[[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]] | [[Characters/TheWheelOfTimeTheAiel The Aiel]] | '''The Whitecloaks''' | [[Characters/TheWheelOfTimeSeanchan Seanchan]] | [[Characters/TheWheelOfTimeHeroesOfTheHorn The Heroes of the Horn]] | [[Characters/TheWheelOfTimeTheShadowAndDarkfriends The Shadow & Darkfriends]] ]]-]

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

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[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:In General]]
* AntiMagicalFaction: A standard belief among Whitecloaks is that [[WorldSundering the Breaking]] was caused by [[MageSpecies channers]] in general using the One Power, which they believe to be in the category of "TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow". It is more or less unheard of to have a Whitecloak willingly work alongside an Aes Sedai as a result, though only [[ExaltedTorturer the Questioners]] really are willing to root out even female channelers when they pop up. They do not believe MagicIsEvil, but that people simply should not be allowed the power to use the present BackgroundMagicField.
* BadassNormal: Though the organization has been shrinking over the years, any capable fighter among the Children of Light is this by default.
* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: Many of them smell ''rabid'' to wolves.
* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Great believers in this yet woefully incapable of telling the difference. They believe that a person is either allied with the Children, or an enemy of the Light in some degree.
* ChurchMilitant: Think "Spanish Inquisition" on a bad day. They believe that Aes Sedai are evil witches, and anyone who disagrees with them (the Whitecloaks, that is) must be a servant of the Dark One. Extremely militant.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: To several orders, most prominently UsefulNotes/TheSpanishInquisition in how they deal with channelers, and UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar in their militant structure.
* FluffyTheTerrible: Members of the Whitecloaks are known as "Child" rather than Lord.
* HeelFaceTurn: The organization has taken a progressive turn toward the side of the general masses, rather than its own conservatism, as of [[spoiler:Galad]] becoming Lord Captain Commander.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Very much so. The Children of the Light speak of compassion and claiming that no man is beyond redemption, yet their teachings also claim that future generations of Darkfriends must suffer for the crimes of their ancestors. Despite claiming to be fighting the Dark One, they focus more instead on terrorizing the public and glorifying themselves. [[spoiler: Their hypocrisy becomes a massive point at the Battle of Emond's Field. They struck a deal with Perrin Aybara, promising to fight alongside him against the Shadowspawn in return for arresting him. Instead of helping in the battle against Shadowspawn, the very enemies they claim to go up against, they hide in safety and do nothing. Even worse, they still attempt to arrest Perrin, who angrily calls them out for refusing to help and drives them out of Emond's Field.]] The Children of Light ultimately claim to be righteous, yet their actions and beliefs say the very opposite.
* KnightTemplar: And, perhaps intentionally, modeled similarly to UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar in structure.
* LightIsGood: [[spoiler:As of ''Towers of Midnight'', they are allied with Perrin Aybara, and by extension the other armies amassed for the Last Battle.]]
* LightIsNotGood: Ostensibly, the Children of Light are trying to be good people. The problem is that, in fighting against channelers, they are fighting some of the only people who can directly fight at Tarmon Gai'don, whether they believe it is coming or not. Also, in fighting against anyone who isn't deliberately on their side, they are also diminishing the forces for the Last Battle.
* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: However, several of them retain their opinions that certain elements of the world are Shadowspawn, such as [[GentleGiant Ogier]]. These opinions just don't lead to violence, and are told by their fellow Children as foolish.
* RightForTheWrongReasons: [[spoiler: They are right to be suspicious of the Aes Sedai; not only are the Red Ajah [[KnightTemplar as batshit crazy as the Whitecloaks themselves]], but roughly a third of the Aes Sedai as a whole really ''are'' pledged to the Dark One as members of the Black Ajah. The problem is, the Whitecloaks don't actually know about the Black Ajah in the first place, and they believed that ''all'' Aes Sedai were pledged to the Dark One just by being Aes Sedai (not to mention that their own ranks, like the ranks of the rest of society, have also been infiltrated by people loyal to the Dark, whether they admit it or not)]].
* SinsOfOurFathers: According to the Children, "[t]he sins of the mother are visited to the fifth generation and the sins of the father to the tenth."
* TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: The general philosophy of the Children regarding [[MageSpecies Aes Sedai]] is that they are Darkfriends because dabbling in the One Power led to the [[WorldSundering Breaking of the World]] and the War of Power. Their hatred for male channelers goes without saying as well. [[spoiler:This way of thinking goes away when Galad forces them to accept and work alongside Aes Sedai for the coming Last Battle.]]
