open/close all folders
Aram
Aram
One of the Tuatha'an, a Tinker or one of the Travelling People, he first appears when Perrin, Egwene and Elyas stop with his family's wagons. A charming flirt with a Hot-Blooded streak, occasionally struggling with the Way of the Leaf, he reappears when Trollocs invade the Two Rivers. After the loss of his mother, he takes up a sword and swears to be Perrin's man. That, it might be said, is where the trouble begins.
- Blood Knight: He takes to the sword very quickly, and at Dumai's Wells, Perrin sees him laughing as he 'dances' through the battlefield.
- Bodyguard Betrayal: Masema convinced him that Perrin was a Darkfriend.
- Hot-Blooded: He's hinted even early on to have a temper for one of the Tuatha'an, with his grandparents noting that he finds the Way of the Leaf difficult at times.
- Laughing Mad: His performance at Dumai's Wells carries more than a little of this.
- Master Swordsman: While Perrin tells him to be trained by Tam as a swordsman in recognition of his right to self-defence/hope he won't stab himself with his sword, he turns out to have a significant natural talent, soon pushing Tam hard and being described as 'dancing' against the Shaido at Dumai's Wells and laughing. It's also worth noting that Tam is a fully accredited blademaster who retrained his son with his left hand after the other, his dominant hand, was blasted off, reducing the number of forms he could use in a night and who impressed Lan Mandragoran of all people, remarking that until this point, he'd wondered for a while if the man who'd given Rand his heron-mark blade had earned it.
- Sanity Slippage: His sanity notably deteriorates over time. Coming under Masema's charismatic and insane wing did not help.
- Took a Level in Badass: From pacifistic Non-Action Guy who jumps when someone shouts at him, to a Master Swordsman probably worthy of the heron-mark in his own right. Pity there was some Sanity Slippage in the process.
- Undying Loyalty: He's fanatically loyal to Perrin, at least at first, as a substitute for his family and the Way of the Leaf. It's pointed out by Elyas, among others, that he needs more to believe in than Perrin and his sword.
Berelain
Berelain sur Paendrag Paeron
No, not beautiful, gorgeous. Lustrous black hair streamed down past her neck; it seemed to shine. She wore a red gown, thin enough to accentuate her form and deeply cut enough to expsose swelling bosom. And those eyes. So dark, with long beautiful lashes.
Berelain sur Paendrag Paeron, Blessed of the Light, Defender of the Waves, High Seat of House Paeron is the "First" (leader) of Mayene, a small province bordering Tear. Tear always threatens to absorb or conquer this little nation; consequently the First of Mayene has to be adept at politics, bargaining, posturing and administration. She also happens to be sexy beyond all reason, which (of course) she has used to her advantage.
- Attempted Homewrecker: Berelain repeatedly makes advances at Perrin over the course of six books, persisting even after he gets married and starts shouting her away. It's implied that him being Forbidden Fruit is part of the appeal for her - though as with all her seductions, it has a political angle.
- Beast and Beauty: Galad seems unable to comprehend why someone as beautiful as this would follow someone who is so obviously a Shadowspawn as Perrin.
- The Beautiful Elite: Frequently described in this way.
- Cool Crown: The Diadem of the First, when she decides to wear it.
- Everyone Has Standards: After Faile is taken by the Shaido, she very quickly realizes that Perrin's in a lot of anguish and that it might not be wise or kind to continue their normal "game" with him struggling to keep it together at all, deciding to put it aside while they pursue the Shaido.
- Heroic Seductress: A lot of her political maneuvering and dealmaking in Tear apparently involved sex, or least implied promises of sex (see above) - which is a good way to compensate for being the ruler of a tiny country with little economic power and still less military power. This also motivates her actions around Perrin, jerkish as they are, as she's trying to hitch her star as near to the Dragon Reborn as she can get.
- Lady Killer In Love: Gender Flip version with Galad.
- Last Episode, New Character: Came into the story at the end of Book 3, the end of the "trail to the true proclamation of the Dragon Reborn" arc that lasted the first three books, and the defeat of then-Arch-Enemy "Ba'alzamon" by Rand. Her arrival signified the political maneuvering to come for much of the later books.
- Love at First Sight: For Galad.
- Love Triangle: Sets her sights on Perrin, which—regardless of the fact that Perrin isn't interested in her at all—sets off Faile's possessive streak. Berelain, who is kind of a troll, seems to enjoy doing this as much to cause them pain as to achieve her own goals. Mayene claims to be descended from Artur Paendrag Tanreall, and their sigil is a hawk—you know, the bird Min saw fighting with a falcon (the meaning of Faile in the Old Tongue) for control of Perrin?
- Manipulative Bastard: Especially toward Perrin for most of the series, and has a long history of it towards the High Lords of Tear (in that case, for noble reasons - in Perrin's case, some of her reasons are at least understandable).
- Noodle Incident: At one point she tried her usual games on Rhuarc, and the resultant humiliation was sufficient that she never tried them again, and she hopped whenever he said frog, instead seeing him as a father figure.
- Stripperiffic: Known to wear very sheer material often.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: And she tries to use her looks to get what she wants as well.
