History Literature / TheWheelOfTime

An epic fantasy series by Robert Jordan, currently consisting of fourteen books, a prequel (''New Spring''), and a series guide entitled "The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time," as well as a [[FirstPersonShooter first-person shooter]] and an [[RolePlayingGame RPG]]. The main sequence of the series is now complete. Harriet [=McDougal=], Alan Romanczuk, and Maria Simons made an updated series guide/encyclopedia with Jordan's notes that was released in November 2015.

Very much one of the LongRunners: The first book of the series was published on January 15, 1990, the last exactly 22 years and 51 weeks later, in January of the Chinese Year of the Dragon.

Some three thousand years later, in the story's modern day, a PowerTrio of young men--FarmBoy Rand, GuileHero Mat and TheBlacksmith Perrin--were living out their lives in a small village... Until a mysterious woman called [[TheObiWan Moiraine]] showed up, followed shortly thereafter by an attack by ([[AllMythsAreTrue to them]]) mythical monsters. According to Moiraine, the three were "''ta'veren''," an [[{{Fictionary}} Old Tongue]] word meaning "MainCharacters," and the Dark One itself was after them. Possibly, one of them might be "[[TheChosenOne The Dragon Reborn]]", the {{reincarnation}} of Lews Therin Telamon who would lead the forces of good against the rise of evil--and, like any male channeler, [[DestructiveSavior go mad]]. Moiraine was sent in to find him, [[SaveThisPersonSaveTheWorld protect him]], teach him to channel ([[GenderRestrictedAbility if possible]]), keep him sane (if possible) and prepare him (whichever one "he" is) (FirstEpisodeSpoiler: it's Rand) for the fight. For the [[CosmicKeystone seven seals]] on the Dark One's [[SealedEvilInACan can]] are starting to weaken, and TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt is approaching, and if there is to be any hope for all creation, there's a lot of work to be done. For prophecy says that The Dragon Reborn ''can'' defeat The Dark One... but not that he ''will''.

-->The opening paragraph to every novel in the series

An epic fantasy series by Robert Jordan, currently consisting of fourteen books, a prequel (''New Spring''), and a series guide entitled "The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time," as well as a [[FirstPersonShooter first-person shooter]] and an [[RolePlayingGame RPG]]. The main sequence of the series is now complete, and an updated series guide/encyclopedia written by Jordan's widow remains forthcoming, set for a November 2015 release.

->"''The Wheel of Time turns, and ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legends fade to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the third age by some, [[ForegoneConclusion an Age yet to come, an age long past,]] a wind rose in [[[MadLibsCatchPhrase a location]]]. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings or endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was ''a'' beginning.''"

Very much one of the LongRunners: The first book of the series was published on January 15, 1990, the last exactly 22 years and 51 weeks later, in the January of the Chinese Year of the Dragon.

->"''The Wheel of Time turns, and ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legends fade to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the third age by some, an Age yet to come, an age long pass, a wind rose in [[[MadLibsCatchPhrase a location]]]. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings or endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was ''a'' beginning.''"

An epic fantasy series by Robert Jordan, currently consisting of fourteen books, a prequel (''New Spring''), and a series guide entitled "The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time," as well as a [[FirstPersonShooter first-person shooter]] and an [[RolePlayingGame RPG]]. The main sequence of the series is now complete, and an updated series guide/encyclopedia written by Jordan's widow remains forthcoming.

* Prequel: ''Literature/NewSpring'' (expanded from a novella)
# ''Literature/TheEyeOfTheWorld''
# ''Literature/TheGreatHunt''
# ''Literature/TheDragonReborn''
# ''Literature/TheShadowRising''
# ''Literature/TheFiresOfHeaven''
# ''Literature/LordOfChaos''
# ''Literature/ACrownOfSwords''
# ''Literature/ThePathOfDaggers''
# ''Literature/WintersHeart''
# ''Literature/CrossroadsOfTwilight''
# ''Literature/KnifeOfDreams''
# ''Literature/TheGatheringStorm''
# ''Literature/TowersOfMidnight''
# ''Literature/AMemoryOfLight''

->''"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass.\\
What was, what will be, and what is,\\
may yet fall under the Shadow.\\
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time."''

----

An awesome epic fantasy series by Robert Jordan, currently consisting of fourteen books, a prequel (''New Spring''), and a series guide entitled "The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time," as well as a [[FirstPersonShooter first-person shooter]] and an [[RolePlayingGame RPG]]. The main sequence of the series is now complete, and an updated series guide/encyclopedia written by Jordan's widow remains forthcoming.

An epic fantasy series by Robert Jordan, currently consisting of fourteen books, a prequel (''New Spring''), and a series guide entitled "The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time," as well as a [[FirstPersonShooter first-person shooter]] and an [[RolePlayingGame RPG]]. The main sequence of the series is now complete, and an updated series guide/encyclopedia written by Jordan's widow remains forthcoming.

* Prequel: ''New Spring'' (expanded from a novella)
# ''The Eye of the World''
# ''The Great Hunt''
# ''The Dragon Reborn''
# ''The Shadow Rising''
# ''The Fires of Heaven''
# ''Lord of Chaos''
# ''A Crown of Swords''
# ''The Path of Daggers''
# ''Winter's Heart''
# ''Crossroads of Twilight''
# ''Knife of Dreams''
# ''The Gathering Storm''
# ''Towers of Midnight''
# ''A Memory of Light''

But all was not lost. Jordan's wife and editor, Harriet [=McDougal=], chose up-and-coming fantasy author Creator/BrandonSanderson to complete the series, based on Jordan's copious notes and some completed fragments. After working on the KudzuPlot, Sanderson announced that the last book had [[TrilogyCreep grown to an additional three volumes]]--despite Jordan's (pre-death) declaration that the twelfth book would absolutely wrap the series, even "if it's 20,000 pages long, Tor has to invent a new binding system, or it comes with its own library cart." Whatever the case, Sanderson delivered his first novel in 2010, and the Wheel continued to spin, with the final book released in January 2013.

Jordan churned out the first six or seven books at a prodigious pace, but began slowing down around the eighth, as [[KudzuPlot the plot got bigger]], [[FourLinesAllWaiting the action got slower]] and, according to fans at least, [[SeasonalRot the quality got lower]]. Progress slowed further when Jordan was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiac_amyloidosis amyloidosis]], which he succumbed to in 2007. Even worse, AuthorExistenceFailure hit at the exact worst time: midway through the twelfth and final book of the series, ''A Memory of Light''.

* Short Story: "[[VillainEpisode River of Souls]]", published in the ''Unfettered'' anthology. [[note]]Takes place concurrently with the beginning of ''A Memory of Light'' and is Demandred-centric.[[/note]]

An epic fantasy series by Robert Jordan, currently consisting of fourteen books, a prequel (''New Spring''), and a series guide entitled "The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time," as well as a [[FirstPersonShooter first-person shooter]] and an [[RolePlayingGame RPG]]. The main sequence of the series is now complete, and an updated series guide written by Jordan's widow remains forthcoming, as does a novella called "River of Souls", comprising material cut from the final books for pacing reasons and centered on [[VillainEpisode what exactly a certain Forsaken]][[note]]Demandred[[/note]] was up to during that time.

Links: (Spoilers Galore!)
* [[http://wotfaq.dragonmount.com/ The Wheel of Time FAQ]]
* [[http://www.encyclopaedia-wot.org/ Encyclopedia WoT]]
* [[http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=386600 ISAM's mock summaries]] (An AbridgedSeries parody, up to Book 10)
* [[http://wot.wikia.com/wiki/A_beginning Wheel Of Time Wiki]]
* [[http://www.tor.com/features/series/wot-reread The Wheel of Time Reread]] with BigNameFan Leigh Butler, former curator of aforementioned WoT FAQ. Treat as you would any {{Recap}} section.
* TVTropes's own [[Characters/TheWheelOfTime character sheet]].
----
!!TropeNamer For:

* LegendFadesToMyth
* SilkHidingSteel
----

[[/index]]

An epic fantasy series by Robert Jordan, currently consisting of fourteen books, a prequel (''New Spring''), and a series guide entitled "The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time," as well as a [[FirstPersonShooter first-person shooter]] and an [[RolePlayingGame RPG]]. The main sequence of the series is now complete, and an updated series guide written by Jordan's widow remains forthcoming.

