'' where three men are guilty and one man is innocent, but there's no way to tell who. Dalinar eventually reveals that Nohadon solved it by [[TakeAThirdOption imprisoning all four]], and Taravangian's response is that he is a coward and the true, moral response would be to kill all four.
* NecessarilyEvil: He fully admits to being a monster, but only because he believes it's the only way to save mankind from Odium.
* NeverLearnedToRead: Averted; in his interlude, he casually mentions that he learned the womens' script years ago.
* NotSoOmniscientAfterAll: The Diagram is supposed to accurately predict everything and come up with the perfect plan to spare the world from Odium's wrath, and everything Taravangian is doing is following this Diagram slavishly due to this perfection. Unfortunately, the Diagram ''isn't'' perfect, there are several things it incorrectly predicts or fails to predict, and the fact that there are multiple different interpretations means that even when the Diagram is accurate, it's flawed in that it can easily be misinterpreted.
* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: He proves willing to sacrifice his life for his cause. He reveals his hand while he is in Dalinar's power, after having made himself useless as a hostage and disassociating himself from all his friends and family so that he can't be used against them. He points out that this is proof of his sincerity; Dalinar, on the other hand, says that he's just trying to martyr himself and become known posthumously as the one who did everything to save what he could. Dalinar believes that, despite what he says, Taravangian wants to be proven ''right'' in his extreme measures. [[spoiler:When push comes to shove, when he kills Rayse and becomes Odium and therefore gains the power to end the war with minimal trouble... he decides to continue with Rayse's plan to conquer the Cosmere. Meaning that Dalinar was right, he really did only want power in the end, just not in the way that most warlords and dictators do.]]
-->'''Dalinar Kholin:''' I think you saw a chance to be an emperor, and you took it. You wanted power, Taravangian—so you could give it up. You wanted to be the glorious king who sacrificed himself to protect everyone else. You have always seen yourself as the man who must bear the burden of leading. [...] Because you like it. [...] Because you want to be known as the one who saved us.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: ZigzaggedTrope. It isn't obfuscated at all, but it's more complicated than that. Most of the other lighteyes in Kharbranth consider Taravangian somewhat slow and unskilled at politics. In reality, he is at the head of a large conspiracy which has resulted in the deaths of many nameless citizens just to harvest information, and the killings of several very important foreign dignitaries. However, he used the Old Magic at some point, with his IQ changing at random each day: he can be intelligent or not, day by day. The deception comes in that he only allows people to interact with him when he is average or worse.
* RoomFullOfCrazy: On his most intelligent day, he created "the Diagram" by drawing on every available surface in his chamber. The transcribed version includes notations indicating where a passage of text was located in the room. During ''Oathbringer'', he creates an updated version in Urithiru based on developments that have occurred since the original.
* SecretlySelfish: Dalinar accuses Taravangian of being this, of wanting to be the glorious king who sacrificed himself to save everyone else. [[spoiler: When Taravangian kills Rayse and becomes Odium, he realizes that he could save the entire world by simply doing nothing... but instead decides to continue with and improve on Rayse's conquest plans, believing that only he can fix the Cosmere.]]
* SmugSnake: Make no mistake - on his good days, Taravangian is terrifyingly intelligent. Unfortunately, he wasn't prepared for Odium to only ever visit him on his stupid days...
* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:Odium tries to kill Taravangian for his betrayal on one of Taravangian's stupid days to avoid being outwitted. However, Taravangian is able to remember just enough of the Diagram to steal Nightblood from Szeth and kill Rayse. And since it’s the day Taravangian is at his least intelligent, it’s also the day he’s at his most passionate, making him immediately take up the Shard as the new Odium.]]
* SurroundedByIdiots: On his more intelligent days. He once seriously considered banning anyone below a certain intelligence threshold from reading because they wouldn't appreciate it.
* TakeOverTheWorld: His initial goals are to conquer the entire world, as the Diagram said that he could [[LoopholeAbuse negotiate with Odium to spare his people, and if he ruled the whole world, he could argue that all of mankind were his.]] Odium, however, saw this coming and simply refused to negotiate while Taravangian was smart enough to actually get that concession out of him.
* TooCleverByHalf: He makes an insanely complicated plan to stop Odium and save the world. It's stopped by Odium simply walking in and reading the plan himself on one of his stupider days...
** [[spoiler:...which was part of Cultivation’s plan to use him as a pawn to kill Rayse.]]
* VillainousFriendship: With his right-hand-woman and closest friend, Adrotagia. They've been close since their youth and call one another by their childhood names, Vargo and Adro.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Taravangian is willing to go to any length to save the world. But what makes him ''truly'' dangerous in this regard is that he goes to such lengths ''so that others won't have to''. Thus far, he's released Szeth to go on an incredible killing spree, reduced the nation of Jah Kaved to burned-out anarchy, and countless other crimes. [[spoiler:When he becomes Odium, he decides to use his newfound power to save everyone, with some rather sinister implications.]]
-->'''The Diagram:''' Q: For what essential must we strive? A: The essential of preservation, to shelter a seed of humanity through the coming storm. Q: What cost must we bear? A: The cost is irrelevant. Mankind must survive. Our burden is that of the species, and all other considerations are but dust by comparison.
* XanatosGambit: Taravangian sets this as his focus for strategy once he [[spoiler:becomes Odium's Shardvessel, prioritizing win-win situations and LoopholeAbuse over Rayse's preferred high-risk-high-reward strategy]]. Time will tell how this plays out.

[[folder:In Gereral]]

* RogueSplinterFaction: In ''Literature/TheLostMetal'', TwinSoul's narration speaks of Iyatil "running amok on Roshar", and there is a notable disconnect between what we've seen of the Scadrian and Rosharan branches of the Ghostbloods.

[[folder:Thaidakar]]
!Thaidakar

The leader of the Ghostbloods. A shadowy figure who wants the secrets of Roshar for himself.

A legendary king that wrote the in-universe book "Literature/TheWayOfKings", which formed the basis of the Ideals of the Knights Radiant. He is known for uniting the Silver Kingdoms in ancient times. Although a great king, the current Vorin culture dismisses his teachings, and his book was nearly banned.\\\

* ADayInTheLimelight: Rysn gets her own novella in ''Dawnshard''.

* ADayInTheLimelight: Rysn is the protagonist of the novella ''Dawnshard'', which chronicles her voyage to Aimia.

* TheGhost: Despite being a very important character, he hasn't been seen yet. As of ''Literature/RhythmOfWar'', this is heavily implied to [[spoiler: be literal as well as figurative]].

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Mraize claims that he's suffering from a similar "ailment" as the Heralds, which would mean [[spoiler: that he's a Cognitive Shadow stapled to a body]].

* RedBaron: He is known as [[spoiler:the "Lord of Scars."]] It’s all but stated that he’s really [[spoiler:''[[Characters/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy Kelsier]]'']].
* WalkingSpoiler: It’s hard to talk about him without mentioning he’s [[spoiler:Kelsier. And the mere fact that he’s still around is a HUGE spoiler for the ''Franchise/{{Mistborn}}'' series.]]

* DontYouDarePityMe: A quiet but emphatic version. Rysn won't tolerate any CondescendingCompassion. And she has had more than enough of well -eaning people asking why she insists on taking care of herself and living as independently as possible when she's rich enough to not need to.

* WeaponOfChoice: He has a notable fondness for blowguns.