- Really Gets Around: Subverted. Everyone in-universe assumes she does, not least because she herself invokes it liberally for her own (or rather, her country's) ends (see Heroic Seductress above), but she claims to Perrin to have only actually slept with two men before, which seems plausible given that, contrary to a lot of people's assumptions about her, her use of her sex appeal is usually purely calculating.
- Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Take a look at the name above.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Somewhat to the mystification of the Two Rivers folk, the Aiel really take a liking to Berelain. Being the intelligent, hard-working, determined ruler of a land constantly under threat of conquest and never giving up is probably part of it. By the sixth book, Rhuarc and the Wise Ones have very nearly adopted her, and she really values her father-daughter relationhip with Rhuarc.
The Creator
The Creator
As the God of the world of the Wheel of Time, the Creator serves as The Ghost to the setting (except for possibly a few lines in the first book). The Creator formed the eponymous Wheel that is powered by the True Source, along with the Dark One accidentally at the dawn of Creation itself before immediately sealing it away outside of the Pattern.
- The Ghost: Except for maybe one or two lines in Book 1, and another in Book 14.
- God: References to "the Creator" as the antithesis of the Dark One are everywhere in the series through phrases like "the light of the Creator", but, the Whitecloaks' inquisition aside, there doesn't seem to be much actual religion involved, and the Creator itself never directly appears in the series. The lack of religion has been explained by the fact that in-universe Creator and Dark One are real, and everyone knows that (for example, saying the Dark One's true name aloud will have dire(ct) consequence). The Creator seems to be a very hands-off kind of deity. In one of the books, it's implied that it created all worlds, but doesn't particularly care if one of them dies in the way that a gardener plants all the flowers in a garden, but doesn't care if one of them wilts. The characters seem to acknowledge and accept this. That doesn't explain why prayers and catechisms are addressed to it, though.
- God's Hands Are Tied: Does not directly intervene to set the course of the pattern, apparently preferring to use mortal champions. It's unknown whether the Creator cannot or chooses not to interfere.
- Good Counterpart: To the Dark One.
- In Mysterious Ways: People suffer from horrible fates and are forced to go through lives again and again with no end but for the fact that theoretically, Evil Only Has to Win Once. This causes some instances of Despair Event Horizon by way of Rage Against the Heavens - though Herid Fel's insight into the nature of the Wheel, and Ishamael's own insights that revealed that the Light's Champion had been turned to the Shadow in past cycles, as well as the repeated implication that Ishamael only saw part of the picture when he snapped under the revelation, suggest that this might be more complicated.
- Light Is Good: He is the source of "the Light".
- The Maker: Doesn't seem to interfere with the Pattern all that much, but for select cases of divine intervention.
- No Biological Sex: Like the Dark One, the Creator is usually referred to as "he" but is really a non-physical being who is neither male nor female.
Davram Bashere
Davram t'Ghaline Bashere
One of the Five Great Captains, a Saldaean Marshal-General, and father of Faile, Davram Bashere is an important ally to the forces of the Light.
- Action Dad: Though he doesn't perform this duty up front, he still fulfills it somewhat for Faile.
- Badass Normal: A non-channeler.
- Daddy's Girl: To Faile. Perrin, the dimwit, is blissfully unaware of this, not realizing that Faile is far too much like her mother for the two ever to get along. Except like cats in a sack.
- Killed Off for Real: Dies along with his wife in the Last Battle.
- Manchurian Agent: He and the other Captains put under Graendal's Compulsion early on in A Memory of Light, causing him to make several tactical errors that result in heavy losses for the forces of Light. He is also the first of the agents to be found, and is arrested by Elayne under suspicion of being The Mole.
- The Masochism Tango: Implied between him and his wife Deira.
- Offered the Crown: When his niece Tenobia dies in the Battle for Tarwin's Gap, he has the best claim for the throne of Saldaea. However, he tells his men to forestall talk about the throne until after the Last Battle so that there will actually be a Saldaea to protect.
- Papa Wolf: On learning that his wayward daughter has gone and gotten hitched to some backwoods blacksmith, the first thing he does is sit the boy down for a good old-fashioned Twerp Sweating. He very quickly comes to approve of Perrin, though. "We need some new blood".
- The Strategist: One of the Five Great Captains.
- Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Davram t'Ghaline Bashere, Lord of Bashere, Tyr and Sidona, Guardian of the Blightborder, Defender of the Heartland.
Elyas
Elyas Machera / Long Tooth
At least he was not a Trolloc, but he was the strangest fellow Perrin had ever seen. For one thing, his clothes all seemed to be made from animal skins, with the fur still on, even his boots and the old, flat-topped round cap on his head. His cloak was a crazy quilt of rabbit and squirrel; his trousers appeared to be made from the long haired hide of a brown and white goat.
A Wolfbrother like Perrin, who teaches him about his abilities early in the series and reappears later on to aid him in his adventures.
- Back Story: Used to be a Warder to an Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah. When his Wolfbrother abilities began to manifest, the Red Ajah thought it was a sign of the Dark One and tried to have him gentled. He killed two other Warders while escaping and deeply regrets their deaths.
- Big Damn Heroes: He and an army of wolves kidnap Ituralde to keep him from making the terrible decision to pull back in the defense of Shayol Ghul. The wolves then assault an army of Myrddraal.
- Cool Old Guy: Maybe not so old, but has certainly seen his fair share of winters, and has gray hair.