But all was not lost. Jordan's wife and editor, Harriet [=McDougal=], chose up-and-coming fantasy author Creator/BrandonSanderson to complete the series, based on Jordan's copious notes and some completed fragments. After working on the KudzuPlot, Sanderson announced that the last book had [[TrilogyCreep grown to an additional three volumes]]--despite Jordan's (pre-death) declaration that the twelfth book would absolutely wrap the series, even "if it's 20,000 pages long, Tor has to invent a new binding system, or it comes with its own library cart." Whatever the case, Sanderson delivered his first novel in 2010, and the Wheel continued to spin.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: A-C]]
* AbdicateTheThrone:
** [[spoiler:Queen Morgase, in favor of her daughter Elayne.]]
** And even before that, [[spoiler:Tigraine, the Daughter-Heir, runs off to the Waste, and leaves Andor without an heir.]]
* AbuseIsOkayWhenItIsFemaleOnMale: Altara, where wives carry knives to slice up their husbands when they get out of line.
* AcademyOfEvil: Mesaana's Schools.
* AccidentalMarriage: [[spoiler:Mat and Tuon, which eventually becomes a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage.]]
* AchievementsInIgnorance:
** Nynaeve's use of all Five Powers when Healing, in spite of the fact that all Tower-trained Aes Sedai are certain it shouldn't work and should be very dangerous. Little do they (or even Nynaeve) know that in the Age of Legends Nynaeve's method was preferred as it doesn't use the target's own life force as a fuel source. She manages to do things like [[spoiler: cure madness and reverse stilling]].
** Regardless of the inherent potential of the world, Egwene is still a channeler, used to magic having its own strengths, and treating, say...[[DangerousForbiddenTechnique balefire]] as something completely unstoppable. [[spoiler:Perrin, however, is under no such misconceptions, and his feat of ''deflecting'' balefire launched at him by a Black Aes Sedai in the World of Dreams catches Egwene (and likely the attacker) totally off-guard.]]
*** To clarify: [[spoiler: Perrin, who is now very deep into learning the Dream from the wolves, points out that [[CrowningMomentOfFunny "It's just a weave"]]. Egwene just stands there and sputters after Perrin [[IronicEcho chastises her for being in such a dangerous place]]]].
* ActionGirl: Birgitte Silverbow. And the entire Maidens of the Spear warrior society (Aviendha, Bain, Chiad, Liah, and all the other unnamed ones). And Min, Faile, and the female members of ''Cha Faile''. And most Altaran women. And that legendary Andoran queen who won a battle by grabbing her standard from the standard bearer and charging her horse out into the midst of the enemy. And almost every Borderlander woman. And everyone without a [[strike:penis]] wool head, Etc., etc., etc.
* ActualPacifist: The Tinkers.
* AddictiveMagic: The One Power, and the True Power which is even more addictive.
* AesopAmnesia:
** In ''The Shadow Rising'', the women of the Two Rivers instruct Faile on how their marriages work, with sweet words, so she can coexist with Perrin. From ''Lord of Chaos'' to ''Towers of Midnight'', Faile ignores all this and is constantly angry with her husband for not going with Saldaean customs, which he has never heard of and she has never explained to him. And [[TheVamp Berelain]].
** In ''Knife of Dreams'', Elayne almost gets herself killed by the Black Ajah when she goes to confront them, and does get [[spoiler: Vandene and Sareitha killed.]] But in ''Towers of Midnight'' she has learned nothing it seems, [[spoiler: since she confronts the captured Black Ajah in disguise as a 'Chosen' while wearing her copy of Mat's medallion, and once again is almost killed, as well as almost loses the medallion and all its copies to the Shadow. She is so confident in her ContractualImmortality bestowed on her by Min's viewing that she forgets that the people around her are not similarly protected.]]
* AGodAmI: The Choedan Kal allow a person to do this. Lanfear wants to, and [[WeCanRuleTogether encourages Rand to do the same]].
* AgonyBeam: Channeling techiques to cause pain, mostly used (and invented) by Semirhage.
* AlienGeometry: [[FanNickname Finnland]]. Walking down a corridor, then turning around and walking back, may lead to a completely different room to the one the walker started in.
* AllBeerIsAle: While it's not a prominent drink of choice, whenever beer is mentioned, it is ale.
* AllMythsAreTrue: The time of the Last Battle is approaching, and all sorts of forgotten legends are crawling out of the woodwork, though rarely exactly as the legends described. Since time is depicted as cyclical, it is implied that many of our real-world myths were spawned by events in the books, and/or [[AndManGrewProud real-world events inspired the books' legends]].
* AllThereInTheManual: The Guide has a lot of background information about the world and its history, including some fuller descriptions of events mentioned in the books.
* AllTrollsAreDifferent:
** Ogier. They love knowledge and learning and have [[FetishFuel erogenous zones]] in their ears.
** And Trollocs who are suppose to be the source of the troll myths in "our" age.
* AllWitchesHaveCats: or at least, all cats have a fondness for women who can channel. Dogs, on the other hand, violently dislike them; this seems to work the other way around for male channelers.
* AllWomenAreVain: In keeping with the general MarsAndVenusGenderContrast of the series. Granted, some women are more inclined to it than others, but this always bears out as a cultural thing, where some societies encourage or discourage such behavior. A great deal is made of female hypocrisy as the characters look down on women who blatantly play up to male desire, but ultimately they all do it, deliberately embracing it after circumstance or jealousy drives them to it initially. This is seen as the natural and correct state of the world, as women who ''don't'' cater to male attention are even more underhanded and often outright villainous.
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Shadowspawn in general.
* AmazonBrigade:
** Aiel Maidens of the Spear. They're pretty much one of the fiercest societies among their entire ProudWarriorRace.
** Also Elayne's all female bodyguard.
* AmplifierArtifact: ''Angreal'' and ''[[UpToEleven sa'angreal]]''.
* AnachronicOrder: In the second book, the [[FanNickname Supergirls']] chapters take place a few months after the rest. In book 13, Perrin's chapters occur about a week prior to the other characters'.
* AndManGrewProud: Two Aes Sedai (one of whom happened to be named Mierin, a.k.a. [[spoiler: Lanfear]])believing they had found a power source that both sexes could use, as opposed to the One Power, resulted in the Breaking of the World as they were really drilling into the Dark One's prison.
* AndThisIsFor: Rand's absolutely epic RousingSpeech[=/=]ReasonYouSuckSpeech[=/=]ShutUpHannibal moment to the Dark One.
** [[spoiler:IT IS BEYOND YOU. YOU BREAK US, AND STILL WE FIGHT! WHY? HAVEN'T YOU KILLED US? HAVEN'T YOU RUINED US? HERE IS YOUR FLAW, SHAI'TAN--LORD OF THE DARK, LORD OF ENVY! LORD OF NOTHING! HERE IS WHY YOU FAIL! IT WAS NOT ABOUT ME. ''IT'S NEVER BEEN ABOUT ME!'' It was about a woman, torn and beaten down, cast from her throne and made a puppet--a woman who had crawled when she had to. That woman still fought. It was about a man that love repeatedly forsook, a man who found relevance in a world that others would have let pass them by. A man who remembered stories, and who took fool boys under his wing when the smarter move would have been to keep on walking. That man still fought. It was about a woman with a secret, a hope for the future. A woman who had hunted the truth before others could. A woman who had given her life, then had it returned. That woman still fought. It was about a man whose family was taken from him, but who stood tall in his sorrow and protected those he could. It was about a woman who refused to believe that she could not help, could not Heal those who had been harmed. It was about a hero who insisted with every breath that he was anything but a hero. It was about a woman who would not bend her back while she was beaten, and who shone with the Light for all who watched. Including Rand. It was about them all. ''That man you have tried to kill many times, that one who lost his kingdom, that one from whom you took everything...that man, that man still fights!'']]
* AnimalEyeSpy: Graendal uses bird vision.
* AnotherDimension:
** ''Sindhol'', where the Snakes and Foxes live.
** Also ''Tel'aran'rhiod'', the Portal Stones worlds, the skimming place, the ways, etc
* AntiMagic: The ''stedding'', and Far Madding. Mat's amulet (and Elayne's copies of it) have this effect on a personal basis.
** However, there are ways around this. Mat's amulet won't protect him against objects affected by the source (such as a rock thrown by ''saidar''), and Far Madding's is circumvented by ''ter'angreal'' that allows the user to store some of the Source within it. The latter method might work within a ''stedding'' as well, but it hasn't been tested.
* AnyoneCanDie: Throughout the novels Robert Jordan kept most of the main cast (the dozens of people that made it up) intact, with a few notable exceptions ([[spoiler:such as Aram]]), but come Book 14: ''A Memory of Light'' and he leads a bloodbath of recurring characters to make [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire George R. R. Martin]] look like a pansy. Among the dead we have: [[spoiler: Gareth Bryne and Siuan Sanche (who made their debuts in the first and second books respectively, and had been main protagonists for the last few), Davram Bashere and his wife (Faile's parents and major players for the past few books), Rhuarc (a mainstay since book 4), Hurin (a major staple of book 2, and returned in book 13), Alanna (who has been hopping in and out of the story for years and bonded Rand), Birgitte (sorta, she dies then gets summoned by the Horn, then get's reincarnated into a baby somewhere a few minutes later), Gawyn Trakand (Elayne's brother, first appeared in book 1 and has been a player, if not a POV character ever since) and most shockingly ''Egwene al'Vere''. That's right, he actually killed off the fourth most important (protagonist) character in the entire series. [[DyingMomentOfAwesome And in a suitably epic way at that.]]]] And that's not even all of them.
* ApocalypseHow: The Breaking, in which thousands of insane male channelers reshaped the face of the planet and wiped out what little civilization had survived the War of Power, was a Type 1, pushing towards Type 2. If the Dark One is set free, it's a full blown Type Z.
* ApronMatron: A few of the female innkeepers.
* {{Arcadia}}: The Age of Legends is seen as the golden age by every other age that isn't it. We also hear about a ''lot'' of places that have lost their former splendor.
* ArtifactOfDoom: A tainted dagger that corrupts its carrier with extreme hate and paranoia until he actually becomes contagious to others.
* ArtificialHuman: The positively ''vicious'' superhuman immortal "''[[{{golem}} gholam]]''"
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: With the exception of special appointments, Aes Sedai determine relative authority entirely by their power levels, which [[GenderRestrictedAbility female channelers]] can instantly determine in each others' presences. Useful in emergencies for reducing confusion over the chain of command, but if your Power is weak, you're stuck kissing everyone's asses (even the newest Aes Sedai) for the rest of your very long life. Nynaeve highlights how unfair it is in book 12 in a conversation with just such an Aes Sedai. This system baffles the other organizations of channelers, which mainly use seniority and ranking systems. This makes a lot of sense, once you read the supplementary material and realize that the White Tower was basically formed by the strongest living channelers by force immediately after the Breaking, with command over the Hall being overturned several times.
* AuthorExistenceFailure: As mentioned above. [[TearJerker Damn it.]]
* BackFromTheDead: The Dark One can give the dead--if not DeaderThanDead--new bodies, but it requires abducting villagers for soul extraction. There is also a time limit, measured in fractions of a second, which is ''why'' balefire's time-damaging properties kill people DeaderThanDead. So far resurrected we have [[spoiler:Ishamael, Aginor, Balthamel, and Lanfear. And in the final book, Graendal]].
* {{Badass}}: Quite a few examples. All the major protagonists take level in it over time, not to mention the ones that started that way.
** Notable examples include Lan Mandragoran, who basically declares war on the entire Blight, and Rand Al'Thor, which is justified considering his status as the ChosenOne.
*** And then there's the Aiel, an [[UpToEleven entire race of badasses.]]
* BadassArmy: Aside from the Aiel and the Borderlanders (particularly the Malkieri), there's the Heroes of the Horn, both when first summoned in ''The Great Hunt'' and again at the Last Battle. [[spoiler:Including the huge, white-furred spectral army of dead wolves who face off against the Darkhounds of the Wild Hunt.]]
* BadassBoast: Many. Possibly the best example is used by an entire race, the Aiel:
-->Till shade is gone, till water is gone
-->Into the Shadow with teeth bared
-->Screaming defiance with the last breath
-->To spit in Sightblinder's eye on the last day.
** In addition, even though it's an inanimate object, the inscription on the side of the Horn of Valere is pretty badass.
--->"In the last, lorn fight
--->'gainst the fall of long night,
--->the mountains stand guard
--->and the dead shall be ward
--->for the grave is no bar to my call."
** Rand gets the single most impressive one:
--->"Do you believe that I could kill you? Right here, right now, without using a sword or the Power? Do you believe that if I simply willed it, the Pattern would bend around me and stop your heart? By...coincidence?"
** Lan's speech in Towers of Midnight is this crossed with RousingSpeech:
--->"I am al'Lan Mandragoran, Lord of the Seven Towers, Defender of the Wall of First Fires, Bearer of the Sword of the Thousand Lakes! I was once named Aan'allein, but I reject that title as I am alone no more. Fear me, Shadow! Fear me and know. I have returned for what is mine. I may be a king without a land. But I am still a king!"
** Mazrim Taim, the leader of Rand's Ashaman, gets one in after a massive victory over the female channelers who have basically been in charge of the world and convinced of their own superiority for 3000 years:
--->"Kneel and swear to the Lord Dragon, or you will be knelt."
** Lan's lines [[spoiler:just before he kills Demandred (and as he [[TakingYouWithMe Sheathes the Sword]])]].
-->"I am the man who will kill you...You didn't listen to me. I did not come here to win. I came here to kill you. Death is lighter than a feather."
* BadassInDistress: [[spoiler: Rand when captured by Galina and her cohorts.]]
* BadassGay: [[spoiler: Lord Baldhere]], as mentioned offhand by Lan in ''A Memory of Light.'' [[spoiler: Emarin of the Black Tower]], also mentioned offhand by Pevara in the same book.
* BadassLongcoat: The Asha'man, male channelers made BadAss by virtue of TrainingFromHell, and wearing black coats as their uniforms. Even the meekest among them could make YourHeadAsplode as easily as he could eviscerate you with his sword.
* BadassNormal: Borderlanders are for the most part normal, every day humans. Who regularly battle all manner of nasty creatures that come pouring out of the Blight, and they tend to win. And then there's the Aiel, who lived for generations in a desert the ''trollocs'' call "The Dying Ground" solely because of them.
* BadBoss: Lanfear. There are some things [[ShootTheMessenger you really shouldn't tell her]]. In fact it's hard to find a powerful bad guy who ''isn't'' like this--consider Padan Fain and his MindRape.
* BadGuyBar: Altara is full of these. Often with [[{{irony}} ironically ostentatious names]] better suited to high class establishments. They are called 'hells'.
* BadFuture: [[spoiler: What Aviendha sees in her vision, in Towers of Midnight.]]
** Actually, that future sounds pretty good for most of the muggles. It's just awful for [[spoiler:channelers and Aiel]]...which happens to describe basically all of the protagonists.
** In AMOL we briefly see three more [[spoiler: two shown to Rand by the Dark One, the third inadvertently created by Rand himself. The first is a blatant AfterTheEnd dystopia where the Blight has expanded to cover the whole world and everything is ruled by the Forsaken. The second looks normal at first, but is a world where the Dark One won the Last Battle, tricked humanity into thinking they'd won, and then removed everyone's consciences, creating a world where ''humans'' are AlwaysChaoticEvil. Finally, Rand tries to counterbalance this by creating a vision of a world without evil- which, it turns out, also has no free will]].
* BalanceOfGoodAndEvil: The Pattern operates on this. In theory, the turning from the Age of Legends to the Third Age being a WorldSundering of the worst kind will mean that the turning from the Third Age to the Fourth Age will be a golden age of peace, for one example. Also, ''ta'veren'' cause effects that can be good or bad, but increase the amount of both, simply enhancing the chances of both of those things happening over neither of them. By Books 13 and 14, [[spoiler:Rand notes that his FertileFeet effect is due to [[BigBad the Dark One]] giving more than enough on the "bad" end of things, so he works as an agent of the Creator for the Pattern to give balance through good only]].
* BarbarianTribe: The Trollocs fit a AlwaysChaoticEvil stereotype of a barbarian [[TheHorde horde]], while the Aiel dip into the more ProudWarriorRaceGuy variety at times.
* BattleBallGown: Nynaeve, in a moment of weakness, dons one in Tel'aran'rhiod.
* BattleHarem: Rand is in a relationship with three women, all of whom agree to share him: Min is a {{Ladette}} and a KnifeNut, Aviendha is a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Race Girl]] who used to be a member of an AmazonBrigade and grew from being an ActionGirl to one of the strongest female channelers, and finally, Elayne is a BadassPrincess who is also an extremely strong channeler.
* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: Rand's main plotline. Crowns come and go, but his battle with his own inner turmoil is the ''real'' challenge. While this seems overdone at times, it's pretty well justified: not only is he supposedly destined to [[ChosenOne save the world, cause massive chaos of his own, and die in the process]], but his style of magic used to drive any male who uses it dangerously insane and he is the reincarnation of a man who killed his own family. That's a lot of stress on someone who [[OrphansPlotTrinket never knew his biological parents]]. Mostly this just takes the form of EnemyWithin as stated below, but there are enough symbolic dreams, metaphorical prophesies and really crazy moments for occasional signs of [[BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind this trope]] too.
* BeamOWar: [[spoiler:When Egwene instinctively discovers and uses the "Flame of Tar Valon" in ''A Memory of Light'', she fires this anti-Balefire weave directly at Taim/M'Hael's balefire weave, initiating this. As she pours more and more of the Power into it, she overcomes him, crystallizing him completely along with the entire field around them and the nearby Sharan channelers. And, as she kills herself with it, she herself became a pillar of crystal with Vora's ''sa'angreal'' inside of it.]]
* TheBeautifulElite: [[EvilIsSexy Lanfear]], [[ShelteredAristocrat Galad]], and [[TheVamp Berelain]] are frequently described in this way. And [[spoiler:the latter two will probably have ridiculously adorable babies.]] Less mentioned is that Rahvin was said to be as handsome as Lanfear was beautiful.
* BecauseDestinySaysSo: For lack of anything better to do, the Dragon uses the Prophecies of the Dragon to plan his schedule. The only reason this keeps working out is because Rand is an ultra-powerful ta'veren who [[WindsOfDestinyChange completely screws the laws of probability]] anywhere in the surrounding area; without that influence, Rand's entire business plan for the Messiah job probably goes out the window.
* BeginnersLuck: Mat and Rand in particular, though to be fair, they are ''ta'veren'' (thereby justifying... well, anything) and [[spoiler:drawing on others' memories]].
* BelligerentSexualTension: Rand and Aviendha, Perrin and Faile, Gaul and Chiad, Gawyn and Egwene, and probably more.
* BerserkButton: Do not, under any circumstances, call Lanfear by her birth name, or tell Lanfear [[spoiler:that Rand slept with another woman.]]
