Line #8 Characters/TheWheelOfTimeTheAiel


1	[[center: [-[[Characters/TheWheelOfTime Main Character Index]] \| [[Characters/TheWheelOfTimeTaveren Ta'veren]] \| [[Characters/TheWheelOfTimeOthersFromTheTwoRivers Others from the Two Rivers]] \| [[Characters/TheWheelOfTimeRoyalLineOfAndor Royal Line of Andor]] \| [[Characters/TheWheelOfTimeTheWhiteTower The White Tower]] \| [[Characters/TheWheelOfTimeTheBlackTower The Black Tower]] \| [[Characters/TheWheelOfTimeIndependentCharacters Independent Characters]] \| '''The Aiel''' \| [[Characters/TheWheelOfTimeTheWhitecloaks The Whitecloaks]] \| [[Characters/TheWheelOfTimeSeanchan Seanchan]] \| [[Characters/TheWheelOfTimeHeroesOfTheHorn The Heroes of the Horn]] \| [[Characters/TheWheelOfTimeTheShadowAndDarkfriends The Shadow & Darkfriends]] ]]-]
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4	The Aiel (pronounced "eye-EEL") are a race that live in a ThirstyDesert, the "Aiel Waste," beyond the Spine of the World, separating the "Europe" of the main story from the "Asia" of Shara. Every single one of them is a ProudWarriorRaceGuy. Ever since [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt The Breaking of the World]] they have scratched out an existence in the Three-Fold Land (as they call it), waging constant wars amongst themselves for scarce resources which has forged them into a highly efficient fighting force, much a like a similar [[Franchise/{{Dune}} desert-dwelling people]]. They follow a complex set of rules and social mores, ''ji'e'toh'' ("Honor and Duty", or perhaps "Honor and Obligation"), that can be [[HonorBeforeReason confusing to outsiders]]. The history of their people is a [[EmpireWithADarkSecret dark and shameful secret]]. Those aspiring to be Clan Chiefs or Wise Ones must travel to their abandoned holy city of Rhuidean in order to learn this history. Only about one in three return, the rest tend to GoMadFromTheRevelation.
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6	The Aiel are divided into twelve clans, ruled by the clan chiefs, which form a semi-feudal heirarchy and further subdivide into "septs" and "holdings" (individual settlements). Aiel warriors also become members of one of the twelve warrior societies, such as "Far Dareis Mai" (the [[AmazonBrigade Maidens of the Spear]]), "Aethan Dor" ([[CityGuards Red Shields]]) and more. While this can create conflicting loyalties, it also keeps the lines of diplomacy open at all times, because Aiel from the same society won't fight each other even if their clans are at war. Additionally, ''ji'e'toh'' includes FictionalGenevaConventions, which an Aiel would rather die than break. Their prophecy speaks of a ''Car'a'carn'', a chief of chiefs, He Who Comes With The Dawn, who will arise to lead them, but who will also destroy them.
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8	[[foldercontrol]]
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10	[[folder:Aviendha]]
11	!!Aviendha
12	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wot_aviendha_by_reddera_d4qnjht.jpg]]
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14	A Maiden of the Spear from the Nine Valleys sept of the Tardaad Aiel, Aviendha crosses into the "wetlands" in Book 3 along with a bunch of other Aiel in search of "[[TheChosenOne He Who Comes With The Dawn]]." She becomes friends with Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne and eventually joins forces with them. Later it is revealed that she too can channel, being roughly on par in power with Egwene and Elayne, with whom she eventually becomes BFF. When Elayne needs to go have her own campaign separate from Rand, she has Aviendha promise to watch out for him and make sure Rand stays loyal. The Aiel elders also assign her to be Rand's local guide, teaching him the customs and ways of his people. This causes a lot of conflict for Aviendha, because (according to one of Min's viewings) three women are fated fall in love with Rand, and Aviendha is one of them...
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16	* ActionGirl: Due to her membership in the...
17	* AmazonBrigade: Maidens of the Spear have to give up membership in that society to wed or if they plan to raise children. They can have as much sex as they want, but the resultant children are given up for adoption if the mother wants to stay in the society.
18	* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler: Will be having at least four, quadruplets, with Rand.]]
19	* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: In Book 14, [[spoiler:she loses several toes in her battle with Hessalam/Graendal. She wins, but loses most of her ability to fight anymore]].
20	* TheChiefsDaughter: Subverted. She's Rhuarc's niece, but because the Aiel are a meritocracy, this has no special privilege associated with it (TruthInTelevision for many of the Native American tribes the Aiel were based on). Still ends up with the hero, though.