- Exposition Fairy: Conveniently on-hand to explain to Perrin about being a Wolfbrother. Much later they meet up again essentially so he can tell Perrin "Your wife likes it rough, smack her around a bit!"
- Machete Mayhem: His large hunting knife gave his wolf name.
- Meaningful Name: Dubbed by the wolves as "Long Tooth" due to the large hunting knife he wields.
- Nature Hero: As a result of being chased into the wild for being assumed a Darkfriend on account of his eyes, Elyas is far more comfortable with wolves than with society, though he seems okay with being in Perrin's group (due to Wolfbrother kinship) or with the Tuatha'an (due to not exactly being "society" and being more accepting of him).
- Our Werewolves Are Different: A Wolfbrother, like Perrin. He leans more on his wolf side, liking them better, but still has his human side as well.
- Scarily Competent Tracker: Particularly adept since he's lived in the woods for 15 years.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: A consequence of being a Wolfbrother.
- Super-Senses: Has heightened senses of smell, hearing, and sight.
- The Nose Knows: Like Perrin, can identify a person's emotional state from smell alone.
Faile
Zarine Bashere/Zarine ni Bashere t'Aybara/Faile
"So there I have an Aes Sedai, a Warder and an Ogier - and you. A countryman, by first look at you. Only you free a caged Aielman, hold a long talk with him, then help him chop a dozen Whitecloaks into sausage. I assume you do this regularly; you certainly looked like it was nothing out of the ordinary for you. I scent something strange in a party of travelers such as yours, and strange trails are what Hunters look for."
Introduced into the story as a Hunter for the Horn, she becomes Perrin's Love Interest and later, his wife. She is described as taller than average, with long, dark hair, tilted eyes, and a prominent "Saldaean nose". Her real first name is Zarine, and she is the daughter of General Davram Bashere, commander-in-chief of Saldaea's armies, and cousin to Queen Tenobia.
- Action Girl: A fantastic hunter who only needs her knives to launch a can of whoop-ass.
- Animal Motifs: Falcon (see Meaningful Rename). The name suits her temper, majesty and nose, and she takes that form while trapped in tel'aran'rhiod.
- Badass in Distress: While held prisoner by the Shaido.
- Badass Normal: The only major female character who can neither channel the One Power nor has any other magical abilities like Dreamwalking or Min's viewings. Yet she still manages to survive, thrive, and lead in a Crapsack World of Badass.
- Blade Enthusiast: Carries a ridiculous number of knives on her person. Perrin fears he may puncture himself if he holds her too tight.
- Cannot Spit It Out: At least when she is trying to propose to Perrin until he hits her with a Big Damn Shutup Kiss.
- Character Development: Her big epiphany during her time as a prisoner is that, as a noblewoman, she has to be on the front lines leading her followers rather than sitting back and making them do all of the work.
- The Consigliere: To Perrin. While he doesn't want to be a ruler, it's made obvious that he's going to be one, like it or not. Faile then takes on this role and forces him to act like a proper leader, advising him on the best way to handle his new position.
- Embarrassing First Name: "Zarine, It is a Saldean name. No woman would name her daughter that unless she expected her to be a great beauty. And a heartbreaker. One to lie on cushions in palaces, surrounded by servants and suitors." Her father readily agrees that Faile is a better name.
- The Masochism Tango: With Perrin.
- Meaningful Rename: Twice. After becoming a Hunter for the Horn she took on the name 'Mandarb' which means 'Blade' in the old language. However after Perrin laughs and tells her that is the name of Lan's stallion she decides on 'Faile' meaning 'Falcon'. The first rename is meaningful to her but the second is meaningful to Perrin who was told by Min that she saw a falcon and a hawk sitting on his shoulders.
- One-Steve Limit: Referenced in-universe. See Meaningful Rename.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: With few exceptions, she almost always goes by the name of Faile.
- Secret-Keeper: Only she and her cha Faile know what happened to Masema after the Battle of Malden, promising to never tell Perrin.
- Slap-Slap-Kiss: While this does represent the majority of relationships in the Wheel of Time universe, it is especially poignant with her. Due to her cultural norms, she expects Perrin to play along with this. He, however, can't understand why she gets angry when he tries to calm her down and reason with her, rather than yell at her the way spouses do in Saldaea.
- Stalker with a Crush: Gains one in Rolan. Gets worse when he saves her from Attempted Rape and she realizes she needs his protection for herself and her followers, and might need him to escape (in the end she doesn't).
- Tsundere: Comes from a culture where this is the norm, but made worse by a Culture Clash with Perrin.
The Finn
The Finn (Eelfinn and Aelfinn)
"The Snakes and the Foxes", these extradimensional beings live in the Eldritch Location through the Tower of Ghenjei. The snake-like Aelfinn answer three questions, whereas the fox-like Eelfinn grant three wishes, each of these counting as Power at a Price. Although they come into contact with several people over the course of the series, the Finn are most connected to Mat Cauthon, due to him visiting twice at least before Storming the Castle in Book 13.
- Achilles' Heel: Both variants are weak to iron weapons, music, and sources of fire. Therefore, the trio who end up Storming the Castle bring iron, a Wandering Minstrel for music, and fire.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: As Birgitte says, the Finn "are not evil the way the Shadow is evil, but they are so different from humanity that they may as well be so".