** For Rand, hurting his friends is a quick way to get a balefire breakfast. Especially if one [[spoiler:forces him to do it himself, Semirhage.]]
** Mentioning Perrin is this for Child Byar (and [[YouKilledMyFather Dain Bornhald]]), and mentioning Rand is this for [[spoiler:Padan Fain.]]
* BetaCouple: ''Towers of Midnight'' develops a few. [[spoiler: Egwene and Gawyn, Morgase and Tallanvor, Moiraine and Thom, and Berelain and Galad are well on their way to joining the ranks]]. Granted, many of these were foreshadowed beforehand, but it still reads like the characters getting in their moment of happiness before the Last Battle hits.
* BigBad: The Dark One. [[TheScottishTrope He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named]] (it's [[{{Satan}} Shai'tan]], by the way). The reality-warping personification of pure evil spanning all worlds, imprisoned by the Creator in Shayol Ghul "at the moment of creation", whatever that means. Real bad attitude, legions of grotesque monsters, swarms of secret minions at every level of society, speaks in ALL CAPS and makes you feel it. He seeks nothing less than the complete unmaking of the fabric of reality.
* BigBadWannabe: There are several villains in the series with plans, ambitions, and general egos that well exceed their ability to pull them off, though that doesn't mean they don't make a lot of trouble first. Most notable would be Sammael, Elaida [[spoiler: and Padan Fain/Mordeth/Shaisam]].
* BigGood: The Dragon Reborn, supposedly, due to being the one that stops the Dark One from escaping his prison and destroying the world. Of course, this doesn't always turn out to be the case, especially with the added caveat of the taint on ''saidin.'' [[spoiler:However, if Rand wasn't the biggest force for good in the world before ''The Towers of Midnight'', he is now.]]
* BiTheWay: Siuan. Moiraine. Shalon. Ailil might be, if she also likes men.
** Many women trained in the Tower become this out of necessity, as they are not allowed romance with men and live in a Tower full of women from their mid-teens. Those like Siuan and Moiraine return to their heterosexual nature once they have their freedom again, others such as Galina were never interested in men to begin with.
* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: Whitecloaks all tend to develop this.
* BlackComedyRape - Mat's deeply disturbing relationship with [[MrsRobinson Tylin]]. Like how she undresses him at knifepoint, for starters... Oh, she doesn't force him to undress by pointing a knife at him, oh no, [[spoiler:she uses the knife to undress him and have her way with him]], {{Squick}}ed out yet?
* BlackMagic: The [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique True Power]], which comes from the [[DealWithTheDevil Dark One]]
* BlessedWithSuck: Male channelers to the extreme. Likewise female channelers born amongst the Seanchan, though that's more of a culturally enforced suck.
** ''Ta'averen'' would be another example; they do gain a lot of power and influence just for existing, but at a ''heavy'' price.
** Sharan channelers are also heavily repressed, and are segregated from the rest of Sharan society in seperate villages that they aren't allowed to leave without permission. Male channelers are kept as breeding stock and executed when they start channeling to avoid the Madness. Until you work out that they ''take care'' of the ''otherwise completely isolated rulers'' of their country who determine this permission, said rulers sometimes die ahead of their appointed seven-year-span by the "will of the Pattern", and people outside would probably assume that any channeler outside would ''have'' permission because permission is an internal matter.
* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Elayne, Min, and Aviendha, respectively.(However, note that Elayne's hair contains quite a bit of red)
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The Aelfinn and Eelfinn, who "are not evil the way the Shadow is evil, yet they are so different from humankind they might as well be." They are roughly analogous to TheFairFolk with their riddles and bargains, so it fits.
* BodyguardingABadass: ''Far Dareis Mai'' carries the honor of the ''Car'a'carn''. And they are ''not'' happy when he runs off to battle without them.
* BornLucky: Mat. All ''ta'veren'' get this in bouts, but Mat seems to have the greatest luck by far and is very aware of it. Being a gambler, he frequently exploits this ''heavily''. Money ceases to be an object after the first few books, assassins are evaded by slipping or bending over at the last second, and '''anything''' (or even any''one'') that Mat acquires through chance or random selection will turn out to be extremely important -- whether he wants it or not.
** [[spoiler: In fact, it's this trope that Mat relies on almost completely during his foray into the Tower of Ghenjei in Towers of Midnight.]] And it isn't just there, once Mat realizes he has it he abuses it for all he's worth. One example is losing track of [[spoiler:Tuon and Selucia]], instead of doing a search of where they were he spins himself around at random, gets bumped into and goes right into the store he ends up facing. It works!
** It's also how he just happens to find the tavern Thom is performing in in Tar Valon in ''The Dragon Reborn'', and how he discovers first Comar and then Mother Guenna (who can lead him to Nynaeve, Elayne, and Egwene) in Tear.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: All three Two Rivers heroes are well-trained in the use of their longbows as well as their melee weapons. Oddly enough Rand, the only one of the three to actually use a sword, is the only one to cease using bows entirely. [[spoiler: Though, it would be hard to use a bow with only one hand...]]
* {{Brainwashed}}: "Compulsion," expertly used by the QuirkyMinibossSquad but inexpertly rediscovered by a number of ethically challenged Aes Sedai. The Warder bond even includes it as an optional "feature."
** BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Turning someone to the Shadow does this to them, twisting their personality into one that serves the Dark One with no hope of changing.]]
** BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood: [[spoiler:As Rand learns in Book 14, killing the Dark One would lead to this for ''everyone in the entire world''. The shadow behind the eyes of those who were altered is the same as that which comes to those who are Turned. Shai'tan himself lampshades the lack of a difference.]]
--->'''Dark One:''' [[spoiler:[[MindRape I TURN MEN TO ME.]] [[VillainsNeverLie IT IS TRUE.]] [[BrainwashedAndCrazy THEY CANNOT CHOOSE GOOD ONCE I HAVE MADE THEM MINE IN THAT WAY.]] [[NotSoDifferent HOW IS THIS ANY DIFFERENT, ADVERSARY?]]]]
* BrainBleach: Shadowspawn breed.
* BreakTheHaughty: What happens to many Aiel when the learn the truth of why they don't use swords. And then there's poor Morgase.
** Happens to the bad guys too, namely a few of the Forsaken. Let's see. We have: [[spoiler: Graendal is raped and killed as punishment by Shaidar Haran, then reincarnated as the ugliest woman who's ever lived, before ending up in a state of permanant compulsion. Semirhage is humiliated by Cadsuane via spanking. Moghedien was collared by Nynaeve and Egwene until she was freed by Aran'gar only to be raped by Shaidar Haran and placed in a mindtrap given Moridin. She ends up collared again, this time by the Seanchan. Lanfear's reincarnated form of Cyndane is similarly given over to Moridin's cour'souvra. Mesaana was raped by Shaidar Haran as punishment for abusing Alviarin even though she had been completely faithful to the Dark One. Her haughtiness was broken completely (along with her mind) by Egwene. Let's not forget Liandrin, Elaida and Sevanna, who become slaves to the Seanchan.]]
** Near the end of the series this is at least attempted by nearly every political figure or Aes Sedai at some point or another. All of Elayne's political enemies suffer this, this occurs every time a leader is stripped of title and cast out, [[spoiler:the Kin, White Tower, Ex Seanchan, Rebels, Sea Folk, and Wise Ones all do this to each other's group in their dodechaedron leadership struggle, Rand does this to Cadsuane in ''The Gathering Storm,'' this arguably happens to Aviendha during her flash forward in ''Towers of Midnight'']], the list goes on and on and on...
* BreastPlate: Justified via ObfuscatingStupidity: Elayne's personal bodyguards wear such armor precisely to make people think they're all show and no bite.
* BuffySpeak: When Verin shows Mat a picture of him [[spoiler: that she got off a Darkfriend who was looking for him]] and asks him how he thinks she got it, he replies that he'd figured she "''saidar''ed it".
* ButtMonkey: Morgase seems to exist for the sole purpose of being repeatedly humiliated.
* CadreOfForeignBodyguards: The Maidens of the Spear to Rand.
** The Queen's Bodyguard in Andor is a borderline case: almost all of them ''are'' foreign, but it's not a requirement and they are from several different countries.
* CannotCrossRunningWater: Water can deter both darkhounds and myrddraal unless their hunt for their quarry is urgent.
* CanNotTellALie: Aes Sedai are unable to lie after [[RestrainingBolt they take their oaths]], which in practice leads them to become experts in [[TruthAndLies twisting the truth]]. This in turn completely subverts the reason for taking the oath against lying, as people trust them even ''less'', so great is their reputation for manipulating the truth.
** Well, not entirely, because most know that if they say something right out it's true. [[spoiler:Unless they're Black Ajah, of course...]]
* CardCarryingVillain: All of the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Forsaken]] happily committed atrocities from having their relatives butchered by monsters to annihilating entire cities out of spite, they demand grovelling worship from their minions, their idea of a pleasant hobby generally consists of torture sessions or depraved orgies, and some of them became villains in the first place for the simple reason of showing them, showing them all!. (Oddly, the most sadistic one of the lot also enjoys sewing.) Justified in series as the Dark One wanting easily-controlled minions.
* CataclysmBackstory - The [[WasItReallyWorthIt Pyrrhic victory]] of the original War crippled both sides and brought the end of the Age of Legends' civilization. See also AndManGrewProud. Interestingly--and to Moridin's ''great'' irritation--several weaves have since been developed that were unknown in the Age of Legends--such as the Warder bond and linking someone against their will--or even thought impossible, like [[spoiler:reversing gentling/stilling]]!
* TheCavalry: Two of them in the same battle, actually. One of them is led by [[spoiler:Faile]], [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome as if it wasn't awesome enough already]].
** Preemptive Cavalry: [[spoiler: in ''Towers of Midnight'' the Whitecloaks see Perrin suddenly appear on a hill about to charge down and slaughter them. All hope seems lost and the Whitecloaks prepare for a final stand when a [[OhCrap whole army of Shadowspawn appear]]. The Whitecloaks feel like they're about to get crushed between both forces when [[BigDamnHeroes Perrin's army charges in]] and saves most of them, finally convincing them that he was [[EnemyMine their ally after all]].]]
* ChainmailBikini: Averted, but [[PlayedForLaughs mentioned]] in Book 14.
-->Men's armor and women's armor didn't actually look much different, which [Mat] found a shame. Mat had asked a [[spoiler:Seanchan]] armorer if certain areas of the female breastplate shouldn't be emphasized, so to speak, and the armorer had looked at him like he was a half-wit.
* CharacterTics: When agitated, Nynaeve tugs her braid. She gets agitated a lot.
** She and various other female characters also spend an inordinate amount of time sniffing.
** She and Siuan (and most of the men, to boot) tend to snort, as well. Sniffing and snorting, oh dear.
* ChekhovsArmoury: The list of Chekhov's stuff below is too short, even when it's abbreviated. To give you a hint, Min mentions that when she looks at Mat she sees an eye on a scale in the first book. A few books later, in Tear, Mat learns that he will lose half the light of the world to save the world. MANY books later, he finally [[spoiler: loses an eye]]. This series is absolutely full of things like that. It's Chekhov's Porn Collection.
** ChekhovsArmy: Every seemingly minor side character who receives a name is ChekhovsGunman. Every. Last. One. Even the imaginary ones.
** ChekhovsBoomerang: [[spoiler: The Bowl of the Winds is used to keep the otherwise lethal weather of Shayol Gul at bay during the Final Battle.]]
** ChekhovsGun: Mat's dagger from [[spoiler:Shadar Logoth]]
*** The 13-13 trick [[spoiler:first mentioned in book 2 MUST SURELY be one. Even if it STILL hasn't happened yet. Actually, Brandon Sanderson confirmed that it is. He even used the phrase "gun on the wall" in reference to the TropeNamer]]
*** As of Book 14 (the final book)[[spoiler: the gun is finally off the wall: Taim was using it to take over the Black Tower]]
*** Another first mentioned in ''The Shadow Rising'': one of the "two more powerful ''sa'angreal''" than ''Callandor'' that "a man can use" (the other being the Choedan Kal). [[spoiler:It finally appears as a scepter Demandred possesses which he passes to Taim, and which Logain, darkened by the attempts to Turn him, must resist claiming.]]
*** Shara. The country on the other side of the Aiel Waste (IE China). Mentioned as early as Book 1 but, as of Book 14, never interacted with directly. '''Hmm.'''
** ChekhovsSkill: The sword technique [[TakingYouWithMe "Sheathing the Sword"]] - TheParody renames it "Ending the Book."
*** Boomerangs again at the end of Book 14.
* ChessMotifs
* ChivalrousPervert: Mat. "He'll steal a kiss from you, and whatever more you're willing to give, but he would never hurt you."
* TheChosenOne: The Dragon (Reborn). Prophesied to save the world, but also destroy it. Or something. Most laymen just conclude he's pure evil.
** It's also a ''brutal'' deconstruction. It's not just the taint that's making him insane, it's the knowledge that all of existence rests on his shoulders, while foolish people are fighting their savior at every turn. That much stress would drive anyone mad.
*** [[spoiler:Eased somewhat as he cleansed the taint, so his madness won't get any worse, but doesn't heal either. Thankfully, after his epiphany on Dragonmount he has an unexplained protection from its effects.]]
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: The entirety of the Dark One's forces. Minions are encouraged to scheme against each other to get ahead so that they are easier to control/predict. The Forsaken--each able to command all the lesser minions--set themselves up in separate kingdoms and spend the entire series scheming over the position of number one, even after the Dark One ''appoints'' someone. No trust or cooperation, only temporary truces arising from their schemes. Even when [[spoiler:Rand is ''cleansing saidin'']] and Number One orders everyone to stop him, the effort is completely uncoordinated, with each Forsaken attacking independently (or just pretending to go attack and then watching from a safe distance).
* ChurchMilitant: The Children of the Light, a.k.a Whitecloaks. 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.
** This is somewhat deconstructed with [[spoiler: Galad leading them]]. Not ALL the the Whitecloacks are completely like this, and [[spoiler:''Towers of Midnight'' indicates their general attitude might be changing]].
* {{Cincinnatus}}: By WordOfGod, Lady Dyelin is this, having stepped up to hold Andor together after Morgase's disappearance and presumed death, Rahvin's fall, and Rand leaving Caemlyn for Cairhien and Illian. She cedes authority back to Elayne when the latter appears to claim the crown, and although she had a number of House Seats willing to back her as queen, she put all her efforts into helping Elayne win the Succession and rather harshly and awesomely castigated those nobles by refusing to take the throne.
* CitadelCity: Tar Valon.
* CityOfCanals: Illian and Ebou Dar.
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: Tel'aran'rhiod operates on this principle as dreamers or pretty much anyone with access to it can shape based on what they believe is possible. Since physics and other laws of reality are little more than handy suggestions, fights in this world are based on knowledge of this fact and willpower. This leads to an awesome moment where [[spoiler:Perrin manages to show Egwene up by catching Balefire, which she thought was impossible. For her, it was because she was working off the belief that Balefire could not be stopped like it would be in the real world. Perrin was able to catch it because he has a thorough understanding of the power of belief and it's effects in the World of Dreams and [[AchievementsInIgnorance probably had no idea what he was trying to catch.]]]]
* CleavageWindow: Ebou Dari's current fashion - used to frame the marriage knife.
* CleopatraNose: Faile has a large nose, which Perrin finds unattractive until he falls in love with her. Saldaeans - Faile's race - usually have 'bold' noses and are subsequently described often as looking like eagles, hawks, etc.
* CombatPragmatist: Rand ponders on how to defeat someone that you know can outsmart you. His answer is "You make them think that you are sitting down across the table from them, ready to play their game. Then you punch them in the face as hard as you can." This translates to [[spoiler:sending an emissary to speak with the enemy simply to ascertain that she is there, then just nuking her entire fortress with magic, rendering her and all her servants deader than dead.]]
* CommonTongue: Played ridiculously straight. Some terms are put into the Old Tongue.
** Actually, the Old Tongue is more of an in-universe Latin. It's a dead language, only known by scholars and (theoretically) the nobility as a status symbol, but no one actually SPEAKS the Old Tongue as a language anymore and hasn't for a very long time, they just use words from it here and there out of tradition or for poetic reasons.
* ContinuityCavalcade: The bragging contest between Rand and Mat in ''A Memory of Light''.
* ContinuityNod: Several show up in ''A Memory of Light''.
** During the Final Battle, Mat [[spoiler: sends a written order to Galad. Part of it suggests that if Galad should encounter any Trollocs wielding quarterstaffs, he should let someone else handle it, as Mat knows Galad has trouble with those types. It looks like Mat is just trolling the man with a CallBack to Mat's defeating both [[MasterSwordsman Galad and Gawyn]] with a quarterstaff in ''The Dragon Reborn''. However, the word "quarterstaff" is part of the cipher that authenticates the order.]]
* ContrivedCoincidence: Justified. They are simply part of how destiny works in this setting, although tons of coincidences happen that aren't plot-significant.
* ConvenientlyInterruptedDocument: The reason Egwene and her faction doesn't have a detailed list of every single decision Elaida is considering. Egwene and the Salidar Aes Sedai had easy access to the World of Dreams, in which it's possible to visit a close analogue of the real world undisturbed. They would like to use this to spy on things in Elaida's office. However, the ephemeral, nearly UnstuckInTime nature of dreams means that if something is only in a certain place briefly in the real world, it can spontaneously appear or vanish in the World of Dreams while you're handling it. So the Salidar Aes Sedai got lots of fragments of what was going on in the tower, but very little complete data.
* CoolOldGuy: Thom and Noal.
* CosmicKeystone: The crude man-made seal over the hole in the Dark One's extradimensional prison is tied to seven artifacts made of the literally indestructible heartstone. Yet, somehow, they've become very rickety...
* CostumePorn: Understatement. There are pages and pages of descriptions of choosing dresses, dressing in dresses, showing off dresses for others, discussing the merits of cloth and styles of dresses, then they're folded up, put in saddlebags, and never seen again. (Generally, the saddlebags are lost shortly afterward) If all of these were reduced to 'a (color) dress', it would have been a five book series at most.
* CoversAlwaysLie: All of the Darrell K. Sweet covers. If it could be drawn inaccurately, Sweet did so. Perrin was drawn blonde, despite the series stating that ''no one'' from the Two Rivers was blonde, and in fact Rand had never seen a blonde person until he left. Despite Rand's tall height being a plot point about his past, all the covers show him as the same height as everyone else (some even make him look shorter), plus Rand just looks different on every cover (early covers made him look a child, later ones made him look like he was in his 30's, when in fact he starts off at about 20 and ages about two years over the course of the series). Probably the crowning blow was the way the Trollocs were drawn on the cover of ''The Great Hunt''. In the novels, they are clearly beast-men, with heads of animals. He decided to draw them as ''dark-skinned men'' wearing horned helmets.
