History Characters / TheWheelOfTimeTheShadowAndDarkfriends

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: "Lanfear" comes from the French ''l'enfer'': Hell.

** NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: In addition to the above, "Lanfear" comes from the French ''l'enfer'': Hell.

"The Shadow Amyrlin", she is a teacher, organizer, and researcher from the Age Of Legends. She got turned down for a field study and was relegated to an educator's role, [[EvilIsPetty so she turned to the Shadow]]. As far as Forsaken go, she's pretty okay for a person, though she still [[CorruptionOfAMinor conditioned legions of children into an army of little monsters that were capable of murder]]. She is among the most dangerous because of her refusal to scheme and plot against and with the other Forsaken (though she does form a non-aggression pact with Semirhage and Demandred) and instead focuses on the "down and dirty" aspects of winning this war. Up until her FateWorseThanDeath she is ''by far'' the most successful of all the Forsaken in doing this, causing a schism in the White Tower that nearly destroyed it and murdering countless Aes Sedai.

* DragonWithAnAgenda: Though they'll all obey the Dark One when directly commanded (it would be [[TooDumbToLive rather suicidal not to, after all]]), in terms of their day-to-day lives they're generally much more concerned with satisfying their personal ambitions than they are with actually serving the Shadow's cause. Ishamael is the chief exception to this.

* HumanoidAbomination: Subverted. The people of the present Age consider them to be this, but they're actually just very powerful, very evil humans.

* NormalFishInATinyPond: More like ''Big'' Fish In A Tiny Pond. At the beginning, the heroes live in constant fear of the Forsaken because they know that they (the heroes) would be hopelessly outclassed in a fight; it's actually a really big moment when one of them (Nynaeve, the strongest good-guy female there is) discovers that she is actually able to ''match'' one of the weaker Forsaken blow-for-blow. But even at the end, after those heroes have all [[TookALevelInBadass taken numerous levels in Badass]], the Forsaken continue to present a credible threat: the FinalBattle, which involves the vast majority of the Light's strongest channelers and like twenty-five narrators, revolves around taking down just ''three'' of them. And it takes ''four'' {{Heroic Sacrifice}}s to do it.

* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Multiple Forsaken have this attitude toward Rand. Of course, the Dark One will reward whoever manages to take him out (as long as they do it according to the rules; he frequently doesn't want Rand killed), but ItsPersonal for several. Demandred, Sammael, and Be'lal all want revenge and can't agree to work together for it. Lanfear just wants her ex back (and is happy to use MindControl to get him); obviously, this isn't compatible with the goals of the previous three, or with Graendal's mind control. (Graendal would be happy to use it on him, though she's not as into it as the others.) Ishamael wants Rand to serve the Dark One at any cost, though he'll kill him if need be and wait for the next cycle to turn him. Finally, all of them are opposed to Padan Fain getting to do the deed.

* TheAntichrist: Sees himself as this, representing The Dark One as a counterpart to The Dragon, who is the MessianicArchetype for The Pattern. [[spoiler:He's right.]]

* ArmchairMilitary: The Guide notes that during the War of Power, his official rank was Chief Captain-General of the Shadow -- despite the fact that he had no military experience and is never recorded to have actually led troops in person. [[spoiler: As Moridin, he largely dispenses with even that, leaving the running of the military side of things almost exclusively to Demandred while preparing for his personal confrontation with Rand]].

* CameBackStrong: As part of his resurrection as Moridin the Nae'blis, he is rid of the damage of 3 millenia of touching the [[PowerAtAPrice True Power]] and is granted near unlimited access to it, he's significantly more sane, he's given a fresh body at its physical prime, and the Dark One gifts him direct control over two of the other Forsaken as well.

* MsFanservice: [[spoiler:Women would describe Aran'gar as the type of woman who would be dreamed up by a lascivious man, with a thin waist, wide hips, a full bosom, and an overall striking beauty. Considering his prior life, the Dark One probably made him appear this way as an ironic punishment.]]

* BerserkButton: Don't tell him he's second best. Ever. And especially don't talk about how awesome / superior Lews Therin or Rand al'Thor are / is.

* TheDreaded: Cements himself as this during the Last Battle; not only is he now a [[spoiler:OneManArmy and NighInvulnerable, he completely dominates almost everyone who confronts him personally with his swordsmanship skills. He's also the toughest enemy general Mat has ever faced on the battlefield.]] Even Logain refers to Demandred as a monster after an ill-fated showdown with him, and Elayne fears that he's surpassed ''[[WorldsStrongestMan Rand]]''.

* DragonTheirFeet: [[spoiler:She outlives Demandred and, against her nature, decides to openly take over as general of the Shadow's forces for a short time. She's also the last Forsaken standing at the end of the series... or at the least the last one who remains herself.]]

* TheMole: During the War, she was the only one of The Forsaken who did not publicly announce her allegiance in some manner after turning to the Shadow, meaning that she was still "officially" on the side of the Light even when actually on the side of the Shadow. Thus, she was an invaluable servant, destroying the forces of the Light from the inside with nobody the wiser, but was in a bit of a quandry once she was found out. [[spoiler: She plays the role again during the Last Battle, infiltrating the Seanchan command center disguised as a servant and feeding Demandred intel on their every move]].