- Eldritch Location: Sindhol (which literally means "Neverland"), where they are found. The reason is it's...
- Alien Geometries: They inhabit one or more separate dimensions described by the author as having radically different natural laws. Successive windows do not show what one might expect, and doorways may go to completely different areas than expected. That the magic system in the series is heavily geometric likely has a great deal to do with why its use is explicitly forbidden there. The doorways into their realm also resemble this in the "real world", and are described as "twisted".
- The Maze: Their realm is very like a maze in an Interactive Fiction or Video Game, complete with Cut and Paste Environments and non-Euclidean room navigation.
- Emotion Eater: The Finn seem to feed on visitors' emotions, sensations, experiences, memories, and strength in the Power.
- Fantastic Foxes: The Eelfinn, who are described as similar to foxes in look, and give Mat his foxhead medallion.
- Jackass Genie: The Eelfinn all the way. Mat mistakes them for their answer-granting cousins, and when they won't answer his questions, he starts venting his frustrations on them instead, which they take as his wishes. They grant his wishes in the laziest way possible, and the wishes also come with a price that can be negotiated. Since he doesn't name a price and doesn't specify that he wants to leave their realm alive, they hang him. And, according to Book 13, when Lanfear and Moiraine passed through the twisted redstone gateway, they granted their wishes. However, then they tortured them, draining their ability to channel. Lanfear was killed by Moridin before much could be taken (as revealed in Book 14), but Moiraine stayed for over a year. And when they grant Mat his wish of being allowed to get out of their realm again with her, they don't bother to tell the Aelfinn, who weren't explicitly mentioned in the deal, not to attack.
- Loves the Sound of Screaming: Or at least pain and loss. The Eelfinn call it "the savor".
- Magically-Binding Contract: Any deal made in the "Chamber of Bonds" must be followed by the Eelfinn and Aelfinn.
- Power at a Price: If one seeks the Finn, deals come at a price.
- The Aelfinn passively absorb the memories and experiences of the askers of the questions.
- The Eelfinn require that the wisher make a price for their deal, or they will make one.
- Rule of Three: Applies to both types.
- Three Wishes: The Eelfinn, though it doesn't follow the typical structure, due to it not being the whole plot.
- Seers: The Finn seem to be able to see into the Great Weave itself, because after Birgitte is torn from it, they can no longer see her lives, nor remember her.
- Sinister Scimitar: The Aelfinn wield these when attacking Mat's group as they try to escape from the Tower of Ghenjei.
- Snake People: The Aelfinn, who at least look similar to them.
- Unwinnable Training Simulation: Of a sort. "Snakes and Foxes", a game based on them, is explicitly unwinnable unless a player cheats. When Mat's crew escapes the Tower of Ghenjei with Moiraine, Olver wins fair and square, shocking and confusing Talmanes.
Gareth Bryne
Gareth Bryne
One of the Five Great Captains and Captain of the Queen's Guard of Andor. Later in the series, having been thrust out by the Brainwashed Morgase, he becomes the leader of the guards of rebel Aes Sedai at the Little Tower, and later the leader of the guards in Tar Valon.
- Bodyguard Crush: Formerly Morgase's lover.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Has become Siuan's Warder as of Book 12.
- Killed Off for Real: In Book 14, after Siuan dies, he does the typical "Crazy Orphaned Warder" thing.
- Love Interest: Siuan Sanche.
- Manchurian Agent: He and the other Captains put under Graendal's Compulsion early on in A Memory of Light, causing him to make several tactical errors that result in heavy losses for the forces of Light.
- Master Swordsman
- Mindlink Mates: With Siuan as of Book 12.
- Scarily Competent Tracker: Almost to Refuge in Audacity levels. In Fires of Heaven, Bryne tracks Suian, Leane, and Logain all the way to Salidar, about half a continent away. He manages this because Leane insisted on asking for directions barely a quarter of the way there. When he successfully finds them, a random soldier informs the women that he has arrived, which is the cue for Suian's priceless and dumbfounded reaction.
- The Strategist
Hopper
Hopper
A wolf who dies early in the series, he acts as the mentor to Perrin in learning the ways of the "wolf dream".
- Berserk Button: Slayer, for his wolf killing.
- Deader than Dead: Killed by Slayer in the wolf dream in Book 13, which effectively strips him from the Pattern.
- Dead to Begin With: More or less. The majority of his influence in the plot takes place after his death in the waking world.
- Eccentric Mentor: He doesn't seem to be a Trickster Mentor, since he tries being straightforward. The problem is that wolves and men.... think differently.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Twice.
- Spirit Advisor: Of a sort to Perrin in the wolf dream.
Loial
Loial Son of Arent Son of Halan
"I wish you humans wouldn't do that. So few of you remember us. It's our own fault, I suppose. Not many of us have gone out among men since the shadow fell on the ways."
An Ogier who escaped his stedding in search of adventure and good books. The Ogier have Gentle Giant and botany as their Hats; by their standards, Loial is considered quite hasty. After finding out who Rand is, he decides that his life's work will be to chronicle the life and times of The Dragon Reborn, but most of the time he ends up hanging out with Perrin.
- Badass Bookworm: He considers the Royal Library of Cairhien something akin to heaven, and he's generally a pacifistic sort. However, when he does "put a long handle on his axe", the sight of him in battle leaves people utterly astonished.