21	* DeadpanSnarker: "You have shaving lather on your ear, Rand al'Thor."
22	* DistractedByTheSexy: Aviendha is told by the Wise Ones to deploy this on Rand so that she can spy on him. Rand is GenreSavvy enough to see through it.
23	* HonorBeforeReason: She ''is'' a member of the ProudWarriorRace. Ironically, she eventually breaks her word to Elayne about Rand.
24	* IntimateHealing: At one point, to escape her own UnrequitedLove, Aviendha teleports her way into a blizzard. Rand has to resort to that whole "sharing body warmth while naked" thing. OneThingLedToAnother, and one SexyDiscretionShot later...
25	* MagicKnight: A [[ActionGirl Maiden of the Spear]] who learns to use the One Power and trains to become a Wise One.
26	* MindlinkMates: With Rand via Warder bond.
27	* NoSocialSkills: Surprisingly often, when she's not kicking ass. This happens a lot when Aiel get introduced to [[MundaneObjectAmazement the wetlands]] and [[CrossCulturalKerfluffle wetlander culture]], and since Aviendha is the Aiel who gets the most page space, she gets the most opportunity to show it.
28	* PowerLevels: Again, on tied with Egwene and Elayne. Remember that this puts her in second place on the CharacterTiers.
29	* PregnantBadass: [[spoiler:Very likely. Min has a viewing of her having Rand's quadruplets and Rand has sex with her at least once right before the beginning of The Last Battle. Furthermore, in Aviendha's BadFuture viewing it was very public knowledge that the quadruplets are Rand's, meaning that she's probably already pregnant before his "death" (though the wonkiness with the timestream during the last battle might give them a little wiggle room with that). So, in all likelihood, the entire time that Aviendha was defending Rand and his group at Shayol Ghul she was already pregnant, albeit only recently.]]
30	* SecretKeeper: [[spoiler: She, Min, Elayne, Alivia, and Cadsuane are the only ones who know Rand survived The Last Battle, meaning that to the rest of the world the quadruplets she's having with Rand are...]]
31	* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: [[spoiler:It's heavily implied that the sex she and Rand have in Book 14 is what results in her having his quadruplets. Subverted in that Rand isn't actually dead.]]
32	* StealthExpert: Though it's likely her skill is similar to that of other Maidens of the Spear, she at one point in Book 14 slips through an ''entire encampment of most of the Andoran military'', into Elayne's tent through the ''front'', and sits down about five feet away from her so as "not to cause a fuss", without anyone in the camp even realizing she was there in the first place until Elayne notices her. Hilariously, she doesn't even realize why this is incredibly weird, and Elayne is just happy that none of her enemies are that stealthy.
33	* StrangledByTheRedString: Saw this happen when she saw her possible futures in Rhuidean, and [[InUniverse wasn't happy about it]] because she felt that he belonged to Elayne and had promised to make sure he didn't stray.
34	* TheirFirstTime: Also ''Rand's'' first time, to the fandom's knowledge, in Book 5.
35	* {{Tsundere}}: At first anyway. More so than the rest of the female characters.
36	** DefrostingIceQueen: Due to both Rand and Elayne over the series.
37	* WhatTheHellHero: She and Birgitte give Elayne and Nynaeve an epic chewing out for being {{Ungrateful Bastard}}s to Mat after he risked his life to rescue them. It speaks volumes of how highly Elayne regards her that her immediate response is to listen and sincerely ask how she can make it right.
38	[[/folder]]
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40	[[folder:Rhuarc]]
41	!!Rhuarc
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43	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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45	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Late in the Last Battle, Graendal, then known as Hessalam, uses her Compulsion on him, making him into one of her personal bodyguards among Aiel.]]
46	* CharacterDeath: [[spoiler:Graendal uses [[{{Brainwashing}} Compulsion]] to make him one of her personal bodyguard. Aviendha offs him later, to her horror.]]
47	%%* HonorBeforeReason
48	* TheLancer: Sort of. Definitely Rand's staunchest supporter among the Aiel, his loyalty is without question.
49	%%* ProudWarriorRaceGuy
50	* TheStoic: Even more so than Lan, if you can believe it. It helps that unlike Lan, he gets no POV sections (that is, until [[spoiler:he was Compelled, at which point his thoughts were not his own]]).
51	* TorsoWithAView: [[spoiler:A literary version. Aviendha spears straight through him in a fist-sized hole with a weave of Fire.]]
52	[[/folder]]
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54	[[folder:Sorilea]]
55	!!Sorilea
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57	->''"In my day, girls jumped when a Wise One said jump, and continued jumping until they were told to stop. As I am still alive, it is still my day. Need I make myself clearer?"''