* WorthyOpponent: As shown in Book 14, it seems to view Rand this way, or rather the Dragon as a whole. [[spoiler:It calls him "Adversary" in their battle.]]

* TheArchmage: All of them were top-tier channelers by Age of Legends standards, which puts most of them at a truly epic stature compared to Third Age channelers (and with the egos to match). In particular, Ishamael (who wasn't the most powerful male channeler ever only because he was neck-and-neck with Lews Therin for the position), Lanfear (who is factually the most powerful female channeler, ever), Aginor, Demandred, and Rahvin were noted for this.

* NighInvulnerable: Certain Darkhounds have all the regular Darkhounds' deadliness, plus the power to reform after being mortally injured. The only sure-fire way to kill them is with [[DeathRay balefire]]. [[spoiler:Perrin's [[DropTheHammer Power-wrought hammer]] [[HotBlade Mah'allenir]] can also kill them.]]

* NormalFishInATinyPond: More like ''Big'' Fish In A Tiny Pond. At the beginning, the heroes live in constant fear of the Forsaken because they know that they (the heroes) would be hopelessly outclassed in a fight; it's actually a really big moment when one of them (the strongest good-guy female there is) discovers that she is actually able to ''match'' one of the weaker Forsaken blow-for-blow. But even at the end, after those heroes have all [[TookALevelInBadass taken numerous levels in Badass]], the Forsaken continue to present a credible threat: the FinalBattle, which involves the vast majority of the Light's strongest channelers and like twenty-five narrators, revolves around taking down just ''three'' of them. And it takes ''four'' {{Heroic Sacrifice}}s to do it.

** The heinous deeds that inspired their status as TheDreaded took place over three thousand years before the series begins. This is particularly obvious with Asmodean, Demandred, and Mesaana, who come across as three of the least evil Forsaken largely because their worst atrocities[[note]]maiming his competition and having his mother killed by Trollocs for Asmodean, wiping out entire cities who disrespected him for Demandred, and brainwashing children to be {{Tykebomb}}s for the Shadow for Mesaana[[/note]] occurred in the backstory and are never directly relevant to their present-day role.

* NotSoHarmlessVillain: In ''Towers of Midnight'' she [[spoiler:uses her knowledge of Tel'aran'rhiod to create a new basement level, lures Egwene there with no chance of rescue, and captures her using an ''a'dam'', and if Egwene hadn't had a EurekaMoment allowing her to surmount her fear and escape she would have been [[{{Brainwashed}} compelled]] into being Mesaana's puppet.]]

* SpearCounterpart: He's basically the male version of Graendal, from the hedonistic tendencies to the ManipulativeBastard style of operating to the love of compelling people to adore him.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:Rand would almost certainly gone insane if she hadn't arranged for Asmodean to teach him to use the One Power properly. This was intentional on her part, but only because she wanted him to [[WeCanRuleTogether rule the world with her]], and this doesn't happen. She also unwittingly helps the Light by teaching Rand how to use the portal stones, and teaching Perrin more about the World of Dreams.]]

* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:All that stuff about her real death? ''It was all a trick''. According to Creator/BrandonSanderson himself, approved by Team Jordan, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTwpNP67A4M revealed 10 years to the day after AMoL was released (January 6th, 2022)]], her "death" was an elaborate trick to get Team Light off of her back while making sure that the Dark One is defeated. She gets to live her life as perhaps the most powerful channeler alive (and second most powerful person after Rand) and do exactly as she pleases with absolutely nobody the wiser.]]

* FromNobodyToNightmare: ''Good God''. From a darkfriend peddler to a deadly, manipulative sorcerer to [[spoiler: an EldritchAbomination]].

An anti-channeling assassin created during the Age of Legends and kept [[HumanPopsicle in a stasis box]] until the present time in the Third Age. ''Gholam'' are completely immune to channeling, which may be why only six were ever made. Only one actually appears in the series proper, but his behaviors and near indestructibility has made him one of the more notable single Shadowspawn.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The word ''gholam'' is always italicized in print.

The "Friends of the Dark" or "Darkfriends", as they are commonly known, are the rank and file servants and worshippers of the Dark One, present from the Age of Legends down to the current Age. In the present, they are a nebulous but invisible force that have agents at every level of society and in almost every field -- the Black Ajah of the Aes Sedai are in many ways just a specific group of Darkfriends -- lured by promises of immortality and power. In practice, most Darkfriends in the current Age operated more as kind of international secret society / cult / crime syndicate, and few believed that the Dark One would be returning in their lifetimes or that they would be called upon to serve him... until the Forsaken Ishamael summoned them in numbers proclaiming that the time to serve the Dark had come...