- Beware the Nice Ones: "To anger the Ogier and bring mountains down on your head." Does that mean that one's as impossible as the other, or as dangerous? Yes. This is brought up in a brief passage in A Memory of Light; the Ogier utterly butcher Trollocs while Galad and other Whitecloaks look on in shock. Loial even leads the attack and likens the fight to killing weeds.
- The Bus Came Back: In Book 14, having succeeded.
- Expy: The Ogier make a number of nods to the Ents, particularly their affinity for trees and dismissal of humans as "hasty".
- Green Thumb: He has the Treesinging Talent, allowing him to strengthen trees or sing them into specific shapes.
- Meaningful Name: As it sounds, he has Undying Loyalty to his friends.
- Neutral No Longer: While he never was, in Book 14, the Ogier decide to fight in the Last Battle at his instigation, with impressive results.
- Older Than They Look: He's 90... which makes him the equivalent of a 15-year-old.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In Book 14, he is very quiet while taking orders from Mat during the Last Battle, instead of his characteristic long-winded responses.
- Our Giants Are Bigger: Ogier are a long-lived, isolationist race, who have great knowledge of nature and who stand about 8 feet tall. They're basically typical fantasy elves, upscaled.
- Our Elves Are Different: The name sounds more like ogre, but he's fantastically long lived, loves nature, and is unusual for leaving the ''stedding''. They aren't nimble and fast though, and are giant and strong.
- Put on a Bus: Has been arguing at the Great Stump since Book 11. Justified in that Ogier meetings are generally far longer than this one has to be.
- Runaway Fiancé: This is the other reason Loial left home: to escape the possibility of an Arranged Marriage. When he finally meets his betrothed, they go head-over-heels for each other.
- The Smart Guy: Loves reading, and is never far from books. Even Aes Sedai enjoy picking his brain for trivia and minutiae.
- Undying Loyalty: See Meaningful Name.
- You Shall Not Pass!: Two times. One even happens entirely off-page.
Masema Dagar
Masema Dagar
Self-proclaimed Shienaran "Prophet of the Dragon" after seeing the battle between Rand and Ba'alzamon above Falme, Masema was a former soldier who ends up causing more trouble for the Light in his attempts to help the Dragon Reborn.
- Anti-Villain: He honestly thinks he's following the word of the Dragon Reborn.
- Bald of Evil: Subverted. He's not really evil once he shaves his head, but he's very very unhelpful and a borderline villain at best.
- The Corruptible: He gets a vision of "the Dragon Reborn" (implied to be Graendal, Moghedien, Cyndane, or Mesaana) who tells him to kill Perrin, leading to the death of Aram in Book 11 by The Corrupter by proxy.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: After spending many books making himself out to be a credible threat, he is killed unceremoniously in Book 12's beginning by Faile's Cha Faile to wrap up his plotline.
- Enemy Mine: Allies himself with Perrin during Perrin's attempt to rescue Faile.
- The Horde: His Dragonsworn act this way, and go according to a theory of the Zerg Rush. This goes very very badly most times.
- Light Is Not Good: Tries to help the Light, but allies himself with Darkfriends and Forsaken in the process, albeit unknowingly.
- Like a God to Me: He views the Dragon Reborn as the source of Light. Hypocritically, he calls those who don't agree with him blasphemers.
- Obliviously Evil: He has no idea that his methods benefit the Shadow far more than the Light.
- Sanity Slippage: His sanity degrades as the books go on, until his last moments have him internally alternating between considering his men his loyal friends and traitors he needs to kill at complete random without realizing the contradictions.
- Strawman Political: Of Communism. To a certain degree, as he forcibly redistributes everything in the territories he controls without any apparent regard for whether this is actually helpful to anyone. Truth in Television, as such proto-communist collectivisms were a common fixture in real historical snake person religious movements, such as the Taiping Rebellion in China or the most extreme branches of the Protestant Reformation.
- Villain Team-Up: To a certain degree of villain. He allies himself with High Lady Suroth of the Seanchan.
- We ARE Struggling Together: His forces are more a hindrance to the Light than a boon, especially since they raid villages in the name of the Dragon without even bothering to ask him if he wants it.
Min Farshaw
Elmindreda "Min" Farshaw
"She says I see pieces of the pattern. Sounds too grand, to me. I just see things when I look at people, and sometimes I know what they mean. I look at a man and a woman who've never even talked to one another, and I know they'll marry. And they do. That sort of thing. She wanted me to look at you. All of you together."
Min is a little older than Rand, and wears men's clothing and has short curly hair, which he finds pretty sophisticated. Moiraine consults her once she's managed to drag everyone out of the Two Rivers, wanting to know what Min's "viewings" say about her charges. It takes another six or seven books for her to become important to the plot, but becomes essential once she does for her viewings.
- Action Girl: Occasionally fights, though she is well aware that far and wide she is sorely outmatched, and sticks to studies instead.
- Batman Gambit: How she uncovers the spy in the Seanchan command post in The Final Battle. Her viewings let her figure out that Captain Yulan is under Compulsion and that a servant is an important character (only those have more than one omen about them). She quickly accuses him of being a Darkfriend, but keeps an eye on how everyone reacts. Sure enough she forces the servant to blow her cover and reveal herself as Moghedien. The Forsaken escapes, but the Seanchan command is no longer compromised.