** Several covers have portrayed the Dragkhar as some sort of bizarre gargoyle creature when it actually looks just like a human with wings.
** The official series guidebook lampshades this. Contained within is a gallery of the cover art available when the guide was published. They are listed as "Narrative Paintings of Questionable Authenticity".
*** The art in the guidebook may be worse than the novels' cover art in terms of technical artistry, but in terms of accurately depicting scenes or characters from the novel, it almost couldn't be worse. Almost every book's cover art gets the mood wrong of the scene it depicts, or gets key details in it wrong, or depicts a minor, unimportant scene from the book when there were much more interesting options to choose from, or all of the above.
* CrapsackWorld: In the Westlands, many nations have descended into rioting and civil war. The stable ones are often ruled by corrupt nobles who constantly scheme against each other and casually kill anyone who opposes them. Andor is an exception, but it is quickly becoming a VestigialEmpire with retreating borders. Outside the Westlands? You have the Aiel Waste, which is nearly inhospitable due to the lack of water and harsh weather. Across the sea is the Land of the Madmen, the only inhabitable continent in the southern hemisphere, which is a hellish DeathWorld of constantly erupting volcanoes and rogue channellers of both sexes. The other main continent and the lands east of the Aiel waste are ruled by Seanchan and Shara, both nations larger than the entire Westlands combined. Both have horrible elements---the Seanchan practice slavery, make all female channelers into [[FateWorseThanDeath damane]] and are currently undergoing a massive civil war. Shara is even worse, banning all contact inside or outside the nation except for a few walled-off trading villages, having even more widespread slavery than the Seanchan and killing all male channelers as soon as they manifest their abilities. Nowhere is safe.
** Oh, and {{Satan}} is breaking out of {{Hell}} and is an OmnicidalManiac who is gradually coming closer and closer to bringing about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, killing time by getting his AlwaysChaoticEvil army of {{Mooks}} and his EvilSorceror CoDragons to start WorldWarIII before he does it. TheMessiah may or may not defeat him, and may destroy the world himself even if he does because he's slowly going insane. And even if he manages to hold onto his grip on reality, defeats the bad guy and saves the world...The Wheel of Time still turns, and give him a few thousand years and {{Satan}} will be back to do it all over again.
* CrazyCulturalComparison: Happens every now and then; most of the time it's the Aiel culture that gets compared to the Western, but we also see comparison between Western/Seanchan cultures, Western/Ogier cultures, and different cultures within the big "Western" block.
* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: The Age of Legends. Literally so on the crystal spires part, at least.
* CultureClash: This is a huge factor in the world at large, and the source of endless tension... and humor.
-->"...If an Aiel woman must kill a man every day, how are there any men left among you?"
-->Aviendha did her best not to stare. How could the woman believe such nonsense?
** Somewhat ironically, there are the Forsaken, which have been kept in stasis for three thousand years and awaken into a time in which not only the culture they knew has been destroyed, rebuilt, and destroyed again several times over, but the very world itself is beyond recognition. They are known to remark on how different things are from the Age of Legends, but they all seem to adapt remarkably well to the world in which they find themselves.
*** Of course, having MindControl powers and a [[ReligionOfEvil secret cult ready and waiting to serve you]] helps.
* CulturedBadass: Any number of Aes Sedai and fighting nobility. Of note is Lan, who quotes poetry at the end of the first book to describe the neverending fight against evil.
* CursedWithAwesome: Rand, Mat, Perrin aren't particularly thrilled to discover that they're Ta'veren and consequently at the top of The Dark One's hit list at first. Mat in particular gets over this pretty quick when he realizes his power is luck, and damn good luck at that. The other two get over rather swiftly when they realize that being Ta'veren means the Pattern is looking out for them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:D-F]]
* DangerousForbiddenTechnique - ''Balefire'', a forgotten (until recently) weave dropped by both parties during the War of Power after overuse nearly caused a TimeCrash. It takes the form of a beam of light that destroys anything... both now ''and'' retroactively. This weaponized {{Rewrite}} spell trips off any number of time tropes:
** DeathRay - Manifests as a beam of "liquid light" which dissolves anything it hits.
** DeaderThanDead - Because the Dark One does not have the power to step outside of time, it is unable to resurrect those of its followers who are killed by balefire (to its great frustration) "[[WordOfGod ...unless the amount of balefire is very small]]."
** NoOntologicalInertia - anything balefired is not only destroyed now, but--depending on the power of the balefire--for some time into the past as well. (A beam taller than a man undid his actions for half an hour or more.)
** RippleEffectProofMemory - Even if a thing's actions are undone by balefire, everyone's memories remain the same. (Up to and including reviving Character A by balefiring his murderer. Character A does not have memories of having been killed or dead, but Characters B through Etc remember seeing his corpse.)
** TemporalParadox - During the War of Power, whole cities were wiped out with rampant balefire, and the Pattern nearly unraveled while trying to compensate for the resulting {{Plot Hole}}s and {{Continuity Snarl}}s. Note that balefire does not change the past, only the present: Character A revived above ''was actually dead'', only to get better with absolutely no explanation.
* TheDeadHaveNames - Rand keeps a name of women who have died in his service or because of him, reciting it as a MadnessMantra as his sanity slips. [[spoiler: Interestingly, the two who top the list, and who pain him the most, are actually alive. And it acts as the driving force behind his ShutUpHannibal, ReasonYouSuckSpeech to the Dark One.]]
* DeathSeeker - The stated fate of any Warder who outlives his Aes Sedai. Lan takes this trope and runs with it.
** Also, any male channeler among the Aiel, who will generally take it as a sign that they should go to the Blight and challenge the Dark One. [[spoiler:If ''Towers of Midnight'' is any indication, ho-o-oly shit, does that backfire...]]
** Sea Folk males are given the choice to jump overboard or be put ashore on the Land of Madmen - most choose the former.
* DefrostingIceQueen: [[spoiler: Pevara, after bonding with Androl in a ''A Memory of Light.'' She even lampshades it later when another group of Aes Sedai shows up at the Black Tower to recruit the remaining Asha'man.]]
* DepartureMeansDeath - Following the "Breaking of the World", the Ogier find themselves incapable of being away from their Stedding for any extended period of time, with death resulting if they remain away for too long.
* DespairEventHorizon - [[spoiler:Rand crosses this near the end of ''The Gathering Storm'', and is almost DrivenToSuicide before EpiphanyTherapy kicks in.]]
* DespairGambit - This seems to be the Dark One's main plan with regard to Rand.
* DestructiveSaviour - Lews Therin.
* {{Determinator}} - Rand. In another use of the trope, the Aiel take an oath to be {{Determinator}}s.
** The extinct nation of Manetheren fits this trope perfectly, refusing to give up even in the face of impossible odds multiple times.
** special mention must go to [[spoiler: Rodel Ituralde, who, like the other 5 great captains, had compulsion placed upon him during the last battle. Unlike the other 3 surviving Captains, Rodel managed to resist, and recognize its effects entirely on his own, without even once betraying the forces of the light. He held out so long, that he STILL hadn't succumbed to it when he was forcibly removed by wolves. He did it all through pure force of will. He knows the right move, damnit, and he isn't going to listen to some voice in his head telling him different, no matter how loud it gets or that it takes away his ability to speak.]]
* DistractedByTheSexy - A popular tactic for people trying to spy on or control Rand. The Wise Ones of the [[ProudWarriorRace Aiel]] try it with Aviendha, Berelain tries it in Tear, Kadere tries it with Isendre in the waste, and Colavaere tries it with a string of young women in Cairhien. It never works.
** Except when Lanfear appears to Rand as Selene, he is utterly besotted up until the moment she reveals her true self.
* DoesNotLikeMen - Several female characters seem to have aspects of it, but among the protagonists their attitudes mostly boil down to affectionate mockery. The Red Ajah rather notoriously attracts women of this variety, although there have been a handful of exceptions -- in fact, Red Ajah Aes Sedai who ''don't'' harbor a hatred toward men are often given that trait as an indication that their goals are the same (or at least compatible with) those of the protagonists, while many (though not all) of the misandrist variety are actually Black Ajah.
* DoomyDoomsOfDoom - The Pit of Doom, as well as the Mountains of Dhoom.
* {{Doorstopper}}s - The books themselves. As if to underscore the point, Tor's paperbacks are rather shoddy, and start to disintegrate after ten or fifteen readings. Robert Jordan joked that "once the series is finished, I plan to release a boxed set of the series. On wheels." If he had lived to finish the series and kept his promise to end the series with ''A Memory Of Light'' being the twelfth book no matter how long it was, it could have been a Doorstopper even by Doorstopper standards. Jordan used to joke that it would be one book, even if Tor was forced to invent a new way of binding books to do it. Turns out that was an accurate assessment.
** A soldier in Iraq had a copy of The eye of the world in his bags, [[PocketProtector stopped a bullet]].
* TheDragon - Shaidar Haran and/or Nae'blis for the Dark One.
* DragonsUpTheYinYang:
** Rand becomes known as the Dragon Reborn, uses a dragon banner, and gets magical dragon tattoos on his forearms. Interestingly, we never hear any legends about actual dragons.
** A modified yin-yang, without the circle of the opposing colour at the centers of each side, is the ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai. The white, female portion points up and is now called the Flame of Tar Valon by itself. The black, male side points down and is known in modern times as the Dragon's Fang by itself. The gender association is reversed from the actual taijitu, most likely to support the taint of the male half.
*** The familiar dots are missing in order to illustrate the current disunity between male and female channelers, to outline that only by working together can harmony be achieved.
* DramaticIrony - All the time, in almost every. Single. Chapter.
** Played for laughs in early books, such as how [[RunningGag at various times]], each of the three male main protagonists would each find themselves in a socially awkward situation and wish one of the other two were there, because they know how to talk to women better.
** During the fourth through sixth books, different protagonists each captured one of the Forsaken so they could learn long-lost methods of using the One Power. They both tried to keep it a secret, and both worried about someone finding out long after the respective Forsaken were out of the picture, never knowing that someone else had done the same thing and therefore wouldn't be in any position to criticize.
** During a succession crisis caused by the heir's disappearance, Elaida had a vision that the ruling house of Andor would be key to winning The Last Battle. This led her to ingratiate herself to the new queen as an adviser as soon as the succession's outcome was clear, and try to keep her powerful daughter Elayne on a short leash. It never occurred to Elaida to wonder about Tigraine, the heir that had disappeared.
** Elaida has a foretelling shortly after [[spoiler:she usurps the Amyrlin Seat. She sees that the White Tower will be whole again that Rand will face the anger of the Amyrlin. She egotistically assumes it can only mean her when in fact all she does is [[NiceJobBreakingItHero further break both the White Tower and Rand]] which unintentionally sets up the challenges that provide Egwene with the strength and opportunity to overthrow her and make herself the best Amyrlin ever.]]
** Faile originally joined up with the heroes by claiming to be a Hunter for the Horn of Valere. [[spoiler: Guess who's put in charge of delivering the Horn to the Final Battle? She even lampshades the irony when she picks it up at Tar Valon.]]
* DreamLand - World of Dreams, ''Tel'aran'rhiod''. It can even be entered ''physically'', not just mentally, but doing that just about horrifies the Aiel dreamwalkers for supposedly fragmenting the soul. The whole World has its own set of fairly complex rules that govern what is and isn't possible. Most pertinently, though, YourMindMakesItReal.
** Rand's dreams in ''The Eye of the World'' were similar; Ba'alzamon was probably pulling him into the World of Dreams.
** ''The Wolf Dream'' that, well, of which wolves dream and where their souls go after death, is actually ''Tel'aran'rhiod'' as well. This enables [[spoiler:Perrin]] to run around in it.
** DreamWithinADream - Thanks to the World of Dreams. At one point, Egwene is forcibly yanked awake by her dreamwalker teacher who admonishes her for breaking a rule and then turns into a monster. Egwene wakes up a second time to the exact same setting, but this time she's really awake.
* DreamWalker
* DroppedABridgeOnHim:
** At the end of ''The Dragon Reborn'' [[spoiler:Be'lal is about to confront Rand in what would surely be an epic battle only for Moiraine to pop up out of nowhere and instantly blow him away.]]
** At the end of ''A Crown of Swords'' [[spoiler:Sammael at least fights Rand for a while only to have a [[FogOfDoom Mashadar]] literally dropped on him.]]
*** This one was [[EpilepticTrees ambiguous enough]] to require [[WordOfGod Jordan's clarification]] that [[spoiler:Sammael]] is indeed dead and not coming back.
** [[spoiler:Aran'gar and Delana]] at the start of book thirteen.
** What Mat does to Couladin in book 5.
** The death of [[spoiler: Masema, aka The Prophet]], a villain who's been causing trouble for several books. We're denied a direct confrontation as part of a cliff hanger, only to have him suddenly and unceremoniously offed in the ''prologue'' of the next book.
* DuelToTheDeath
** In one regrettable instance, we don't learn about it until after the fact.
* DugTooDeep - The Bore which released the Dark One during the Age of Legends. Definitely too deep in this case, seeing as how they managed to drill through the fabric of reality itself.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome - [[spoiler:Egwene discovers a very powerful weave, powerful enough to stop balefire, and promptly uses it to make herself go nova, turning herself and all the dreadlords at the last battle into crystal]]
* EarthAllAlong - It's implied in the books and confirmed by WordOfGod that the First Age, which took place before the Age of Legends, was our present day world.
** The references to the giants "Mosk and Merk" who fought with spears of fire that reached around the world was the US and Russia.
** The story of "Lenn" who rode to the moon in the belly of an eagle was a reference to John Glenn, merged with LEM (lunar module). Similarly, Salya is a corruption of Sally Ride.
** While visiting a museum with First-Age artifacts, the characters find a skeleton of a giraffe and a frieze of other extinct animals, as well as a Mercedes-Benz logo.
** Elsbet, queen of the entire world probably represents Queen Elizabeth I.
** Materese the Healer, Mother of the Wondrous Ind, as Mother Theresa
** Ghoetam under the tree of life is Gautama Buddha
* EleventhHourSuperpower - In ''Towers of Midnight'', [[spoiler:Rand's presence actively negates the Dark One's touch around him due to the Light using him as a conduit to preserve balance, the Dark One causing all of the evil coincidences he would normally create as well. It is almost impossible for other characters to act against his wishes at certain times due to the ''ta'veren'' effect. He's about as powerful as an army of channelers. Massive displays of his power literally drive Darkfriends insane. It's still barely enough to keep the world from falling apart, even with help.]] In ''A Memory of Light'', meanwhile, [[spoiler:he ultimately uses the One Power in its purest form of Light itself to seal away the Dark One once more]].
** Egwene's discovery of [[spoiler:The Flame of Tar'Valon, a weave that directly counters Balefire, just in time to stop Taim's rampage during the Last Battle]]
* TheEmpire - The Seanchan Empire, whose chief weapons include magical slavery, secret police, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Empress, and [[NiceHat nice coleopteroid helmets]].
** Shara is also an Empire, though the secretive nature of its people makes it difficult to guess how well it fits this trope.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt - The entire series is building up to it... And the major players, especially Rand, seem dead set on causing it regardless. It certainly wouldn't be the first time. The War of Power and subsequent Breaking of the World wiped out civilization and nearly mankind altogether, the Trolloc Wars nearly depopulated all lands west of the Spine of the World, and the War of the Hundred Years destroyed Artur Hawkwing's Empire.
* EnemyWithin - Encroaching madness caused by the taint on ''saidin'', and the VOICES in MY HEAD that will NOT SHUT UP! WHY WILL THE DEAD NOT BE SILENT?!
* EvenEvilHasStandards[=/=]InsultToRocks: Egwene says quotes to this effect twice, both times [[TranquilFury utterly calm]].
-->'''In ''The Gathering Storm'':''' I dare the truth, [[spoiler:Elaida]]. You are a coward and a tyrant. I'd name you [[ReligionOfEvil Darkfriend]] as well, but I suspect that the [[BigBad Dark One]] would perhaps be [[StupidEvil embarrassed to associate with you]].\\
'''In ''A Memory of Light'':''' (to [[spoiler:Fortuona, Empress of the Seanchan]]) Then I will speak with you directly as well. For [[spoiler:the Amyrlin]] judges many trials. She must be able to speak to murderers and rapists in order to pass sentence upon them. I think that you would be at home in their company, though I suspect they would find you nauseating.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: The Black Ajah swear an oath that they "will keep the secrets of the Shadow until their dying hour". This backfires drastically ([[spoiler:As Verin discovered, there AintNoRule saying you can't poison yourself in order to share the identities of all the Black Ajah agents you've spent years uncovering.]]) and [[LampshadeHanging Egwene notes that it probably should've been caught earlier]] except none of the Black Ajah would've understood that someone might be willing to do this.
* EvilChancellor - [[spoiler:After the split of the White Tower, the official second-in-commands of the Tar Valon as well as the Rebel Aes Sedai, Keepers of the Chronicles Alviarin and Sheriam, are both Darkfriends, and each raised their Amyrlin - an unstable fool and a child who had only just joined the tower, respectively - to weaken the Aes Sedai and manipulate them as their puppets. However, both fail spectacularly in their own way and end up losing all of their influence long before they are discovered.]]
** Fain also was an evil chancellor to several leaders. Most notably [[spoiler:Elaida and Pedron Niall]], as well as Toram Riatin. He has a penchant for advising rulers due to his merge with Mordeth, who was advisor to King Balwen Mayel of Aridhol and encouraged the king to employ methods of the Shadow to fight the Shadow, therefore giving 'accidentally evil' council.
** There's also Rahvin, who posed as Lord Gaebril and manipulated Queen Morgase via Compulsion.
* EvilFeelsGood: The effect that THE DARK ONE'S VOICE AND PRESENCE appears to have on humans, oftentimes likened to an ecstatic state by the [[strike:Chosen]] Forsaken. [[spoiler: Go Light!]] As of book thirteen this is also revealed to be the case for anyone who channels the True Power.
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: Trollocs have an extremely morbid and cruel sense of humor. Myrddraal do not have a sense of humor, yet Shaidar Haran has an extremly cruel one.
* EvilIsPetty: Some of the forsaken joined the shadow for the promise of wealth, power, or long life, but others... did not have so high a reason. Asmodean wanted to be the greatest musician, Mesaana was refused professorship at a university and was offered a teaching position which she thought was beneath her, and Sammael, Demandred, [[AndZoidberg and Be'lal]] even though they already had great power and prestige, turned to the shadow because they [[GreenEyedMonster weren't as powerful or well known as Lews Therein.]]