* TrialByCombat: The archaic "Trial Beneath the Light," in which the guilt or innocence of a Child is identified by whether or not he survives a DuelToTheDeath with his accuser. [[spoiler:Galad invokes the trial, which results in the death of Eamon Valda.]]
* WithUsOrAgainstUs: Several of the more extreme Children believe that any who do not work alongside the Children of the Light are Darkfriends. Of course, some of those more extreme Children- and some more moderate Children- ''are'' Darkfriends themselves...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pedron Niall]]
!!Pedron Niall
The Lord Captain Commander of the Whitecloaks by the time the story begins. Niall is renowned as one of the Five Great Captains, with few enemies defeating him once and none twice. Niall believes Rand to be another False Dragon and his every move is calculated to both bring him down and expand the influence of the Whitecloaks. Killed by his spymaster, Omerna, due to the machinations of Valda and Asunawa.
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* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: In strategic and military terms, yes. Not so much physically, since Niall himself is an old man past eighty.
* BatmanGambit: Many, including false Dragonsworn sent to ravage the countryside to sway opinion against Rand. None of them really work out.
* TheChessmaster: He thinks he's this. Although his battle strategies are brilliant, he isn't very good at planning and plotting outside the battlefield.
* TheCorruptible: Although [[LightIsNotGood he wasn't exactly helpful in the first place]], Niall became much more paranoid and volatile after being [[TheCorrupter influenced by Mordeth and Padan Fain]].
* DiscOneFinalBoss: For a long time it looked like he was being set up to be a major threat, but his death was quiet and barely announced.
* KnightTemplar: Not to the same extent as some of the other Whitecloaks, but the sentiment is still there.
* OfficerAndAGentleman: Morgase thought of him as one, anyway, especially compared to [[TheStarscream his replacement]], Eamon Valda.
* OldMaster: "Despite his age, there was nothing frail about him."
* OnlySaneMan: Until [[spoiler:Galad]], he was far and away the most reasonable Whitecloak shown on-screen, even going so far as to tacitly admit that Aes Sedai, even if they meddle in forces no mortal should, are not actually all Darkfriends.
* TheStrategist: As one of the Five Great Captains.
* WorthyOpponent: Morgase thinks of him as this [[spoiler:after her abdication]], and he thought of her as one in turn, inwardly noting first that she was incredibly tough for such a beautiful woman, before quickly amending it to incredibly tough full stop.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Eamon Valda]]
!!Eamon Valda
* AttackAttackAttack: Derisively described [[InUniverse by Pedron Niall]] as having this mindset as a field commander.
-->To Valda, the best offensive strategy was the charge. And the best defensive strategy: the charge.
* DuelToTheDeath: Takes part in one of these with [[spoiler:Galad, as when the latter invokes the [[TrialByCombat Trial Beneath the Light]]. Valda loses]].
%%* {{Jerkass}}
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Killed in a SwordFight with Galad, whose stepmother he raped.]]
* MasterSwordsman: A Blademaster.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: His abuse and probable rape of [[spoiler:Morgase]] is what led to [[spoiler:his eventual death]].
* TheStarscream: Toward Niall, at Asunawa's urging.
* SuckSessor: Niall may have had his failings, but everyone seems to compare him favorably to Valda.
* VillainTeamUp: [[spoiler:Made an alliance with the Seanchan shortly before his death.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rhadam Asunawa]]
!!Rhadam Asunawa
The High Inquisitor of the Hand of the Light, derisively known even by the Children themselves as "Questioners" (with being "put to the question" being a common euphemism for torture in Randland), Asunawa orchestrated the death of Pedron Niall alongside Eamon Valda in order to gain more control over the Children of the Light.
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* BaldOfEvil: In pictures drawn only. In the writing, he has gray hair.
* ColdBloodedTorture: What his questioning amounts to. Since most of his subjects did not actually do anything wrong.
* EnhancedInterrogationTechniques: Quite a fan of these, and used them on [[spoiler:Morgase]].
* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:Decapitated by his own allied Lords Captain for his treatment of Galad.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Not him, but everyone else about the Hand of the Light. Even other Whitecloaks call then Questioners and dislike their methods. Also, his hatred of [[MageSpecies Aes Sedai]] makes most Whitecloaks look ''tame''.
* EvilOldFolks
* ExactWords: Ironically, his attitude towards the truth is a direct parallel to the Aes Sedai he so loathes:
-->''"Asunawa had a love of truth, a strange love; he could tie it into knots, or hang it up and flay it while it screamed, but so far as Valda knew, he never actually lied."''