- Blessed with Suck: Seems to view her "viewings" this way, having the limited and unique power to see into the Pattern and generally interpret it, but well aware of the fact that You Can't Fight Fate, and seeing
rather horrific things at complete random. - Cassandra Truth: Usually averted, not that it matters.
- Creepy Child: When Rand first meets her, she comes across as this. Later chapters from her point of view paint a rather different picture.
- Embarrassing First Name: Elmindreda, a storybook character who spends her time swooning over and being fawned on by men.
- Hint Dropping: Combined with a little Cannot Spit It Out. When Min is finally reunited with Rand in Book 6, she doesn't know if he returns her feelings and resorts to increasingly blatant come-ons (flirtatious teasing, frequently sitting in his lap, even "fake" kissing) to try to get some sort of response. Rand, still mostly in Celibate Hero mode, doesn't really understand what's going on and thinks Min is just messing with him. After a particularly traumatic day Min eventually snaps and just jumps his bones, which works much better.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Manages to get a hit on Semirhage during the Forsaken's capture, and saves Tuon from a Gray Man in The Last Battle.
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies: She's the only one on whom this doesn't work, following him around to many of his adventures and sticking close to him for a long time, until her presence almost led to her death by Rand's forced hands by way of Semirrhage.
- Love at First Sight: To Rand. However, it is a Subverted Trope, as she had a viewing that she knew meant she would love him, but she was not in love with him at the time.
- Meaningful Rename: In Book 14, upon being raised to the Seanchan Blood and named "Doomseer" for her skills, Tuon also renames her "Darbinda". However, this only is said amongst the Seanchan.
- Mindlink Mates: With Rand via Warder bond.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Twice—her horrifying viewing from the start of The Shadow Rising prompts her to rush to Siuan in warning...but in doing so she arouses not only Gawyn's suspicions, but also Elaida's, thus leading her to recall the connections between Min, Rand, and Siuan and thus orchestrate the very coup the vision had warned of. As one of Egwene's prophetic dreams put it, she "walked right through a steel trap, setting it off without even seeing it". Then in Lord of Chaos, her panicked viewing of the Salidar embassy, pain and torture for Rand, and there being thirteen Aes Sedai, leads to Rand fleeing Caemlyn for Cairhien...where the exact thing she viewed comes to pass via Galina and the Tower delegation. Both cases also double as a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy—which Min is aware often happens to those she tells of her viewings, yet she fell prey to it anyway.
- Oracular Urchin: When Min looks at you, sometimes she'll see an image. About half the time she knows what it means. Whatever it is, and whether she knows what it means or not, it will always come true. Wheel of Time fansites will often have a Wild Mass Guess section devoted exclusively to Min's "viewings" (as they're called) and how they might play out.
- Real Women Don't Wear Dresses: Which is why Min doesn't.
- Sad Clown: A little, especially during the middle of the series. Min responds to almost everything with humor and jokes (she's described at one point as always having a little smile on her face, like she knows a joke that no one else does), but whenever we get chapters from her point of view it's clear that it's at least partly an act.
- Secret-Keeper: She, Aviendha, Elayne, Alivia, and Cadsuane are the only ones who know Rand survived The Last Battle.
- Strangled by the Red String: In-Universe, this is how she views it. She saw a vision of her falling in love with Rand in book 1, and spent the next book complaining about it. She first expresses attraction to Rand near the end of Book 2, but at the beginning of Book 3 is Put on a Bus by Moiraine. That bus arrives at The White Tower at the beginning of Book 4, where she stays (essentially) until arriving at Rand's location at Book 6. Their First Time is Sex for Solace. (She even describes it as "comforting each other," with Rand giving her wiggling eyebrows.)
- The Force Is Strong with This One: Indirectly, she can tell that a character's importance to the world by how many viewings she can get off that character. She uses this to spot a major character who's hiding among the servants.
- The Smart Guy: Her primary role has been to pore over the Prophecies and philosophical notes for anything that can give an edge to Rand in the Last Battle, considering that she can't channel and isn't nearly as good at combat as the Master Swordsmen in the majority of the Badass Normal soldiers of the cast. She's the one who comes up with the plan to destroy the Dark One's seals.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Min is essentially both sides of this dichotomy — especially when she goes into hiding at The White Tower and Siuan forces her to masquerade as an "Elmindreda" to throw people off the trail.
- Villain Respect: The Seanchan, when they hear of her abilities, immediately demonstrate a significant respect for her, thanks to their cultural obsession with omens - though it is hinted that they have encountered others with Min's abilities before, albeit not in a long time.
- Waif Prophet: In the series proper Min is a perfectly capable young woman (albeit not at the power level of most of the major characters), but she has a background as this. Min apparently had her oracular vision at a very young age, which caused quite a few problems for the three aunts that raised her, especially before she learned...
- You Can't Fight Fate: Whatever Min sees, it comes true. No matter how she warns the victim, it comes true. ...She's learned to keep certain viewings to herself.
Noal Charin
Noal Charin (a.k.a. Jain 'Farstrider' Charin)
An old man who follows Mat and the Band of the Red Hand for some time, Noal is the cousin of the famous author and traveler Jain "Farstrider" Charin. In truth, he is Jain, trying to atone for what is implied to be time as a Darkfriend.