* [[spoiler:TheEvilsOfFreeWill: In Book 14, Rand realizes that if he kills Shai'tan, evil itself will be destroyed... But people will be left hollow in their goodness. So he re-seals the Bore instead of trying.]]
* EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce: The reason why, historically, the Dragons become... stressed.
* EvilSorcerer: The Forsaken. To an extent (of lesser importance), the Black Ajah (which doesn't exist, of course...).
* EvilVersusEvil - The Dark One and his forces are in conflict with Shadar Logoth, an ancient evil that was formed when Followers of the Light decided to fight the Shadow by adopting its policies of harshness and cruelty. This becomes a major plot point in ''Winter's Heart'' when [[spoiler:Rand cleanses the Dark One's taint on ''saidin'' by funneling it into Shadar Logoth, which causes a spectacular black SphereOfDestruction.]]
** The Dark One's forces are quite often in conflict with each other, too. See ChronicBackstabbingDisorder.
* EvilerThanThou - Mordeth, who destroyed a kingdom by [[HeWhoFightsMonsters making it fight the Dark One with the Dark One's methods two thousand years ago]], and is now (merged with another bad guy) on a one-man (double personality) rampage to try and kill the hero before the Dark One's minions can "steal" his kill.
* ExactWords: How the Aes Sedai get around [[CannotTellALie The First Oath]]. Because of this, they have gained a reputation for twisting the truth. It is said that an Aes Sedai will always tell you the truth, but not necessarily the truth you hear in the words.
** At the end of AMOL when Nynaeve is questioning Aviendha about [[spoiler:her apparent lack of concern over Rand's death, she says; "He that was wounded has woken from the dream, It is as all must do. His death was achieved in greatness, and he will be celebrated in greatness." While it may apppear on the surface that she is talking about Rand, she is actually talking about Moridin. He was wounded by being shunted into Rand's dying body and while his death is a great achievement, he will be still be celebrated because everyone believes he is Rand.]]
* ExponentialPlotDelay: To the point that you could go for an entire book without seeing one of the three male leads. The pace has since picked up since the [[AuthorExistenceFailure Robert Jordan died]](though given that there was only supposed to be one book left, that may be coincidence).
* ExpressiveEars - All Ogier have these, as well as expressive eyebrows.
* EyeColorChange: Users of [[TheDarkSide the True Power]] develop black flecks swimming across their eyes as a result of overuse. With continued use, the flecks become more common, and eventually causes BlackEyesOfEvil followed by transforming the eyes and mouth into caverns of flame. On another note, [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Wolfbrothers]] develop SupernaturalGoldEyes as a result of their awakening powers.
* EyelessFace: Myrddraal.
* TheEyesHaveIt: The bubble of evil in ''The Shadow Rising'' has Mat fighting playing cards which seem to come to life, including an Amyrlin Seat with a dagger.
* EyeScream: [[spoiler: Mat's prophecy of "giving up half the light of the world" turns out to mean having his left eye ripped out.]]
* FaceYourFears: The White Tower test to become Accepted requires going through a ter'angreal that makes you do this three times.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption - The cycle of ages (the top theme in the series) cannot be broken except by the Dark One's victory; at best the good guys can only reseal the Dark One until the ''next'' Age of Legends, where he will break free again and so forth. Considering all the crap the Dragon has to go through, he certainly got the raw deal, there; [[spoiler:Rand nearly unmakes reality ''himself'' out of despair over this]]. Rand somehow plans to fight fate and ''kill'' the Dark One, [[EldritchAbomination as remote a possibility as that seems]]. However, it is strongly implied that even if the bad guys do win, the cycle of ages will just repeat anyways (and that they have won many times before).
** [[TheDragon Ishamael]] claims that the Dark One has killed or turned the Light's champion before, but this time, for unknown reasons, it's for keeps. Though he might be lying.
* FairFolk - Aes Sedai derives from the ''aes sídhe'' of Irish folklore. And like fairies Aes Sedai have magic powers, and though they CannotTellALie have a reputation for being deceptive.
** The Aelfinn/Eelfinn also draw strongly from the Seelie/Unseelie Fair Folk.
* FakingTheDead - [[spoiler:Graendal]], not that it does her much good [[FateWorseThanDeath in the end]].
* FanSpeak - RAFO, meaning "Read and Find Out!" the answer often affectionately given to fans asking cryptic questions of the author. In fact, there's even a [[http://www.readandfindout.com fan site]] named after that.
* FantasticHonorifics: Aes Sedai always have "Sedai" fixed onto the ends of their names after being raised to the shawl, since "Aes Sedai" roughly translates to "Servants Of All" the honorific most likely translate to "Moiraine The Servant" or something similar.
* FantasticNuke: Many and varied. Entire cities were wiped out in the War of Power by balefire, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc. Rand manages to [[spoiler: wipe out most of a 15,000 man Seanchan army with fire and lightning]] in ''The Path of Daggers'' but nearly loses his mind in the attempt. In ''Winter's Heart,'' [[spoiler: Shadar Logoth gets destroyed when Rand and Nynaeve channel the taint on Saidin into it, cleansing it of the Dark One's touch]]. Manetheren's capital city was annihilated when its queen Eldrene destroyed the Trolloc army with a sa'angreal but destroyed herself and everything around her in the process. Rand also pulls one off, when in Book 13 [[spoiler: he single-handedly obliterated a hundred thousand Shadowspawn or more, almost triggering a showdown with the Dark One right then from the display of power]]. Unmaking a weave caused an explosion so spectacular that a magic-wielding empire and the Dark One's Dragon both crap their pants upon witnessing it.
* FantasyContraception: In book nine, we learn that there's a sort of tea (heartleaf) that apparently acts as a fairly reliable contraceptive. Slightly subverted in that we learn this right as [[spoiler: Elayne]] gets a little too distracted to remember to take it. However, while the resulting pregnancy is unplanned, she doesn't seem to mind much.
** Actually played sort of straight at the same time, as the character who mentions the tea, [[spoiler: Min]], does so while saying that [[spoiler: Elayne]] "should" be taking it. Considering the fact she and [[spoiler: Rand]] have been very, very busy for some time and she isn't pregnant yet (at least, that we know of), there is a strong implication that she is taking it.
* FantasyCounterpartAppliance - In the Age of Legends, they had {{Magitek}} counterparts for almost everything. Curious, since they seemed to have the technical know-how to make mechanical versions if they had been so inclined.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: ''Lots'' of them. Andor is essentially a landlocked version of England, having a "Lion Throne" and ruled by a queen. Cairhien and Mayene bear similarities to France (Cairhien has the Sun Throne; Mayener names are reminiscent of French). Arad Doman resembles Arabic countries and Iran. The Aiel are based off the Zulu (spears, tactics), Irish (appearence), and Bedouin tribes(desert dwellers) with a dash of Native American and Japanese and a strong hint of [[{{Dune}} Fremen.]] Also, Altara is like Italy; Amadicians are like Puritans; Illian like to Greek Mediterranean; Malkier is like Tibet and Nepal; Saldaea and Arafel have influences from Middle Eastern culture and areas around the Black Sea; Seanchan is a mixture of empires (Chinese, Byzantium, Japanese, Persian, Ottoman); Shienar has a mix of Japan and feudal Medieval Europe (knights, chivalry and castles); Tarabon is like to Arabic cultures; Tear like Spain. And those are just the countries that exist in the series' present.
** There is a book about the Zulu titled Wash the Spears.
** The Da'shain Aiel of the Age of Legends show some similarities to many religious sects, like Amish or Quaker or countless other: both are hereditary pacifist groups distinguished by a particular hair or beard style and by their plain and practical clothing.
* FantasyWorldMap - The Europe-esque continent which the story revolves around. "The Westlands" is one other term that's thrown around; a third is "the wetlands", which is what the (desert-dwelling) Aiel use to refer to the same area. Also, the Seanchan continent relates to the Americas.
* FarmBoy: Rand is the only one who lived and works on a farm-- Mat is more a layabout (his father is a horse trader rather than a farmer) and Perrin's more of a blacksmith from a farming village (though his family does own a farm). They all get called this however, especially early on.
** Rand is specifically a "sheepherder," ie a shepherd. Lan, in particular, is fond of calling him this.
* FascinatingEyebrow: The Aes Sedai do this all the time.
* FateWorseThanDeath:
** Getting gentled/stilled/severed. Cut off from the Power, that is: channelers are evidently as good as addicted to its wholesomeness.
** Liandrin, for being [[TheStarscream too stupid and treacherous]], isn't even mentally allowed to be DrivenToSuicide (really, she got brainwashed that way), as she's not only forced into servitude but cut off from the Power--though not severed, giving her eternal false hope--indefinitely.
** Don't forget becoming a damane. [[StockholmSyndrome Even if some of them do grow to like it.]]
** Do not ever, ever let Semirhage get her hands on you. Many of the prisoners taken by the Shadow during the War of Power killed themselves rather than face her. And by "killed themselves," we mean they opened their wrists with their teeth. Or their fingernails.
** The ultimate fate of [[spoiler:Mesaana]] after her BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind with [[spoiler:Egwene]] turns into a veritable MindRape; she is left a [[AndIMustScream drooling vegetable, trapped in her own mind]], unable to speak for the rest of her life, needing to be cared for by others.
** Also for [[spoiler:Galina]], who's apparently final fate involves being a totally broken slave, body and mind, to a sadistic PsychoLesbian for the rest of her unnaturally long life.
** And again, [[spoiler:the ''gholam'']], dropped into a lightless void... Except that being a construct, it's uncertain in what way it feels the experience. According to WordOfGod, it died shortly after the fall.
** Also [[spoiler:Moghedien and Graendal]] in the last book: [[spoiler:collared by the Seanchan and locked into (possibly permanent) Compulsion by an exploding gateway, respectively]].
* FaustianRebellion: [[PsychoExGirlfriend Lanfear]] insists she's willing and able to overthrow her master [[{{Satan}} Shai'tan]] (and then [[{{God}}the Creator]], incidentally) and [[WeCanRuleTogether reign over all creation]], if her boyfriend will just play along with her plan for a little while and pledge his allegiance to her dark master--''temporarily'', of course. Much later, it becomes apparent [[spoiler:she meant ''every word''. And might have been right]].
* FighterMageThief: Arguably, Perrin, Rand and Mat respectively. Rand was a MagicKnight for a while, but his permament injuries have weakened him back to being almost {{Squishy|Wizard}}.
* {{Fictionary}}: The Old Tongue, a big PunctuationShaker, and an example of the more fragmentary style. One character develops a bad habit of speaking this language without meaning to.
** It is at least fairly regular. No one ever translates what ''Sei'cair'' means, because we've already seen the ''Seia Doon'', the "Black Eyes," amongst the Aiel; ''Al'cair'rahienallen'', "the Hill of the Golden Dawn" ([[PleaseSelectNewCityName today shortened to Cairhein]]); and ''Al'cair Dal'', "the Golden Bowl." The fact that the speaker uses the term to address Lord Perrin [[EyesOfGold Goldeneyes]] is almost unnecessary.
* FinalBattle: ''Tarmon Gai'don''. The actual chapter called "The Last Battle" is 202 pages long, which outstrips some entire novels, and isn't even the entire battle, which lasts another hundred pages.
* TheFinalTemptation: When Nynaeve goes through the Aes Sedai's admission test, she finds herself in an illusion where she's in a happy marriage with Lan.
* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: Rand is the Dragon Reborn. That is the last line of the first book (those exact words, in fact), but the progression towards that revelation is relatively subtle until the last chapter. It is very difficult to discuss any books after the first without mentioning that fact. Also, Padan Fain being a Darkfriend.
* FirstGirlWins: Played semi-straight with Rand, in that Min is the First Girl he runs into who ''isn't'' the victim of his ChildhoodMarriagePromise; twisted in that she's the last one he ''realizes'' he's attracted to; twisted ''again'' when someone else seduces him first. Inverted with [[spoiler:Mat and Tuon (LastGirlWins, in this case)]]. Played fully straight with Perrin and Faile, Lan and Nynaeve, [[spoiler:Moiraine and Thom]], and, well, just about everybody else in the series.
* FisherKing: As early as book one, Rand is having dreams of Thom saying that 'the Dragon is one with the land, and the land is one with the Dragon'. While there doesn't seem to be a specific link, the increasing ruin in the world (endless drought --> overly harsh winter --> disease, vermin, and decay --> famine due to poor harvests) does parallel Rand's increasing insanity. But this becomes most obvious in books twelve and thirteen. In ''The Gathering Storm'', after Rand is forced to [[spoiler:almost kill Min]] by Semirhage and then [[spoiler:draws on the True Power]], he ends up with a dark aura/"warp in the air". End result, everything becomes even more ruined, dead, and horrific wherever he goes, and he no longer has any positive ''ta'veren'' effects around him, only the negative. But after his [[spoiler:moment on Dragonmount]] at the end of the book, we find out in ''Towers of Midnight'' [[spoiler:that he's gone the opposite direction, bringing life, vitality, and goodness with him, bringing the sun through the endless storm clouds and restoring the land and food, and even specifically undoing the ruin he caused in Bandar Eban through the positive results of his WindsOfDestinyChange and the force of his charisma.]]
* FixingTheGame - Mat is occasionally accused of cheating because of his luck. He's so lucky that when he encounters weighted dice, he ''still'' wins.
* FlamingSword: Rand's primary early use of the Power, especially when not having a weapon handy, was to make a "sword carved of fire".
* FourLinesAllWaiting: At least ''seven''. Especially bad in the later books, see SeasonalRot in the [[YMMV/TheWheelOfTime YMMV]] page.
* FunctionalMagic: The One Power, which has a myriad of complex rules governing its usage.
** Device Magic: In the form of ''ter'angreal''; see LostTechnology.
** ElementalPowers: The Five Powers are Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Spirit. Men tend to be better at dealing with Earth and Fire, and women Water and Air.
*** BlowYouAway: Most uses of Air, which sometimes amounts to MindOverMatter as well.
*** DishingOutDirt: Earth-centered weaves.
*** ExtraOreDinary: Some who are better with Earth can manipulate metal. [[spoiler:Egwene uses this in Book 14 to kill soldiers with their own armor.]]
*** MakingASplash: Water weaves.
*** PlayingWithFire: Fire weaves, especially ones that solely use fire.
*** SoulPower: Spirit uses this. Use of Spirit also leads to attacks on the power to channel in and of itself. Channeling is even explicitly mentioned to be connected to the soul of the individual [[spoiler:explaining why Lanfear's second body as Cyndane is weaker in it after having her ability drained by the Finn]].
** ElementalBaggage: Water and Earth spells draw from existing materials.
** TheForce: The One Power is not only {{mana}}, it's the force that turns the Wheel of Time.
** GenderRestrictedAbility: There are a great variety of differences between male and female channelers of the One Power, the first being that women draw from the female half ''saidar'', and men draw from its opposite ''saidin''. Women can weave more flows, but men can draw larger quantities of Power. Women create Gateways by making two areas 'similar', [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything whereas men 'forcefully' bore holes]] into the fabric of space. Female channelers who begin to manipulate the One Power can be seen to glow, but only by other female channelers; men instead feel a tingling feeling when a woman is channeling. In the case of men channeling, a man able to channel get a strong feeling of menace from another man channeling, but women cannot detect a man channeling at all, other than the effects. Even the ''way'' you channel is different: women must "surrender to" ''saidar'', while men must "grasp" ''saidin'', and if you try it the other gender's way, you get very dead very quickly. If ''saidar'' is tai chi, ''saidin'' is shaolin kung fu (or Krav Maga). Or more specifically, Yin and Yang.
*** Subverted in one case. Linking is a gender-restricted ability itself; only ''saidar'' channelers can link together "circles" of casters, whose power adds together, but the maximum number is determined by how many men are included (13 women can link alone, at least one man and 27 can, up to six men and 72 women...with technically no limit on the number of men). However, only one person actually channels in a circle, and in dual-gender circles, that person has to know how to direct both ''saidar'' and ''saidin.''
** GeometricMagic: All magic is pattern-based, involving the "weaving" of "threads," "strands" or "flows" of the various elements into intricate patterns. (This imagery is an extension of the idea that the Wheel of Time is a spinning wheel or loom.)
** InherentGift: There are a variety of extremely rare abilities that people can be born with, such as naturally accessing the World of Dreams, talking to wolves, ways of seeing the future, and sensing ''ta'veren''-- but despite what some characters believe, these have no connection with the One Power. Many others ''do'' however: innate Talents that allow sometimes-subconscious use of the One Power in specific areas that others might find extremely difficult or outright impossible: Healing, predicting the weather, Foretelling, finding ores, comprehension/reconstruction of LostTechnology, etc. And of course there is a difference between people who can ''learn'' to channel and people who have TheGift, and will begin to do it whether they are trained or not.
** MagicAIsMagicA: One of the reasons this series is so popular with physicists, chemists and other science-y types is that Power operates on clearly defined rules that (for the most part) don't get broken. When the mains inevitably gain massive amounts of power and ability, it doesn't feel like an AssPull so much as simply rediscovering talents lost to the ages. There are also a variety of special rules associated with certain weaves: most forms of Healing consume the body's energy, and the Healee is often ravenous for days afterwards; alternately, Traveling (directly to the location) and Skimming (via [[SubspaceOrHyperspace hyperspace]]) both create portals for fast transportation, but require strong familiarity with the departure point and destination, respectively.
** SuperpowerMeltdown: A major risk with channeling, though it's rarely shown. Every channeler has a certain "strength," corresponding to how much of the Power they can draw safely. Go further than that and they might [[{{depower}} sever]] themselves. Or render themselves brain-dead. Or kill themselves. Or disintegrate themselves in a PillarOfLight that results in a volcano and a brand-new mountain, called "Dragonmount" because that's where The Dragon killed himself, if there's enough strength. More likely to happen to people who have TheGift but no training. The series does a good job of making The One Power sound dangerous. Lews Therin Telamon[[spoiler:, Aginor's first body, and eventually Egwene al'Vere]] fall victim to this.
* ForgingScene:
** In ''The Dragon Reborn'', Perrin takes a break from chasing Rand to go work in a forge for a while. Some people consider it one of Perrin's most defining moments.
** He gets another in ''Towers of Midnight'', one that is arguably THE defining moment, since [[spoiler:it creates Mah'alleinir, [[strike: a Power-wrought hammer]] (MJOLNIR) to fulfill the Karaethon Cycle's "when the Wolf King takes up the hammer", via the discovery that one of the Asha'man has the Talent to make Power-wrought weapons]].=
[[/folder]]