* {{Foil}}: Of a sort to the Amyrlin Seat, his ArchEnemy. While the latter addresses other Aes Sedai as "daughter", he addresses all Children, up to and including the Lord Captain Commander, as "my son".
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Killed by his own Whitecloaks after capturing Galad, the new Lord Captain Commander, for trying to force a new change in leadership and name their own Lord Captain Commander a Darkfriend when their numbers are already so low.]]
* LeanAndMean: He has the gaunt frame and emaciated face of a martyr, despite being one of the most powerful and well-connected Whitecloaks.
* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler:How he dies. His head is [[DecapitationPresentation presented]] to Galad to make the Lord Captains' allegiance perfectly clear.]]
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:Runs off after the duel between Valda and Galad goes south for him.]]
* TheStarscream: In an alliance alongside Valda.
* VillainTeamUp: With Valda, though Valda still hates Asunawa simply because he is a Questioner.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jaret Byar]]
!!Jaret Byar
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler: He was Compelled by Graendal to kill Perrin. It didn't work.]]
* CreepyMonotone: His voice is gravelly and devoid of any emotion, which even his allies find a bit disquieting.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Is willing to do anything, even betray the strongest precepts of his order, to kill those he sees as darkfriends, which leads him to do things a lot more evil than the deeds of those he pursues.
* InTheBack: [[spoiler:Again, by Dain.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: Even more so than most Whitecloaks.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Killed by Dain for trying to kill Perrin under Graendal's Compulsion after Perrin and Galad secured an alliance after a battle with Shadowspawn in Book 13.]]
* LeanAndMean: He has a gaunt, skeletal appearance and a zealot's disregard for others' lives.
%%* LeanAndMean
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Geofram Bornhald]]
!!Geofram Bornhald
* BolivianArmyEnding: Charged into battle at Falme alongside the Heroes of the Horn thinking he was fighting the Shadow on all sides. He doesn't make it out.
* EveryoneHasStandards: Bornhald is a KnightTemplar just like the rest of the Whitecloaks, but he finds the [[WouldHurtAChild methods]] of [[ColdBloodedTorture the]] [[TortureTechnician Questioners]] to be utterly appalling.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dain Bornhald]]
!!Dain Bornhald
* FightingYourFriend: [[spoiler:''Killing'', more like. He killed Byar in Book 13 for trying to kill Perrin after an agreement had been made about his sentencing (unbeknownst to him, Byar had been Compelled by Graendal), but Galad noted that he had "loved" Byar far longer than he had hated Perrin.]]
* LikeFatherLikeSon: Both he and his father joined the Whitecloaks.
* YouKilledMyFather: To Perrin, though the latter actually didn't. [[spoiler:He finally accepts the truth in Book 13.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Jaichim Carridan]]
!!Jaichim Carridan
An Inquisitor of the Children of Light and a Darkfriend.
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* TheAlcoholic: He takes to drinking heavily as the crushing difficulty of juggling his responsibilities as a Whitecloack while taking orders from the Shadow and the Forsaken weigh down on him.
* ConflictingLoyalty: [[AvertedTrope Averted.]] Carridan is given conflicting orders by Sammael, who wants him to search for a cache of ''angreal'' in Ebou Dar, and Ishamael, who wants him to hunt down the ''ta'veren''. However, Ishamael's Compulsion overrides Carridan's mind and he makes no effort to follow Sammael's orders after the Compulsion's latent orders are activated by encountering Mat.
* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler: A heavy drinker, he is eventually killed by Mili Skane, under orders from Moridin, by being force-fed brandy until he drowns.]]
* DirtyCoward: Carridan was obviously never a particularly nice person, as a Darkfriend and a particularly ruthless Whitecloak, but he firmly cements himself as irredeemable by not only showing no sympathy for his family as they are murdered by Myrddraal as a punishment for him failing to find and kill Rand, but actively encouraging Liandrin to kill the remaining members of his family as a way to save his own hide. He even encourages them to prey on his remaining sister by telling of her preferred horse-riding route, and considering [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil the things Myrddraal are known to do to women...]]
* TheMole: A Whitecloak and a Darkfriend.
* OfferingAnotherInYourStead: Shaidar Haran tells him that, for as long as he fails to kill TheChosenOne, [[AndYourLittleDogToo his family]] will die one at a time, [[YouHaveFailedMe saving him for last]]. When Liandrin contacts him, he assumes his time is up and immediately starts blubbering that he has more relatives.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: In his first scene, Carridan is attending a meeting with several other disguised Darkfriends, and when he notices one has the colorful garb of a Tuatha'an, he feels revolted that a "tinker" is among their numbers.
[[/folder]]
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