- Actually, I Am Him: As revealed in Book 13, and suspected by the fandom for some time prior, he is in fact Jain Farstrider. He gives his true name to Mat before his Redemption Equals Death.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: His heroics in the Third Age allow him to ascend to the Heroes of the Horn posthumously.
- Big Damn Heroes: Once saved Mat from the gholam by showing up and shouting for the others to come and help, when it needed to kill him in secret. Book 14 reveals that he was such a badass in life that in death he was allowed to join the Heroes of the Horn, which by definition is about as Big a Damn Hero as it's possible to get. He starts by saving Olver's life, and follows that by joining the Heroes in the Last Battle.
- Famed In-Story: Due to his book, The Travels of Jain Farstrider. Given what happens to him later, this appears to have been accentuated for later Ages.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Charges the Aelfinn with explosives to give Mat and Thom more time to escape with Moiraine.
- Redemption Equals Death: He had previously been Compelled by both Ishamael and Graendal.
- Senseless Sacrifice: He sacrifices himself to help Mat and the others get back to the room with the portal, but it turns out Mat had the means to escape the labyrinth the whole time.
- Walking Spoiler: Not that you'd know or anything...
- You Shall Not Pass!: Unfortunately, they did.
Olver
Olver
A Tagalong Kid whose father was killed by the Shaido Aiel, he joins Mat in his travels.
- Beyond the Impossible: When Mat escapes from the Tower of Ghenjei, he wins a game of the Snakes and Foxes without cheating, utterly confusing Talmanes.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Mat isn't the Hornsounder of the Last Battle, having died temporarily before it in the fight with Rahvin. Olver is.
- Children Are Innocent: Why he doesn't understand certain things, and also how Mat tries to treat him.
- Corruption of a Minor: Mat and the Band of the Red Hand do this to him, though Mat thinks it's just the latter, and is annoyed by it.
- First-Name Basis: His surname isn't even known in-story, since he shows up as an orphan.
- Gonk: He is referred to in descriptions as very ugly.
- Orphan's Ordeal: His mother died of illness, and his father was murdered by the Shaido.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: He doesn't say it outright, but his POV chapter in A Memory of Light shows how lonely and scared he is by the time they are trapped in the Blight, especially after Faile is forced to leave him hiding with the Horn.
- Spanner in the Works: Everyone assumed Mat was the Hornsounder, including Mat himself and Birgitte. Olver's use of the Horn gave the forces of Light enough momentum to turn The Last Battle around.
- Stepford Smiler: He seems upbeat and innocent, but he's doing as well as you'd expect from a child being trapped in the middle of a war.
- You Are Not Alone: It looks like he's about to die alone at the claws of the Trollocs, but Noal Charin - one the heroes Olver had just summoned - comes back specifically to save him.
- You Killed My Father: He wants revenge on the Shaido for this reason.
Rodel Ituralde
Rodel Ituralde
A Domani general and one of the Five Great Captains, Rodel Ituralde does not truly enter the series until the final three books.
- Determinator: Of all the Great Captains, he's the only one to fight Graendal's compulsion, at least enough to hesitate giving the wrong order.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Ituralde is mentioned as one of the Five Great Captains many books before he actually shows up.
- Four-Star Badass: He is practically The Ghost for most of the series while the other great generals have appeared, until The Gathering Storm where he holds his own with a ragtag, unsupplied army against the Seanchan, who have greater numbers, air forces, and damane.
- MacGyvering: Utilizes this the most out of the Great Captains, and to great effect. The man will resort to burning logs and brambles.
- Manchurian Agent: He and the other Captains are put under Graendal's Compulsion early on in A Memory of Light, causing him to make several tactical errors that result in heavy losses for the forces of Light. Unlike the others, he manages to resist it long enough for Elyas to kidnap him and have someone else take command.
- Master Swordsman
- Offered the Crown: After The Last Battle, the Aes Sedai promptly ask him to rule Arad Doman, repeatedly and incessantly.
- Red Baron: "The Wolf", though he's also called "the Little Wolf" derisively when he's not around. Actual wolves are amused by this nickname.
- Screaming Warrior: How he deals with Draghkar.
- The Strategist
- You Shall Not Pass!: Holds the line against Shadowspawn forces from assaulting the city of Maradon for an insanely long time with his men. Repeats it at Shayol Ghul, for a more reasonable time, and fails.
Talmanes
Talmanes Delovinde
Mat's right-hand man in the Band of the Red Hand, Talmanes is a Cairhienin nobleman who travels with him, acting as the Straight Man to Mat's eccentric behaviors.
- Appropriated Appellation: In Book 14, he is given the title of "Dreadbane" by a Borderlander, that being the title bestowed to those who kill a Myrddraal in single combat in the Borderlands.
- Badass Normal: Unlike his fellow mostly-Badass Normal general, he's not even ta'veren. He's just that good.
- Blue Blood: Of the Cairhien nobility.
- Colonel Badass: Essentially what a Lieutenant-General is.
- Deadpan Snarker: Increasingly in the last 3 books.