[[folder:G-I]]
* GardenOfEvil: The Blight, a slowly-expanding disease on the land that spans the northern side of the main continent, where every plant and 'animal' is poisonous, extremely deadly, and out to get you. Thanks a lot, [[MadScientist Aginor]]. Its expansion ceases to become an issue after the first book. At it's heart lies [[{{Mordor}} Shayol Ghul]], the physical point that is closest to the weakness in the Dark One's prison.
** Even in the twelfth book it's an issue, they just don't obsess over it as much. Rand spent a whole chapter going up there and seeing just how far it's expanded.
* GenderBender - More than one character speculates that the Dark One must have a sense of humor after he reincarnates the infamous, womanizing Balthamel as a woman. Although extremely upset at first, she soon gets used to the change and becomes a manipulative [[TheVamp Vamp]]. It helps that Balthamel's new body is a particularly alluring one.
* GeneticMemory - Mostly early in the series, particularly with Mat, who curses at the Aes Sedai in the Old Tongue during his intensive Healing session. Not to be confused with [[spoiler:the soldier/general memories that get crammed in his head later]], which are [[spoiler:Eelfinn-related]]. The chivalrous GeneticMemory of Manetheren is also suspected to be a contributing factor to his and Rand's WouldntHitAGirl tendencies.
* GeniusBruiser: Rand. In addition to being the most powerful channeler ever born, a blademaster, and [[spoiler:a superhuman Warder]], he also demonstrates great skill in the Game of Houses and outplotting his enemies. When he isn't putting HonorBeforeReason in [[WouldntHitAGirl really stupid ways]], that is. In the second book, he's suddenly thrown into Cairhienin politics and, despite being from a quiet farming background, manages to outmaneuver the nobles long enough for help to arrive. Solid.
** Rand learned quickly, and was never stupid to start with, but his success in the DeadlyDecadentCourt had more to do with being a SpannerInTheWorks than anything else. If anything, he wasn't a Genius Bruiser, he was TooDumbToFool.
** Mat is an even better example of this than Rand. After two minutes of studying the map, he comes up with the same battle plan as half a dozen veterans working together. When his back is to the wall, he kills [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy the leader of the other side's army]] in single combat. The genius part comes from the training and experience that comes with memories from other men given to him in a mystical deal, and the bruiser part comes from ''practice with a quarterstaff as a sport''.
* GenreSavvy: Justified in-universe; see other mentions of ''ta'veren'' on this page. More than once, Aes Sedai who want to find certain characters who happen to be ''ta'veren'' do it by listening for rumors of really weird stuff going on, the kind of coincidences that happen around them all the time because they are Main Characters. In ''The Gathering Storm'', the reverse happens: an Aes Sedai experiences a succession of extremely unlikely events, and realizes it means destiny must be pushing her towards a ''ta'veren''.
** Mat, after [[spoiler: his first trips to [[FanNickname Finnland]]]] becomes the living embodiment of this trope. [[spoiler:His head is full of memories from other ''ta'veren'' and thus he can draw upon those memories to know nearly every outcome of any skirmish that occurred in history.]] He uses this trait to great advantage.
** Mat, again, [[spoiler: during his second trip to [[FanNickname Finnland]] uses all of the knowledge from other stories about the place, as well as the game built around it, to learn both how to cheat and that he must cheat the system to beat the snakes and foxes.]]
* {{Gentle Giant}}s: The Ogier. Well, the Randland ones, anyway, most of the time. The Seanchan variety are called "Gardeners"... of the 'pruning a few limbs' variety.
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: All over the place. Expect the mains to give and receive at least a couple of these per book. For example, Rand gets an ''epic'' one from Sulin in ''Lord of Chaos'' after he leaves his bodyguards behind when teleporting:
--->“The great and powerful Car’a’carn gave his honor to Far Dareis Mai to carry,” she all but hissed in a low whisper. “If the mighty Car’a’carn dies in ambush while the Maidens protect him, Far Dareis Mai has no honor left. If the all-conquering Car’a’carn does not care, perhaps Enaila is right. Perhaps the omnipotent Car’a’carn is a willful boy who should be held by the hand lest he run over a cliff because he will not look.” -Ch. 19, "Matters of Toh," ''Lord Of Chaos''
* GirlishPigtails - One of the Wise Ones threatens to do this to Egwene if she doesn't stop acting so childishly(!). And she carries it out, too.
* GivingUpOnLogic: Mat quickly does this in ''Towers of Midnight'' when [[spoiler:he, Thom, and Noal journey to the world of the Eelfinn and Aelfinn]].
* AGlitchInTheMatrix -- Happens a lot in the World of Dreams, but they are only rarely serious enough for visitors to notice. There is a good chance that the average reader will miss glitches.
* {{God}} - Entirely off-page. ''Anti-God'', Dualism-style, is the BigBad. It's implied in some ways that the Creator's powers are greater, since he was able to imprison the Dark One, but for whatever reason he's apparently unable to directly affect the world in ways the Dark One can.
** Another possible interpretation is that the Creator IS the Dark One's prison, and that the reason neither normally affect the world is because the Creator uses all of his power to negate whatever the Dark One tries to do, and if he took any of his power away from the prison to do something, the dark one would be able to apply equivalent power at the same time. Which brings up the question: Does that mean that the Bore is a hole in GOD?
* GodEmperor - It is implied that Lanfear's plan was to overthrow the Dark One and set herself and Rand up as God Emperors using the unlimited power of the Choedan Kal.
* GoMadFromTheRevelation - The test for becoming an Aiel chief involves passing through a ter'angreal that causes them to relive key moments in the culture's history. Aiel [[HonorBeforeReason place such emphasis on honor]] that the shameful truth of their origins -- they betrayed the oath they lived by -- hits ''hard''. Rand enters at the same time as a real Aiel, and by the end the other man is clawing out his own eyes. (Rand has a rather unfair advantage here, since he wasn't raised as an Aiel.) [[spoiler:Rand later reveals the truth to ''everyone'', and hordes begin to defect from the old warrior lifestyle every day, either vanishing altogether, joining a rogue tribe, or returning to the pacifism which their culture started with.]]
* GoodIsNotNice - Cadsuane, the Aes Sedai in general, the Aiel, and Logain. Rand is also a prime example and [[LampshadeHanging says so himself]]. [[spoiler: The latter ultimately subverts this later.]]
* GoodHurtsEvil - Rand, after [[spoiler:coming to terms with his existence in The Gathering Storm, has the power to passively negate the rotting and corrupting influence of the Dark One and no Darkfriends can meet his eyes without visible difficulty. When he actually uses the Power and goes all-out, he sent a couple insane at the Light that he emanates]].
* GoodParents: Many of the characters come from genuinely loving families.
** Rand specifically attributes his better qualities and ability to work through his HeroicBSOD to the good upbringing and parenting of his adoptive father, Tam. And although she died when he was very young, Rand's memories of his adoptive mother, Kari, are just as positive.
* GossipEvolution - Used frequently. Several books end like this, with an omniscient narrator describing gossip versions of the main event of the book. The narrator mentions several contradictory versions of the big epic battle but one important, portentous detail that all the different rumors agree on. Something similar happens in-story several times as well, where side characters hear twisted versions of events of the story as rumors, sometimes even things the characters they are talking to were present for. The rumors are usually wrong on important details, and the viewpoint characters are usually happy to know that their role in the real events remains obscure.
* GrandFinale: The final trilogy of books, ''The Gathering Storm'', ''Towers of Midnight'', and ''A Memory of Light'', which lead directly up to and include the Last Battle. In fact, this was all supposed to be one book when Robert Jordan was writing it, with the name of the latter of the three titles (even if it required [[{{Doorstopper}} a new kind of library cart]]), but upon his AuthorExistenceFailure, Creator/BrandonSanderson decided that the [[FourLinesAllWaiting sheer amount of plot threads]] that he needed to tie up meant he would need a trilogy, which includes a great increase in intensity over previous volumes.
* GreatWayToGo: During the Last Battle, the Borderlanders start doing this for all their dead to try and keep morale up once Lan starts it.
* GreenEyedMonster: If Perrin so much as looks at Berelain, [[spoiler:Faile]] practically ''turns green.''
* GreenLanternRing: The One Power has enough potential uses to quallify it for this, considering that it helps drive time and existence itself. It does, however, have its limits, as does [[TheDarkSide the True Power]].
* GrewASpine:
** Nynaeve is infuriated that the Kin are helplessly deferential to the Aes Sedai despite being technically independent and in many ways more learned. She endeavours considerably to get them to collectively "grow some backbone" and stand up for themselves, and they gradually do... to her, [[HilarityEnsues which is not remotely]] [[HypocriticalHumor what she intended]].
** Rand, initially over the course of the first book when he stands up to the Amyrlin Seat at the start of the second.
* GrimUpNorth: The Blight, the Blasted Lands, and Shayol Ghul. See GardenOfEvil above. [[spoiler:Subverted after the Dark One is sealed away at the end, with normal plants finally growing there.]]
* HannibalLecture:
** Several of the Forsaken are very fond of this. Especially Ishamael.
** Nynaeve delivers one to the Aes Sedai [[spoiler: at the conclusion of her test in Book 13, when they were about to fail her for losing her calm and stopping to help children when she was supposed to let them die]].
* HappilyAdopted: Rand genuinely loves his adopted father and gets over his "is-he-or-isn't-he-my-father" angst regarding Tam al'Thor relatively quickly, concluding that Tam is his father no matter what their blood relation is or isn't.
** In the most recent book, he even attributes the fact that he's able to successfully pass through his HeroicBSOD to the good upbringing Tam gave him.
--->'''Rand:''' "My father is Tam al'Thor. He found me, raised me, loved me. I wish I could have known you, Janduin, but Tam is my father."
* HappilyMarried: Perrin and Faile & [[spoiler:Lan and Nynaeve]] are a bizarre variant of TheMasochismTango. In-universe, the couples are insistent that they're this trope. To be fair, there are instances of [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther undisputed affection]], especially from book 12 and onward.
** Rand's adoptive parents, Tam and Kari al'Thor, certainly counted as this prior to Kari's death. So much so that even fifteen years later, Tam still hasn't remarried, instead devoting all of his time to raising their son and tending the family farm.
* HarmfulHealing: Traditional forms of [[HealingHands Healing]] in the Third Age take strength from the recipient to Heal faster, resulting in exhaustion. For an even worse, intentional example, we have what [[ArchEnemy Ishamael]] did to [[PaterFamilicide Lews Therin Telamon]] after the event that gave him the name "Kinslayer". Using the [[TheDarkSide True Power]], he Healed him of his [[DrivenToMadness taint]], which is described as excruciatingly painful even ''before'' he [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizes]] [[HeelRealization what]] [[AccidentalMurder happened]].
* HeadsOrTails: Mat, and sometimes Rand, use this method to make decisions. Since they both have [[BornLucky luck-bending]] [[RealityWarper reality powers]], this has extra significance.
* HeadsTailsEdge - Happens around Rand all the time, due to his transient ''ta'veren'' effect. In Rhuidean, this prevents Mat from using his [[BornLucky luck]] to make an important decision.
** In book 13, Mat [[spoiler:rolls two six-sided dice and gets a ''one'': one of the dice landed on its corner]].
* HarmonyVersusDiscipline - women must use Harmony to channel ''saidar'', men must use Discipline to channel ''saidin''. While both can achieve pretty much identical results, trying to use the method of the opposite sex is disastrous and potentially fatal.
* HeadTiltinglyKinky - "The Nine Horse Hitch" is the name of an inn; Siuan is too embarrassed to explain the meaning of the name; and nothing else is revealed about it.
* HenpeckedHusband - Just about every married man, to some degree. Ebou Dari wives wear knives to slice up or murder their husbands when they misbehave, and Saldaean couples tend to resolve their differences through shouting matches. The latter's a subversion, since it's supposed to prove that the husband ''isn't'' henpecked, and is also taking his wife seriously.
** Perrin was this before [[spoiler:Faile's kidnapping]], and while he now stands up for himself the way she has been wanting all along, he occasionally slides back.
* HeroKiller: Demandred [[spoiler: waits until ''[[GrandFinale A Memory of Light]]'' to fight directly]], but he takes down [[spoiler: Gawyn, Galad (nonfatally), and very nearly Logain and Lan before being killed by the latter.]]
* HeroOfAnotherStory: The books show that everyone is a hero in their own story on the side of the Light. [[spoiler:This is flat out stated in Book 14.]]
-->'''[[spoiler:Egwene's Spirit]]:''' Am I not allowed to be a hero, too? [...] [[spoiler:You march to your death. Yet you forbid anyone else from doing so? [...] Let go, Rand. Let us die for what we believe, and do not try to steal that from us. You have embraced your death. Embrace mine.]]
* HeroicSacrifice - In the second book, [[spoiler:[[TheMole Ingtar]] doing his [[HeelFaceTurn last stand]] vs the Seanchan army, to let the others escape.]] The sacrifice [[spoiler:of Verin]] in the twelfth book is much quieter but no less heroic.
** Arguably the most significant sacrifice is [[spoiler: Moiraine.]] Books 12 and 13 [[spoiler: however reveal that she's NotQuiteDead, though her 'sacrifice' did take out Lanfear for quite a while]].
** Book thirteen has another, fittingly enough connected to undoing the previous one: [[spoiler:Noal Charin]].
** Book 14 features [[spoiler:many of these. Gawyn and Egwene die of these, while Lan and Galad do not.]]
* HeWhoFightsMonsters - Mordeth. Rand, too: as his sanity started slipping, he became increasingly determined to harden himself in order to [[KickTheDog do what must be done]]; characters around him in turn become increasingly terrified of what he is becoming and what might happen if he fought the Dark One in such a state.
** Subverted with Rand [[spoiler: at the end of book 12 when he learns to laugh again]].
* HideYourLesbians - Quite a few minor female characters are "pillow friends". One pair even get blackmailed for it, though the blackmailers are astonished that this would succeed as there are no prejudices against homosexual relationships (it was more that one participant was terrifed of her husband finding out). See SituationalSexuality.
** Debatable whether or not this should be classed as this trope simply because the term 'pillow friends' is this world's name for lesbians, the word 'lesbian' doesn't occur.
* TheHighQueen - Queen Morgase.
* HoldingBackThePhlebotinum - Rand never takes full advantage of his Asha'man forces, each man a walking weapon of mass destruction. He could ''[[JustShootHim easily]]'' wipe out the Seanchan before they ever knew what hit them--with surprise attacks if nothing else, as male channeling cannot be directly detected by females and techniques that ''don't'' cause huge explosions are always an option. The parody says it best:
-->'''Bashere:''' There are reports of a huge Seanchan army with hundreds of damane advancing towards Illian. You command over a million soldiers, and hundreds of Asha'man.\\
'''Rand:''' I will take 5,000 soldiers and eight Asha'man.\\
'''Bashere:''' It should work. With your mediocre planning and surrounding yourself with those who hate you, once again, you should just barely avoid complete disaster.
** It is argued that Rand withholds his Asha'man forces for good reason - lack of trust, possibility of them going off the rails mid-combat ([[spoiler:after the Cleansing, though, perhaps not so much.]]), keeping them in reserve for the Final Fight, not wanting to lessen the amount of people available to fight the Shadow, a battle between ''damane'' and Asha'man could easily result in the effect of a small nuclear bomb...
* HolierThanThou - The Children of the Light, and many Aes Sedai. Also the Seanchan.
* HolyHandGrenade - [[spoiler: Egwene's DyingMomentOfAwesome might be the closest approximation, the ''opposite'' of Balefire, repairing its damage to the fabric of reality... and turning a huge chunk of the enemy forces into crystal statues.]]
** The Horn of Valere fits even better. A magical relic of unknown origins which summons dead heroes back from the grave to fight. [[spoiler: First blown by Mat in book 2 to help defeat the Seanchan invaders. In the GrandFinale it is blown by HeartwarmingOrphan Olver in order to save himself from the Shadowspawn who have him trapped.]]
* HonorBeforeReason - Rand a lot of the time.
* HopelessWar - The War of Power for the forces of the Light, the Trolloc Wars until Maighande.
** The Aiel War was also pretty hopeless for the non-Aiel. The combined might of every nation between the Mountains of Mist and the Spine of the World, the Aes Sedai AND the Whitecloaks was only able to "win" because King Laman died in the final battle, which was all the Aiel really wanted. Not to mention that only a fraction of the Aiel actually went to fight the war.
* HorseOfADifferentColor - The Seanchan have torm (cross between a cat and a lizard), raken (small dragons) and to'raken (larger dragons).
** The raken and to'raken are more pterosaurs than actual dragons, though.
* HowDoIShotWeb - Remarkably, instead of everyone becoming instant channeling masters, it takes a good three or four (or ''seven'') books for the main characters to get a real grasp on channeling, with a lot of spectacular failures in the interim.
* HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace - Two different varieties.
** The Ways, which was corrupted by the ''saidin'' taint into a lightless abyss haunted by a soul-devouring wind.
*** [[FridgeBrilliance It is theorized in some parts, however, that this is less a product of ''saidin'' and more to do with Shadar Logoth. The Ways are living things, Shadar Logoth and Mashadar corrupt living things, and there is/was a Waygate in Shadar Logoth.]]
** The Void, the dark nothingness outside the Pattern that is used for Skimming. Infinite for all practical purposes---if you fall off the tiny platform you're on, you will either die of starvation, dehydration or fear.
* HypocriticalHumor - Here and there, and Nynaeve takes the cake, especially in book 5. Example:
---> ''What she did not quite understand was why she liked Areina best. It was her opinion, putting this and that together, that nearly all of Areina’s troubles came from having too free a tongue, telling people exactly what she thought. [...] Nynaeve thought a few days of herself for example would do Areina worlds of good.'' -Ch. 49 "To Boannda," ''The Fires of Heaven''
** Also Mat complaining about Olver's behaviour with women
* IAmNotLeftHanded - In his fight against Eamon Valda, Galad deliberately holds back for most of the fight.
* IAmWho - Rand searches for the identity of his birth parents and is surprised by the results.
* IfICantHaveYou - [[spoiler:Lanfear]] says this to [[spoiler:Rand al'Thor]] when he tells her that [[spoiler:there isn't a chance in hell he'll ever love a Forsaken.]]
* IKnowYouKnowIKnow - Rand knows that the Wise Ones must know that he knows that they're trying to spy on him with Aviendha.
** Also pretty much the definition of the Game of Houses
* IKnowYourTrueName - Moridin uses his "mindtraps" to gain absolute dominance over [[spoiler:Moghedien and Cyndane]], turning them into his personal slaves as long as he holds the objects tied to their souls.