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59	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.
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61	* CoolOldLady: The Aiel regard her as one.
62	* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: As a Wise One, she's an expert in dishing these out. For instance, forced an apprentice to search through a giant pile of sand for one specific red grain of sand as punishment for speaking out of turn.
63	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: See quote above.
64	* IronLady
65	* NeverMessWithGranny: Aes Sedai give {{muggle}}s nightmares. Cadsuane gives Aes Sedai nightmares. Sorelia gives ''Cadsuane'' nightmares.
66	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: She's one of the oldest of the Wise Ones.
67	* ScrewDestiny: [[spoiler:Her attitude towards the visions Aviendha had in the Way-Forward Ter'angreal. This is smarter than it sounds: she points out that they need to act as though the future can be changed, regardless of whether that's true. She then gives the advice that Aviendha change one of her children's names and never speak the old one aloud.]]
68	* WeakButSkilled: She can barely conjure a candle flame yet is the unoffical leader of the Wise Ones.
69	[[/folder]]
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71	[[folder:Gaul]]
72	!!Gaul
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74	Leader of the Stone Dog society in Tear from the Imran sept of the Shaarad Aiel, Gaul acts as an important, but tertiary ally to the forces of the Dragon, mostly helping Perrin [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe initially because he freed him from a cage early in the story]].
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76	* BareFistedMonk: He shows himself to be very good at unarmed combat early on.
77	* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: He initially follows Perrin because he helped him escape a cage. He ends up continuing to follow him due to his status as TheLeader and traits thereof.
78	* {{Determinator}}: Emphasized especially in Book 14, where he [[spoiler:survives in ''Tel'aran'rhiod'' for a very long time by himself when Perrin is forced to leave him to recuperate from a fight with Slayer]].
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Couladin]]
82	!!Couladin
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84	Clan chief from the Domai Sept of the Shaido Aiel, Couladin is proclaimed the ''Cara'carn'' by the Shaido, leading to opposition between them and the rest of the Aiel.
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86	* AxCrazy: He violates every established Aiel custom possible, especially by killing unarmed civilians and leaving their bodies as a message for Rand. Even before that, he'd respond to Rand's calls for talks by having the messengers ''skinned alive''!
87	* CharacterDeath: By [[TheStrategist Mat....]] [[AccidentalMurder somehow]] in battle.
88	* DarkMessiah: He tries to prove himself to be the Car'a'carn.... but that doesn't work out for most Aiel.
89	%%* EvilRedhead
90	%%* FieryRedhead
91	* HotBlooded: In the ''The Shadow Rising'' you only see him calm in only a few paragraphs and those are always followed by him raging against something. The Aiel in general are extremely in control of their emotions. Mat idly wonders at one moment how Couladin managed to live for as long as he did among them, let alone become a prospective Clan Chief.
92	* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Couladin has never been to Rhuidean, but pretends he did.
93	* TheUnchosenOne: He tried to become the Car'a'carn, but tries a bit too hard for most Aiel.
94	* YouKilledMyFather: Muradin, his brother, died of [[EyeScream tearing his eyes out]] in Rhuidean when he went along with Rand.
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Sevanna]]
98	!!Sevanna
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100	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 RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
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102	* BlackWidow: Her husbands don't last long. Neither will Rand if she has her way.
103	* DistractedByTheLuxury: Falls into this trap as she gains more wealth from raiding the country side.
104	* EverythingsSparklyWithJewelry: Has a penchant for elaborate jewels acquired by conquest.
105	* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Although she is called a Wise One and is acting clan chief, she has never been to Rhuidean, unlike other Wise Ones in the Shaido, who know that Rand's revelation of the Aiel history is perfectly true.
106	* PutOnABus: [[spoiler:After her defeat at Malden, she is taken away by the Seanchan as a trophy.]]
107	* TheVamp: Only married her first husband because he was a clan chief. Hooked up with his successor after he died. Determined to capture Rand, rape him to get some heirs to secure her rule, then murder him.
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Therava]]
111	!!Therava
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113	A Wise One of the Shaido Aiel, she serves as the brains of Sevanna's Shaido following the death of Couladin.
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115	* TheDragon: To Sevanna.
116	* DragonWithAnAgenda: It's clear that she's the real power in the Shaido, considering she is more focused on practicality than pleasure (except with Galina).
117	%%* EvilOldFolks
118	%%* EvilRedhead
119	* PsychoLesbian: Toward Galina.
120	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:Brings the Shaido back to the Three-Fold Land following the capture of Sevanna at Malden.]]
121	* TermsOfEndangerment: "Lina" for Galina.

Context Characters / TheWheelOfTimeTheAiel