- Determinator: In the prologue for Book 14, he gets a cursed wound from a Myrddraal blade. However, he refuses to step aside from his mission or accept a mercy killing, despite the agonising pain as parts of his body turn black. In fact, He's so determined, that having killed the Myrddraal that cursed him, he goes on to kill a second one, a feat few living men can claim who are neither channelers, warders, or otherwise superhuman.
- The Lancer: To Mat, balancing his calm behavior against Mat's occasional nervousness.
- Not So Above It All: He's Mat's Straight Man through the entire series, but becomes increasingly loose and lets his dark sense of humor show after nearly dying in the prologue of A Memory of Light. He even shows his Slasher Smile when the Band starts firing the cannons through the Aes Sedai Gateways.
- Number Two: To Mat.
- Slasher Smile: He is revealed to have one when he smiles during the final legs of the Last Battle.Daerid: Blood and bloody ashes, Lord Talmanes... that expression is horrifying on you. ... You should probably do that more often.
- Straight Man
Thom
Thomdril "Thom" Merrilin
"A man who, it was said, could play the Game of Houses in his sleep. It is a shame that such a man calls himself a simple gleeman. But such arrogance to keep the same name."
A traveling gleeman who happens to be in Emond's Field, Thomdril Merrilin gets caught up in the mad flight out of the Two Rivers. While Moiraine fits the "wise mentor" aspect, Thom has the "old man" side of it. He also has that name that sounds suspiciously like "Merlin". Of course, in true Gandalf fashion, he performs a Save-Yourself-style Heroic Sacrifice (practically shouted "Fly, you fools!"), and then comes back later in Book 2, though via careful escape as opposed to reincarnation. He then becomes a peripheral character, eventually becoming trapped with Mat in Ebou Dar.
- Author Avatar: Although Moiraine and Lan seem to exemplify Jordan's philosophies the most, and he outright admitted that the library ter'angreal with a smiling bearded man was meant to be a Shout-Out to himself, as a storyteller Thom stands out as the character most like Jordan, particularly in his way of shepherding the three ta'veren (the younger generations), his relationships with the characters, and his literary propensities. The most Jordan-like moment of all occurs in A Memory of Light, when he sits outside the Pit of Doom to defend it while he composes the epic of the Dragon Reborn—one that
takes him forever to write because he keeps dithering over the right words and the story has grown so great in the telling.When people started to expect you—when they started to anticipate your flourishes, to look for the ball you had hidden through sleight of hand, or to smile before you reached the twist line of your tale—it was time to pack up your cloak, bow once more for good measure, and stroll away. After all, that was what they'd least expect you to do when all was going well. - Badass Normal: Despite having absolutely no special powers, and (as far as we know) not even any formal combat training, he's able to accomplish some truly outrageous feats.
- Blade Enthusiast: Throwing knives, specifically. He teaches this skill to Mat and Min.
- Bodyguarding a Badass: Stands guard over the entrance to cave in Shayol Gul to make sure no one tries to kill Rand, Moiraine, and Nynaeve. Over the course of The Last Battle, he kills five would-be assassins who think they can fool an old man with just some face-changing magic spells.
- Cape Swish: A gleeman technique to show off his multicolored cloak.
- Cool Old Guy
- Guile Hero: He's handy with knives when he has to be, but what he really brings to the table is an intuitive knack for politics that lets him play the protagonists' opponents off against each other without anyone suspecting that he's responsible, and a gift for sifting through rumour and gossip to see larger patterns.
- Handicapped Badass: Gets a limp from fighting a Fade, but this doesn't stop him.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Although he survives.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: He can make really hard throws hit dependably.
- My Greatest Failure: His nephew, Owyn, was a male channeler whom he wasn't able to save.
- Mysterious Past: An extremely talented performer with very expensive and well crafted instruments who is well-versed in politics... is wasting time traveling to backwater villages? Would this have anything to do with tales about Elayne's mother Morgase and her lover, a bard, whom she suddenly became angry with and had chased out? Is that why Elayne seems to find him familiar?
- He wasn't just Morgase's lover and the court bard... it's never explicitly stated, but if you read between the lines, he's also responsible for the deaths of at least two kings. He killed Taringail Damodred (Galad, Gawyn and Elayne's father) upon discovering that he was plotting to take the throne of Andor, and he also is strongly implied, and outright stated in the RPG, to have killed Galldrian Riatin to avenge the death of his girlfriend. And Elayne knows - her offer of a position as court bard in book 12 includes forgiveness for all crimes committed in Andor or Cairhien.
- Nerves of Steel: The man tackles a Fade without even hesitating.
- Wandering Minstrel: His cover story.
Aludra
Aludra Nendenhald
A member and former mistress of the illuminator (=pyrotechnican) guild in Cairhien. She gets kicked out of the guild after their guild-house gets accidentally destroyed by Rand and has to run away. On the run, she meets Mat, becomes a part of Luca's circus, and later leaves again with Mat and his men. She seeks revenge - first against the guild of illuminators who wants to have her killed, and later against the Seanchan who dismantled the guild, and invents black-powder-based weapons for that.
- Fatal Fireworks: She basically invents cannons, called "dragons" based on her previous experience as an illuminator.
- Revenge: What she wants, and why she joins Mat who at that point fights against the Seanchan.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: According to one of Egwene's dreams, her "dragons" will kill thousands of innocent people.
