History Characters / TheWheelOfTimeTaveren

* ReadingsAreOffTheScale

* ItsAllMyFault: Usually regarding his inability to protect Faile from this or that threat, but absent that, he still finds plenty of other things to beat himsself up over.

* PragmaticHero: Grows into one as part of his CharacterDevelopment. When mulling over how to defeat his Forsaken opponent Graendal, he decides that because [[TheChessmaster she's more cunning than him]] he doesn't stand much chance of beating her at her own game. So, he simply decides not to play it, lulling her into a false sense of security and then just blowing up her entire castle with Balefire, killing her and everyone else inside it. [[spoiler:''She'' narrowly escapes; the rest of the castle is not so fortunate.]]

** Inversion: The [[spoiler:Sharans]] also have a chosen one called [[spoiler:Dragonkiller, that is to say the one who will kill Rand]].
* CoolButInefficient: the whole FlamingSword thing. The most powerful channeler ever to live, and this is what he does with it? Invoked by [[PsychoExGirlfriend Lanfear]] in one of her (many) attempts to get him to come to the dark side.

* BecauseDestinySaysSo, Mat will have to: 1) [[HandicappedBadass give up half]] [[EyepatchOfPower the light of the world]] [[AnArmAndALeg to save the world]]; 2) come BackFromTheDead; and 3) marry the Daughter of the Nine Moons.
* BlackComedyRape: Elayne jokes about how he's getting a taste of his own medicine, although she does apologize.
* BladeOnAStick: His WeaponOfChoice is some sort of curve-bladed spear, called an "''ashandarei''," which he uses as a quarterstaff. Prior to this he subscribed to the ArcherArchetype and SimpleStaff schools of thought. He also has a [[KnifeNut ton of knives]], primarily for throwing. [[spoiler:The spear turns out to be a ChekhovsGun that can open portals between the Finn's world and Randland.]]

* BornLucky: Especially as he comes into his power as a ''ta'veren''. He practically can't go for a walk without tripping over a ChekhovsGun. [[spoiler: If that wasn't enough to clue you in, consider the name of his wife: Fortuona (Fortune). Mat is married to Lady Luck.]]

* GenreSavvy: He becomes increasingly so after [[spoiler: gaining the memories and super luck. He ends up figuring out how to navigate and escape the Tower of Ghenjei, quickly realizes that something's wrong with Gareth Bryne in The Last Battle, and that there's a spy hiding in plain sight in the Seanchan command post.]]

* InstantExpert: After picking up an ArtifactOfDoom and being cured of its HatePlague, 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 TheStrategist with ease.]]

* MoralityChain: [[spoiler: For Tuon. Had he not been present at the negotiations between Egwene and Tuon in Book 14, things would not have ended well for either woman.]]

* KatanasAreJustBetter: His WeaponOfChoice; even the FlamingSword that he generates out of magic is fashioned on one.

** PastLifeMemories: And before meeting the Eelfinn, there are many hints that Mat's GeneticMemory isn't all that generic. Some of his Old Tongue outbursts and memories suggest he was previously a top-ranking Manatheren general, or even a king.

* ''UpbringingMakesTheHero: True to some extent for all ''Wheel of Time'' protagonists, but particularly the Two Rivers characters, whose idealic/character-building rural upbringing seems to have prepared them to handle real power with humility and perspective. Or so the plot seems to scream, anyway.

'''Rand:''' But this.... [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans this]] [[LampshadeHanging isn't about blacksmithing]], Perrin...\\

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: [[spoiler:Subverted. Rand's goal near the end of the series is to not seal the Dark One away again, but to kill him completely. However, as he learns during his duel and fully acknowledges when he has the Dark One in his grasp, fully capable of destroying him forever, that would just make his situation [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood that]] [[CrapsaccharineWorld much]] [[NotSoDifferent worse]]. So, instead, he seals the Bore completely.]]

* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: It's mentioned that because he is so strong, he could very easily hurt people by accident if he didn't keep himself under control. This is responsible for his GentleGiant nature.