* IncrediblyInconvenientDeity: Your average Darkfriend was quite happy to join the cause of the Shadow for the very simple reason that they either doubted the Dark One existed or, at the very least, did not believe that He would show up anywhere in their lifetime. Their collective reaction ranges from ecstatic fanaticism to abject horror that they will have to actually ''do'' something to help bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt rather than simply use their connections to make an easy life for themselves, or have their fantasies of being specially chosen by the Dark One himself tested and shattered as they are exposed as disposable pawns who [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness have to prove their worth or suffer death.]]

* ItsAllAboutMe: The true core of the Dark One's personality seems to be selfishness. WordOfGod is that this is the single common character trait shared by all of his followers. [[spoiler:The second potential reality he shows Rand (and implies is most likely what he'd create) isn't ''too'' terrible to live in compared to, say, the Blight, but every human has had their empathy surgically removed to be just like him. He sums it up thusly: THERE IS ONLY ME.]][[invoked]]

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Shai'tan. That's not even getting into his ''titles'', mentioned above...

* OmnicidalManiac: [[spoiler: Though during his confrontation with Rand, a void is only one of the possibilities he shows if he wins -- the other two are both dystopias, one more blatant than the other. Rand thinks that the peace of nonexistence isn't something he'd really be capable of giving in the end]].

** Somewhat subverted, it is heavily implied that the Creator has made many universes, each with its own Dark One. Should one break free and destroy that universe, the Creator just moves on. Meaning that the Creator also made each Dark One, and is wholly on a much higher level than all of them.

* NoBiologicalSex: Due to having no body. Though most characters just use male pronouns, it's not really accurate, [[spoiler: and Rand ends up just settling on "it" during their duel]].

* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:He's easily the [[ReadingsAreOffTheScale strongest channeler]] and [[GeniusBruiser greatest strategist]] the evil side has at the battlefields of the Last Battle, but he's eventually killed by [[BadassNormal Lan]], a man whose greatest skill is [[MasterSwordsman swordsmanship]] and the willingness to tank a mortal blow just to kill his opponent.]]

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

* MarsNeedsWomen: They have a strange and disturbing penchant for raping human women. Best not to speculate on exactly what they get out of it.

* SealedEvilInACan: The weakening of the can is a main plot element, though technically it's outside the can, trying to break in[[note]] The Dark One is sealed outside of time. The Age of Legends Aes Sedai who accidentally discovered him created the Bore, a passage into the Dark One's prison that didn't allow him to escape completely, but let him touch the world. The Bore isn't really in any particular location, but is most easily accessed from the Pit of Doom at the heart of the mountain Shayol Ghul. Though the Dark One isn't actually inside Shayol Ghul, as far as most people are concerned, he might as well be[[/note]].

In the previous War of Power, Lews Therin led the forces of light supported by a team of lieutenants and trusted advisers. Many died, but others became {{Fallen Hero}}es and joined with The Shadow and The Dark One. These best-and-brightest were called "The Chosen" (short for "Chosen to Rule the World Forever") by the servants of the Shadow, "The Forsaken" by everyone else. It's thought there were originally about thirty Forsaken with various talents, ranging from military generals to doctors, scientists, artists, philosophers and so on. The [[ThirteenIsUnlucky thirteen]] most powerful Forsaken were trapped at Shayol Ghul at the moment Lews Therin sealed The Dark One's prison. There they have remained, largely suspended in time... and with the Seals wearing down, they are starting to break free.\\

In the previous War of Power, Lews Therin led the forces of light supported by a team of lieutenants and trusted advisers. Many died, but others became {{Fallen Hero}}es and joined with The Shadow and The Dark One. These best-and-brightest were called "The Chosen" (short for "Chosen to Rule the World Forever") by the servants of the Shadow, "The Forsaken" by everyone else. There were originally about thirty Forsaken with various talents, ranging from military generals to doctors, scientists, artists, philosophers and so on. The [[ThirteenIsUnlucky thirteen]] most powerful Forsaken were trapped at Shayol Ghul at the moment when Lews Therin placed the sealed The Dark One's prison. There they have remained... and with the Seals wearing down, they are starting to break free.\\

The Forsaken are a QuirkyMinibossSquad composed of NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast -- literally, since each of them took a MeaningfulRename after they turned to the Shadow. They are just one step below TheDragon ("Nae'blis") to the BigBad himself; most of them are of the CardCarryingVillain variety, and they often fight amongst themselves over who is going to ''be'' Nae'blis. (This level of DividedWeFall is implied to be one of the main reasons The Shadow hasn't won yet, though it's also something the Dark One is implied to actively look for in lieutenants: it prefers pure evil villains over stabler but less selfish minions.) They are here in the story's "present day" with all their knowledge from the Age Of Legends intact, and the one thing everyone agrees on, both Light and Shadow, is that it's likely to be a CurbStompBattle once they start taking the fight to today's backwards yokels.

* {{Pride}}: Very obvious as Ba'alzamon [[spoiler: and more subtle, but still present, as Moridin]]. His unshakable belief that his understanding of prophecy, his place in it, and the metaphysics of the Pattern is ''right'' is one of the central facets of his character [[spoiler: and Rand triggers his final VillainousBreakdown simply by dismissing him as irrelevant]].

* EvilMakesYouUgly: [[spoiler:Albeit not by her own choice.]]