* ILikeThoseOdds: Birgitte tells Mat that the odds of getting back from the Tower of Ghenjei are one in a thousand. Mat responds by taking out "two dozen" coins and predicting that when he throws them every single one will land heads up (1/16777216 chance if there were exactly 24). They do, and Mat remarks that "One in a thousand is good odds, for me."
* ImNotAHeroIm - Mat. Often when he gets into trouble, he is quick to remind the reader that he is "no bloody hero!"
* INeedAFreakingDrink - Considering that Birgitte, Min and Aviendha can all feel [[spoiler:what Elayne does when she was knocking boots with Rand]], it's entirely justified that these three decide that there isn't enough booze in Caemlyn to deal with this but figure it's worth trying.
** Mat's reaction when he finds out Birgitte's true identity. Her agreeing with him is the start of their friendship.
* InNameOnly: InUniverse, this is how the Amyrlin Seat's position as "Watcher of the Seals" for the seals on the Dark One's prison is viewed, especially in Book 14, where this trope is brought up by name. [[spoiler:Until very recently in the books, the seals had been missing. By the time of Book 14, when Egwene, the Amyrlin, confronts Rand about his proclamation that he is to break the seals, says that she is their Watcher... despite not even having them, and talking to their owner.]]
* InterdimensionalTravelDevice: The Portal Stones, which were made in the First Age [[EarthThatWas (our time)]].
* IntimateHealing - After chasing someone into a blizzard, Rand has to do the "naked body warmth" variety. The person being someone who had been fighting her attraction to him, [[OneThingLedToAnother One Thing Leads To Another]], and this particular woman had teleported herself into a blizzard precisely to ''avoid'' that.
* ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest: At one point Thom notes that Mat is given everything he needs even if he doesn't realize what he needs it for at the time. It's quickly attributed to his unbelievably good luck as a Ta'veren.
* ItsNotYouItsMe: Rand takes this approach toward not only his love interests, but his father and hometown as well. The possibility of his enemies discovering his attachment to any of them is one of his greatest fears, so Rand purposely distances himself in order to protect them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:J-L]]
* JackassGenie - The Eelfinn.
* {{Jossed}} - The theory ([[http://web.archive.org/web/20031210122826/steelypips.org/wotfaq/1_dark/1.1_forsaken1/1.1.5_taimandred.html with plenty of arguments]]) that Demandred is masquerading as Taim ("[[FanNickname Taimandred]]"). Even the two pieces of evidence in ''Winter's Heart'' that contradicted this were not wholly believed until Jordan finally settled the matter personally. Some still believe he [[RetCon changed it]] out of spite.
* KangarooCourt - In Book 4, Siuan is on the receiving end of one of these courts, led by Elaida. Although all of the Sitters were handpicked by Elaida in order to get Siuan deposed, stilled, and executed, the rebel Sitters insist on claiming that what was done was legal, as Elaida had the ''bare minimum'' of Sitters required. [[spoiler: Later, we find that some of those Sitters were Black Ajah, which invalidated the whole proceeding. Not to mention one of the ''Forsaken''.]]
* KatanasAreJustBetter - The original blademaster's sword Rand gets from his father is similar in design, as the [[http://www.amazon.com/Officially-Licensed-Wheel-Time-Heron/dp/B00421A4FO officially-licensed collectible replica]] demonstrates. Taking it even further, Mat gets a BladeOnAStick called an ''ashandarei'', a possible {{Expy}} of the Japanese [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naginata naginata]] (though it also resembles a European glaive, or a Polish war scythe) or the Chinese Guan Do, which is associated with several famous Chinese generals and more than one God of War.
* {{Kidanova}} - Olver.
** With some [[{{KavorkaMan}} Kavorka Kid]] mixed in. Olver is noted as being extremely ugly, and unlikely to ever grow out of it.
* KissingCousins - Zigzagged with [[spoiler:Rand al'Thor and Elayne.]] Rand finds out that [[spoiler:his mother was Tigraine]] and becomes worried that [[spoiler:he is related to Elayne, since both Tigraine and Elayne's mother Morgase were noblewomen in Andor]]. He traces his family back, and is horrified to learn that [[spoiler:Tigraine and Morgase were cousins]] which leaves him {{Squicked}} out. However, it turns out that [[spoiler:Morgase and Tigraine were not actually closely related, and "cousins" is just a term for other noblewomen in Andor who descend from the same general bloodline, and Rand and Elayne are not really closely enough in blood to make a difference.]] However, while [[spoiler:her family line is too distant from his to really make a difference, Tigraine and Morgase both descend from the same long-dead queen many generations back, meaning that Elayne really is Rand's cousin, albeit a very distant one.]] Also, [[spoiler:they have a mutual half-brother, Galad, who is the son of Rand's mother and Elayne's father.]]
* KissKissSlap - Rand's relationship with his three girlfriends. Other relationships in the series gravitate between this and SlapSlapKiss.
* KlingonPromotion - One of the two ways to become a Blademaster is by defeating an extant Blademaster in fair, one-on-one combat. Rand and Galad become Blademasters in this way.
* KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect - Inverted. The Aiel warrior culture deeply respects blacksmiths.
* KnifeNut - Mat carries enough knives to impress the ''Aiel''. Faile carries so many knives that Perrin worries about stabbing himself by accident if he hugs her. Min packs more knives then might be necessary too.
** And of course, we can't forget Thom, who was not only performing fancy knife tricks, but using them to kill enemies with contemptuous ease, right from the first book.
* KnightInSourArmor - Gawyn, Perrin, Talmanes, for that matter almost every noble/general who isn't a darkfriend or [[JerkAss meglomaniac]].
* KudzuPlot - And how! Of course, leading to LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.
* LadyKillerInLove - Mat, [[{{Tsundere}} not that he'll admit it]] although it seems his feelings have been manipulated by the universe in order to achieve his destiny, considering the woman is a veritable enemy with few redeeming qualities.
* LawOfConservationOfDetail - It's hard to tell if this is being followed and we're just not seeing it, or if Jordan [[AvertedTrope crumpled it up, stomped it a couple times, and threw it into the fire.]]
** According to [[http://13depository.blogspot.com/2009/07/shadow-rising-read-through-17.html this essay]] as well as others at a [[http://13depository.blogspot.com/ fan produced]] [[AllThereInTheManual Manual]] indicates that this trope is played straight as a result of RuleOfSymbolism turned UpToEleven.
* LeanAndMean - Lampshaded. Never trust a skinny innkeeper.
* LegoGenetics - The Trollocs are created from "human and animal genetic stock." But hey, AWizardDidIt with SCIENCE.
** Implied, especially in the [[AllThereInTheManual the guide]] to be a serious case of YouDoNotWantToKnow.
** The only person who managed it was made a Forsaken ''purely on the basis of being able to do that''. He was mediocre at just about all of the other things the folks on the dark side do, but that accomplishment was so impressive that he got recruited to the inner circle of team evil despite being otherwise-unqualified.
* LiveActionAdaptation - HBO is in negotiations to do a series.
* LivingCrashpad: With BornLucky Mat Cauthon, who once killed an attacker by intentionally throwing himself off the roof while grabbing with them. He landed on top and the other person died in the impact.
* LivingLegend: Many, if not most, of the characters. Most apt would be Birgitte Silverbow, a Hero of the Horn, who is now wandering around the real world again.
** The Ta'veren PowerTrio - Rand, Mat, and Perrin - have literal, justified in-universe PlotArmor, so they can tell fate to go fudge itself. The distaff PowerTrio - Egwene, Nynaeve, Elayne, and Aviendha - are particularly strong channelers, who have discovered long-lost or completely new weaves. Min has a completely unique prophetic ability. Most of the above, and several other characters as well, have become politically important leaders over the course of the story, except for some who started out that way. Basically, he only people who ''don't'' qualify are the people Jordan doesn't see fit to mention.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters - Over 2600 as of Book 13: ''Towers of Midnight''. [[http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~karlh/cgi-bin/wot.cgi This page lists them all.]]
* LongRunningBookSeries
* LoopholeAbuse: Aes Sedai take this trope and not only run with it but they manage to take the family farm, get elected as Mayor and take over the Women's Circle. The main reason that people don't trust Aes Sedai is that they'll make a promise or statement they have no intention of keeping and just find ways around it, they are very good at this. [[spoiler:This bites the Black Ajah in the ass when Verin exploits a very obvious loophole in their secrecy clause by posioning herself to pass on the identites of all the Black Ajah she's been able to uncover.]]
* LordErrorProne - Weiramon. He may or may not be displaying ObfuscatingStupidity.
** It's hard to believe ''any''one could be quite as dumb, complacent and arrogant as he seems, especially in a court like he comes from, but on the other hand he's been around for at least half the series and still has yet to reveal any hidden depths, so...
--->'''Weiramon:''' Excellent plan, my liege. Shall I charge at the opposing army?\\
'''Rand:''' No. That’s a corn field.\\
--Isam's [[http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=386600 snarky summaries]]
*** Book 13 confirms [[spoiler:that he's a Darkfriend, which might explain some of his idiocy]].
* LostTechnology - Rare remnants of the Age of Legends that draw on the One Power. ''Angreal'' increase the amount of power that can be safely channeled by a person. ''Sa'angreal'' are far rarer and more powerful versions of ''angreal''. ''Ter'angreal'', however, were each designed to do a particular thing and hence vary hugely in their function; some don't even require channeling to activate. The original purposes of most are largely unknown, and attempts to discover their purposes are ''extremely'' dangerous. Known ''ter'angreal'' include [[RestrainingBolt the Oath Rod]], items allowing access to the [[DreamLand World of Dreams]], a nigh-impossible-to-control ''[[DangerousForbiddenTechnique balefire]]'' rod, various portals to [[AnotherDimension other dimensions]], MagicBane and magic detection items, portable wards against evil, [[WeaponOfMassDestruction the Choedan Kal's buffered access keys]]... (''Ter'angreal'' figure prominently in the game.)
* LoveAcrossBattlelines: Gawyn and Egwene end up on opposite sides in the schism in the White Tower.
* LovelyAssistant: Nynaeve gets this job at Valan Luca's circus.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy - Lanfear. While she onced loved Lews Therin, after he rejected her it became obsession.
* LoveMakesYouEvil - Lanfear turns to the Shadow ostensibly due to her obsession with ex-lover Lews Therin, but her main focus is always power.
* LovesTheSoundOfScreaming -The Black Wind.
* LowestCosmicDenominator - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualistic_cosmology Religious concepts with complicated real-world histories]] are brought down to the bare essentials necessary for an epic fantasy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:M-O]]
* MadeOfExplodium - The Illuminators make fireworks that can, they claim, catch fire if exposed to air. Considered reliable by the {{Muggles}} of the book's world, but Mat Cauthon tried cutting one open to see how it was made and the powder inside did not ignite. Played straight in the second book when loose flame ignites an entire bunker full of Illuminator Guild inventory.
** It is assumed that the highly secretive Illuminators spread this rumour around to avoid other people figuring out of what they're made.
* MadeASlave - Several characters are made slaves by the Shaido Aiel. Also, the ''damane''.
* MadScientist - Aginor, a famous biologist in the Age of Legends who turned to the Shadow to gain more freedom in his genetic experiments, having been banned by the Hall of Servants. He created all of the Shadowspawn.
* MageTower - The Aes Sedai have their White Tower, and the Asha'man later raise a Black Tower as an echo.
* MagicByAnyOtherName - The One Power. Implied in [[spoiler:Aviendha's future visions]] that eventually it will start being called "magic" again.
** The "magic" of the [[spoiler: Seanchan in the bad future]] is probably SufficientlyAdvancedTechnology. Nothing that is definitely a use of the One Power is shown, their magic consists of "hiss-staves" that fire what the character thinks are tiny rocks (rifles), lights that don't need any visible fuel (incandescent bulbs or gas lanterns) and conjuring food from nothing (ration packets). Given the recent rapid advances in technology, those don't seem very implausible and the Aiel, now forced to live a primitive lifestyle, don't know the difference.
* MagicIsAMonsterMagnet - If you can channel, congratulations! Now, watch out for Myrrdraal, Gholam, Machin Shin...
* MagicKnight - Rand, Lews Therin, the Asha'man and... well, pretty much every male channeler outside the Forsaken. They all carry swords (save the M'Hael), as instructed by Rand, despite being able to explode heads with a thought.
** Justified in that there are half a dozen ways to be rendered unable to channel (exhaustion, being shielded by someone more powerful, being shielded by someone less powerful who takes you by surprise, ''steddings'', forkroot), but a sword is theoretically always useful to someone who knows how to use it.
** A few of the female channelers could do this too, if so inclined- Aviendha, for instance.
* {{Magitek}} - ''Ter'angreal'' to a limited extent, then and 'now.' One, looked at in passing, seems to be a portable library.
* TheManBehindTheMan - Forsaken Ishamael, manipulating global events and engineering death and destruction for thousands of years. In the BackStory, anyway.
* ManipulativeBastard - Aes Sedai are renowned for their manipulations.
** Rand shows signs of this when he's playing the Game of Houses, at some times making controlled reactions that he purposefully knows will screw with his political-savvy comrades' minds. The Forsaken have signs of this as well.
* TheManTheyCouldntHang - Mat survives a hanging, which leaves a scar around his neck that he carefully conceals thereafter.
* MarryThemAll - Rand al'Thor genuinely falls in love with three women, and resorts to this for several books. Eventually he just separates them and sleeps with each one. In a real callback to the trope, his ancestral people do polygamy, so he ''could'' just marry all three, but instead he agonizes over his moral predicament for several books; in fact, it's ''their'' idea to just "share" him. And after that he's still all like, "ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies, so keep this on the down-low."
* MarsAndVenusGenderContrast - Greatly evident in the series.
* MassOhCrap - When Perrin tells the wolves that Rand was captured in ''Lord of Chaos'', all of the wolves in his communicative range have a collective OhCrap moment. And then unanimously pledge to [[TheCavalry come to his aid]].
* {{Matriarchy}} - Several, running the full spectrum of the trope.
* MeaningfulName - everyone. [[http://13depository.blogspot.com/search/label/Character%20Names Really.]]
* MedievalStasis - JustifiedTrope, boring into the Dark One's prison resulted in the destruction of the technologically advanced world of the Age of Legends. And after he was sealed, Ishamael maintained a campaign of periodic trolloc-rampages every time humanity got some peace and unity that might allow them to progress. Given the cyclic nature of the universe, though, this won't last. In the later books, [[spoiler:Rand's academies have made versions of the Steam Engine and other advancements, and a version of gunpowder was invented and used to great effect in battle in book 11.]] There are also hints that this series takes place long ''after'' our Earth, through various legends (''Mosk and Merk fighting in the sky with lightning'' referring to ''Moscow'' and ''America'' fighting the cold war), an artifact or two, and the fact that time is cyclical; as well as the story Egwene mentioned in Book 1 about the man who flew to the moon and back; everything takes place in "an Age yet to come, an Age long past."
* MenAreTheExpendableGender - Compare the amount of time Rand spends angsting about the women who die with the men. Oh and guess of which there are more.
* MerlinAndNimue - Moiraine has this relationship early in the series with Rand. In the later books, Cadsuane takes up the older mentor role in Moiraine's place.
* MessianicArchetype - Thus far, Rand has acquired two heron brands on his palms (which look very much like red wounds), a spike through his foot, been stabbed (twice) in his gut and wears a 'crown of swords' which look very much like thorns. Did we mention that his "blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul" will be the only thing that can buy mankind's salvation from the [[{{Satan}} Dark One]]?
** And don't you just love the fact that he didn't become "whole" until he climbed a mountain? While doubting himself? And in extreme pain?
** It's also worth mentioning that the prophecy specifically predicted that he would be "born of a maiden". Granted, it's not a literal virgin birth (his mother was a maiden of the spear) but still, pretty suggestive.
* MetaphoricallyTrue: Aes Sedai are notorious for this, leading to people never trusting them.
* MilesToGoBeforeISleep - Rand makes some initial attempts to leave the world a better place after everything is settled, as the world (and his state of mind) increasing goes to hell he gave up and determined to just make it to the Last Battle and defeat the Dark One before his foretold death, whatever the cost. After his [[spoiler:epiphany on Dragonmount, he realizes it is right to do all he can to help again.]]
* MindlinkMates - Not every bond is between romantic partners, but of that subset there is Rand and his harem, many of the Green Aes Sedai who only have one Warder, and most of the married Asha'man. [[PowerPerversionPotential The One Power does have its benefits.]]
** Also Nynaeve and Lan as soon as they can. As of ''The Gathering Storm'', [[spoiler: Gareth Bryne and Siuan & Egwene and Gawyn]]
* MindManipulation - Of all sorts. Compulsion can be used subtly or like a hammer. Bonding also comes with varying to no amounts of mind control, though it depends on the user and the situation: Aes Sedai [[spoiler:bonding enables a weave that approaches mind control]] and the Asha'man's [[spoiler:"extra bit" bonding permanently compels absolute obedience]].
** It's also possible to mind control channelers with a circle of thirteen Dreadlords and thirteen Myrddraal, according to Sheriam [[spoiler: It may be being used in Towers of Midnight on certain Asha'man and Aes Sedai.]]
* MindRape - Padan Fain and Semirhage are both fond of this tactic. The Aes Sedai rites of passage can also qualify, every woman comes out crying about how she hates all Aes Sedai.
** Graendal loves Compulsion as well, using it to keep hundreds of slaves and messing them up in the head so much that any attempt to reverse it would cause death or insanity.
** The cour'souvra, or mindtrap, becomes this whenever the owner of it uses it to punish the prisoner.
* MirrorMatch - More or less literally, when a "[[NegativeSpaceWedgie bubble of evil]]" spontaneously causes Rand's reflections to jump out of mirrors and fight him to the death. Eventually he starts wising up to the situation and extinguishes his FlamingSword, causing his reflections to do the same (to their confusion) and making the fight slightly easier.
* MiseryBuildsCharacter - Aes Sedai novices are forbidden from using their powers to do chores, first as a safety measure, but secondly out of a belief that menial labor builds character.
* TheMole -- "Eyes-and-ears" are a major recurring political element, and Darkfriends are ''everywhere''. Spectacularly [[spoiler:turned on its head with a double agent]] in the twelfth book.