* WhatYouAreInTheDark: The final moment of the Last Battle is this for Perrin: [[spoiler:[[SadisticChoice allow Lanfear to Compel him so as to kill Moiraine and Nynaeve, make Lews Therin serve her, and save the Dark One thus putting him in Lanfear's debt, or break free of the Compulsion and stop her...by killing her]].]] The MoralDilemma is played for all the drama and heartache it could be, since Perrin is both a pacifist at heart (and has seen the dangers of violent ways both through his own axe and the fate of Aram) and a chivalric fellow like Mat and Rand. But in the end he chooses the second option...and while the LesserOfTwoEvils, Perrin and the author don't let the reader forget it was still an evil option. Nevertheless, Perrin resolves never to let Rand or anyone else know what he did--not because he views himself as having failed morally, but because he feels his actions were questionable and he doesn't want to burden anyone (namely Rand) with such painful tasks and choices.

* AnimalMotifs: Is associated both with [[CunningLikeAFox foxes]], to show he is TheTrickster, and ravens, to show he is [[CleverCrows clever]] and [[CreepyCrows dangerous]]. (Both also have mythological significance)

* TheTrickster: One of his defining traits, so much so that [[spoiler: the forces of Light can't figure what he's planning during The Final Battle until it's already happened.]]

* {{Adorkable}}: He remains completely oblivious when all the young Tinker women make advances on him in tEotW.

* PersonOfMassDestruction: All channelers are to a degree, but Rand stands out due to his sheer strength.

* AchievementsInIgnorace: It's implied that he is able to deflect balefire in ''Tel'aran'rhiod'' because he doesn't know that ''nothing'' can block or deflect balefire.

* TheGoodKing: Played with. During his early days of governing Tear, he's surprisingly effective, using his strong position to push reforms through and playing the Tairen lords against each other to keep his authority secure, with help from Moiraine and Thom. As he starts accumulating more and more kingdoms, however, he's less and less able to keep things under control, which his not helped at all by his habit of Travelling between cities every few days and leaving governance in the hands of other people (who aren't always popular with the locals).

** HappilyAdopted: Meanwhile, this little baby on the mountain, not even named, was found by a survivor of said battle, Tam al'Thor, who took him in and brought him home to his wife, Kari.

* HappilyAdopted: Meanwhile, this little baby on the mountain, not even named, was found by a survivor of said battle, Tam al'Thor, who took him in and brought him home to his wife, Kari.

* GrayEyes: Sometimes appearing as blue eyes in the right lighting.

* BadassNormal: Well, for varying values of "normal." Mat has luck, an AntiMagic artifact and his Eelfinn memories. That doesn't seem like much next to the OneManArmy we call Rand, but part of the fun Robert Jordan has in the series is PlayingWith the idea of PowerLevels without actually marking them up: Mat is just as dangerous as Rand, in his own way, and is ''certainly'' a better tactician.

* MeaningfulRename: In Book 14, Tuon renames him" Knotai" ("Bringer of Destruction to the Enemies of the Empire"). However, only the Seanchan call him that.

* AnAxeToGrind: A half-moon axe, until he throws it away [[spoiler:after [[ColdBloodedTorture chopping off a man's hand]] with it before the Battle of Malden]].

* DropTheHammer: Robert Jordan milks this symbolism -- axe vs hammer, creation vs destruction, Perrin the man vs Lord Goldeneyes the leader -- for all it's worth. [[spoiler:After going through several hammers, he ends up constructing ''[[HotBlade Mah'alleinir]]'', a Power-wrought hammer that is warm to the touch, but burns Shadowspawn it hits. This is implied to be his final WeaponOfChoice.]]

* Beastmaster: "Let us hunt, Young Bull."

* AnimalEyeSpy: Perrin can sense wolfs at a distance and get an impression of what they are experiencing.

* GoodParents: 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 [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments heartwarming]] [[SoProudOfYou interactions]] [[BerserkButton and]] [[PapaWolf fierce]] [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome protectiveness]] of his son in the latest books, it's ''very'' clear why Rand loves his [[BadassNormal father]] so much.

A troublemaker with a penchant for jokes, women, wine and gambling, Mat was stolen away on Winternight at the same time Rand was. Figuring he was just being swept along on an adventure, Mat had no idea that he too was a ''ta'veren'', almost as important to the Light as Rand is. While he can't channel, Mat has developed an impressive array of badass powers and has become a FourStarBadass. He also has more SugarWiki/FunnyMoments to his name than the whole rest of the cast combined.

** Subversion: in A Memory of Light we learn that [[spoiler:he makes plants grow by quietly singing a song that makes plants grow]].

* HeroicBastard: His biological parents weren't married to each other.

* BrokenRecord: He litany of self-doubts re-asserts itself over and over throughout the run of the series.