** A more specific example would be Egwene's 'ferrets': Aes Sedai sent back to the Tower after the split to infiltrate for information and to further Elaida's downfall.
* MoralityPet: Cadsuane attempts to use [[spoiler:Tam al'Thor]] as one to make Rand remember his humanity. After some [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone tense confrontations]], it eventually works.
* {{Mordor}} -- Place where the Bore in the Dark One's prison is most easily sensed. The Pit of Doom. Shayol Ghul. Really unpleasant place. Walled off from the fringes of civilization by a mountain range and [[GardenOfEvil the Blight]].
* MouthOfSauron -- Shaidar Haran often serves as the mouthpiece of the Dark One.
* MrsRobinson -- Queen Tylin. See BlackComedyRape.
* MuggleFosterParents: Rand was found by Tam al'Thor on a battlefield, and Tam decided to take him home to his wife Kari to raise as their son. It turns out that Tam isn't completely a muggle. He is a bladesmaster, and teaches Rand a few techniques that help him survive the first couple of books (but never teaches him how to use a sword).
* MultistageBattle -- Except for "Lord of Chaos", the first nine books all end with one of these.
** "The Eye of the World": Rand more-or-less accidentally Travels from one fight to another.
** "The Great Hunt": The [[MeleeATrois manysided]] battle of Falme rages back and forth all over the town.
** "The Dragon Reborn": Rand chases Ishamael through the Stone of Tear.
** "The Shadow Rising": Rand chases Asmodean through Rhuidean.
** "The Fires of Heaven": Rand chases Rahvin through the Royal Palace in Caemlyn.
** "Lord of Chaos": Aversion. The Battle of Dumai's Wells start out at the wells and stays there.
** "A Crown of Swords": Rand chases Sammael through Illian and Shadar Logoth.
** "The Path of Daggers": Rand and the renegade Asha'man chase each other through the Sun Palace in Cairhien.
** "Winter's Heart": Rand's allies and enemies sneak around trying to ambush each other in the forests around Shadar Logoth.
* TheMultiverse -- It's a Multiverse that pretty much consists of {{Alternate Universe}}s, 'Worlds That Might Be' that exist but aren't quite real. The DreamLand, ''Tel'aran'rhiod'', connects these to the real world.
* MundaneSolution -- Channelers are extremely susceptible to forkroot tea; low amounts greatly interfere with channeling, and ordinary servings can knock them out outright. The tea has much less effect on {{Muggles}}.
* MundaneUtility -- Part of the TrainingFromHell practiced by the Asha'man, who have to do all their chores with the Power: if you can't channel fire, you eat cold food. Their Aes Sedai counterparts do not permit such flippant uses by ''their'' trainees. Regardless, considering the huge scope and flexibility of the Power, it's impossible to avoid mundane uses (like channeling blood/water out of clothes) for long.
* MurderTheHypotenuse -- Lanfear's dating philosophy.
* MutantDraftBoard -- The Seanchan enslave all channelers and periodically test all women under a certain age to root out any others who might show up. Before the collars were developed, their lands had been home to constant warring between rival channelers; they react with horror at the thought of such people roaming free in modern times.
** Also, the Aes Sedai, but only in the sense that they crush any attempts to abuse channeling or start rival organizations (they're a little unhappy to discover that the Aiel and Sea Folk each have their own). They actually turn a lot of women ''down'' for being too old or failing one test or another, as long as they aren't in danger of killing themselves. [[spoiler:When Egwene drops these conditions, membership jumps dramatically]].
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone -- Rand has one [[spoiler: when he almost kills ''his own father'' during a heated argument in ''The Gathering Storm''.]] Quite a few of his friends have been telling him in book after book that he's [[WhatTheHellHero going too far in his actions and losing it]], but it doesn't truly sink in until this confrontation.
** The emotional reunion between Rand and [[spoiler: Tam]] in the following book, where Rand tearfully embraces and begs for his [[spoiler: father's]] forgiveness, finally [[HeartwarmingMoments shows a side of Rand]] that has not been seen in a very ''long'' time.
* MySignificanceSenseIsTingling:
** When Rand and Nynaeve [[spoiler:cleanse saidin of the taint]] every channeller in the world sense it, as shown by reaction shots in ''Crossroads of Twilight''.
** In ''The Gathering Storm'', several channelers get a horrified reaction to a "balescream" when Rand uses Choedan Kal to balefire [[spoiler:Greandal's castle]].
** Mat has a sensation of "dice rolling in his head" when appropriately important moments are imminent, which stops when they happen, but he has no idea what to expect. On one occasion the dice stop when he walks into a room, and he flips out and wonders if one of the Forsaken is going to burst from the fireplace or something. Made hilarious on a second read when you know that [[spoiler:1. the dice stopped because one of the women in the room is his future wife, and 2. Incidentally, one of the other women in the room is one of the Forsaken]].
* MyRuleFuIsStrongerThanYours: The methods of political games between nations generally goes this way. A standout example would be in Book 14, where [[spoiler:Rand, taking the assumption that [[TheEmpire Seanchan]] should in fact rule the Westlands due to Artur Hawkwing's empire when talking to Empress Fortuona, also says that, considering he had all of the authority and memories of Lews Therin Telamon, and his rule predates Hawkwing's, his actual ownership should be grandfathered in]].
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch -- Eventually, we meet some members of the Red Ajah who aren't man-hating psychos and/or secretly Blacks. Not many, though.
* NamedByDemocracy -- The Black Tower
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast -- [[http://13depository.blogspot.com/2002/03/names-of-shadow.html Almost every evil character.]] In universe, the Forsaken are a reversal of the trope. They were so evil that we named our demons and monsters after them! (though they renamed themselves upon becoming Forsaken and time being cyclical... it could work both ways) Highlights:
** Ishamael = [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael Ishmael]] + [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashashim Ismaili]]
** Sammael = [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samael Samael]]
** Rahvin = [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravana Ravana]] + raven / raving / ravening
** Be'lal = [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beliel Belial]]
** Aginor = Agony
** Asmodean = [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asmodeus Asmodeus]]
** Lanfear = l'enfer[[hottip:* :hell in French]] + fear
** Of course, the Forsaken were given those names in scorn because they turned evil. Ishamael, for example, means "Betrayer of Hope" in the in-story extinct language. His original name was the much less intimidating Elan Morin Tedronai. The exception is Lanfear, who chose her own new name. Her old name was Mierin Eronaile, but [[BerserkButton she doesn't like being called that.]]
*** Even some of the names of the good guys are this, particularly for Rand (no matter how "good" they may sound. The Dragon Reborn, Kinslayer, Shadowkiller...
* NationalWeapon: The Aiel use short-spears and almost nothing else; this is revealed as a plot point in the backstory, as there is a specific reason no Aiel will touch a sword. They will use knives big enough to be short swords.
* NearVillainVictory: Many, ''many'' times during ''A Memory of Light''.
** Shai'tan [[spoiler: nearly gets Rand to give up in despair by forcing him to watch the deaths of his friends in The Last Battle, but Egwene gives him posthumous pep talk that refreshes his HeroicResolve.]]
** Moridin [[spoiler: brings Alanna to Shayol Ghul and planned to use her warder bond with Rand as a trump card. Alanna removes the bond just before dying. Moridin also manages to swipe [[AmplifierArtifact Callandor]] from Rand and begins channeling...except that he didn't know it required two female channelers to control it, thus falling for Rand's BatmanGambit and leading to his death.]]
** Demandred [[spoiler: utterly ''wrecks'' the forces of Light and comes within one final push of winning The Last Battle, but wastes time waiting for Rand to come out and challenge him. Then he gets into a swordfight with [[MasterSwordsman Lan]] and ends up dying before issuing his final orders, thus leaving the forces of the Shadow unorganized and making them easier to defeat. Then the Horn of Valere is sounded, thus giving the armies of the Light the reinforcements and momentum needed to turn the battle.]]
** Graendal [[spoiler: uses her Compulsion technique to make the [[BadassInCharge four Great]] [[TheStrategist Captains]] give [[ManchurianAgent commands that resulted in tactical mistakes that cost of the lives of thousands of soldiers]]. However, she didn't count on [[AntiMagic Mat]] [[TheGambler replacing the captains]], or that Aviendha would be enough of a Determinator to outlast her in direct combat.]]
** Moghedien [[spoiler: uses her typical strategy of lurking and manipulating others, this time by [[HiddenInPlainSight posing as one of the servants in the Seanchan command post]]. However, Mat quickly figures out that there's a spy in his immediate proximity. He and Tuon fake a falling out to separate the Seanchan command, thus letting him lead the forces without being compromised while she tries to figure out who the spy is. Thanks to Min's viewings and quick thinking, Moghedien's cover is quickly blown, forcing her to escape and ditch her only strategy. Then she tries to rally the remaining forces of the Shadow by [[DeadPersonImpersonation posing as Demandred]]...until she nearly gets blasted by Talmanes's teleporting cannons. She survives the Last Battle, planning to regain power...[[FateWorseThanDeath until she's captured by the Seanchan]].]]
** Lanfear [[spoiler:tasks Slayer with assassinating Rand in the cave at Shayol Ghul. Slayer would have easily pulled it off had Perrin not mastered Tel'aran'riod and stopped him. She also helps Perrin multiple times in Tel'aran'rhiod in an attempt to [[WeCanRuleTogether gain his trust]]. In the climax of the Last Battle, it's revealed that she's had Perrin under Compulsion the entire time and intends to use him to kill Moiraine and wrest Callandor out of Rand's control while he's vulnerable, thus putting her in the position of having Shai'tan and the others at her mercy. However, she didn't consider than Perrin's UndyingLoyalty for Faile and his mastery over Tel'aran'rhiod - two of his most enduring qualities late in the series - would give him the power to resist the Compulsion...and break her neck.]]
** Shaisam [[spoiler: AKA Padan Fain sweeps over Shayol Ghul and uses its HatePlague to [[TheCorruption kill indiscriminately]] and [[ZombieApocalypse revive the victims as its own army]]. Its goal is to consume Rand's soul, which is apparently the strongest the world. He gets within sight of the cave where Rand is fighting, only for Mat to stop him. Since Mat had contracted and was Healed from the same HatePlague several books ago, he's completely immune to its effects. Had he not been there, Shaisam would have likely killed everyone.]]
** [[spoiler: M'Hael, AKA Taim had the Dark One's Seals in his possession; without breaking them, Rand has no way of permanently defeating Shai'tan. However, he ends up holding the IdiotBall just long enough for Androl to pickpocket the Seals. He also uses balefire to great effect, but relies on it so much that Egwene is able to come up with a counter spell and kill him off in an epic BeamOWar.]]
** [[spoiler: Aravine manipulates Faile into leading the Horn of Valere convoy through a Gateway and deep into enemy territory at Shayol Ghul. Without the Horn being sounded, the forces of Light wouldn't survive the Last Battle. However, she didn't count on Faile being able to catch up to her on an old farm horse like Bela. And ''no one'' counted on Olver - ''not'' Mat - being the Hornsounder.]]
** A relatively minor one, but [[spoiler: Mellar returns, equipped with a copy of the [[AntiMagic fox medallion]] to make him invulnerable to Elayne's spells. He and his men successfully capture Elayne and Birgitte, and Mellar ''personally stabs and beheads Birgitte'' while taunting the queen. He and his men come very close to performing a lethal C-section on Elayne in order to steal her unborn children and spread the rumor that she had been killed in combat, thus affecting the armies' morale. However, Olver sounds the Horn of Valere, thus allowing Birgitte to revive just in time to kill Mellar.]]
* NegativeSpaceWedgie:
** Bubbles of evil strike at random even though they are caused by the weakening of the Dark One's prison.
** Nightmares in Tel'aran'riod are not deliberately created and live a life of their own once they are there.
* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands -- [[AvertedTrope Averted]], and [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] when Rand wonders why he doesn't suddenly know what to do when he gets his powers, like the heroes in stories always do. Then DoubleSubverted when all the heroes get new powers anyway.
** Though now Rand seems to know exactly what he needs to do, as of Towers of Midnight.
* NiceHat -- Mat's is a dashing good hat.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Nynaeve's attempts to get herself and Elayne out of the menagerie and safely to Salidar cause Samara to explode in riots and countless people to be injured or killed, because she made the mistake of asking both Galad and Masema to help them find a boat, resulting in the Whitecloaks and the Prophet's Dragonsworn battling over it.
** "The Strike at Shayol Ghul," a short story by Robert Jordan, describes the efforts to seal the Bore and end the War Against the Shadow at the end of the Age of Legends. Apparently, the original plan of sealing involved twenty thousand soldiers to provide security and a circle of seven female and six male Aes Sedai, who would Travel to Shayol Ghul and implant the seals at focus points, but that was opposed by another member of the Hall of Servants, Latra Posae Decume, for being to risky. The women Aes Sedai favored Decume and the men favored Lews Therin, and [[PoorCommunicationKills communication devolved so much]] that eventually neither group was speaking to the other, and Lews Therin eventually took himself and the Hundred Companions and a private force to seal the Bore without petitioning the Hall at all. This led to the Taint on '''saidin''' and the eventual Breaking of the World... all because neither group would compromise. This ties back to the central theme of trust of the series.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain:
** Moghedien's freakout in Ebou Dar directly causes Nynaeve to break free of her mental block.
** While the villainous bit might be questionable, from the Aes Sesai point of view the Seanchan performed one of these. [[spoiler:By ordering a raid on Tar Valon in order to capture as many Marth'Damane as possible, Empress Tuon accidentally resolved a power struggle. This is because during the raid one of the Aes Sedai taken captive was Elaida, the only viable candidate for the Amyrlin Seat, by virtue of being incumbent, besides Egwene.]]
** The Eelfinn gave Mat his ''[[BladeOnAStick ashandarei]]'' when they returned him to Rhuidean. [[ChekhovsGun This turned out to be]] [[spoiler:the actual means by which he was released from the Tower of Ghenjei, and is what he then uses to escape when he, Thom, and Noal rescue Moiraine]]. Mockingly lampshaded by Mat himself.
* TheNicknamer -- Faile, especially in her first few appearances.
** And, strangely enough, ''Lan'' in the early books. In ''The Dragon Reborn'' Perrin exasperatedly points out to both of them that he does have a name other than "blacksmith".
* NobleSavage -- The Aiel...to an extent. By the time of the [[spoiler:Shaido defection]] and after, this characterization is pretty much dropped.
* NoGuyWantsAnAmazon -- Cited as a reason why Aes Sedai don't marry (the occasional Green aside). Maidens of the Spear, listed above, also seldom marry, though this is more due to the fact that they are obligated to give up the spear if they get married.
** Later lampshaded in that a character states that this is bunk... Aiel Wise Women marry on a regular basis, the real problem with Aes Sedai is that they ''can't lie.'' "Was it good for you too, honey?" "..."
*** It also stems from cultural differences. Wise Ones have no stigma about marriage, a good chunk of them can't channel, and Wise Ones aren't prone to flashy displays of the Power, so they don't flaunt the fact that they could handle their husbands like kittens if they felt like it. Aes Sedai, those that aren't man-hating Red Ajah or [[HideYourLesbians simply not interested]], have a serious ice queen mentality instilled in them for years and do tend to flaunt the Power to emphasize their arguments, so any man who hooked up with an Aes Sedai would have to deal with the fact that his wife's insufferably superior attitude was backed up by the power to tie him in knots without even thinking about it too hard.
** Another problem is that any Aes Sedai who marries will outlive her husband. And probably her grandchildren, depending on how old she is when she marries -- they usually live for 300ish years.
*** An Aes Sedai would be lucky to be outlived by their great-grandchildren that are not channelers (they would probably see their (lots of )great-great-great-grandchildren born, channelers or not. There is even an Aes Sedai with little victorian-style ivory profiles of her family (grandmother, mother sisterÉ there are three women there). The character mentioned that the ivory pieces are very old and were probably made after the family members died long before (since she specifically described them from memory to an artist).
* NoIAmBehindYou: A staple of the duels between Perrin and Slayer, due to their ability at shifting from one place to the other immediately when in Tel'aran'rhiod
* TheNondescript -- The Grey Men. They actually possess the power of being easily ignored and forgotten; they even tend to have this power in the text itself, as a single line will be slipped in sideways about a man coming through the door, then two paragraphs later someone will notice, "Oh shit, man with a knife's in the room!"
** There's also a minor (human) character who has this quality. He looked so... ''ordinary'' that he managed to be an extraordinarily effective pickpocket for twenty years before being caught. Drafted in the Lion Throne subplot, currently works as a spy for Andor's chief clerk.
* NormalFishInATinyPond: The Forsaken themselves, whose skills have been mostly forgotten.
* TheNoseKnows: Perrin's sure does. He can tell a person's emotional state, down to individual emotions such as jealousy or annoyance, just by paying attention to the scent of a person's body chemistry.
* NostalgiaFilter: Galad's main reason for joining the Children of the Light was that he liked what they originally stood for, notwithstanding how far they had fallen since their founding. Hence his willingness to invoke some of their older traditions such as "Trial Beneath the Light."
* NotDistractedByTheSexy: Rand to the extreme. When he's put around a bunch of Aiel women with no sense of privacy, his or theirs, he gets over it. When a political chessmaster sends women to try to seduce him, he makes an [[BadassBoast intimidating speech]] and scares them away. When Aviendha [[PleasePutSomeClothesOn strips down in front of him]], he looks away. When Min, in a sort of inexperienced seduction attempt, begins planting herself in his lap while he's on his throne, he's still perfectly able to rule (though not without some initial internal discomfort). [[spoiler:When Lanfear catches him bathing and grabs him, pressing her nakedness into him while talking about how she's going to do him, he doesn't even flinch.]]
** Much progress considering an earlier book revealed he was raised in a community where kissing was a bit of a big deal.
* NotInFrontOfTheKid: The hardened soldiers of the borderlands have a great deal of respect for Aes Sedai, and really try to watch their language. This causes some of them a great deal of difficulty.
* NothingIsTheSameAnymore -- Even if the good guys win the Last Battle, the war will change everything. The Seanchan have reconquered about a third of the Westlands. Their practice of enslaving channelers will either lead to a brutal and nigh-unwinnable war for the locals or completely upend the social order in which Aes Sedai, Wise Ones, etc. are respected advisors at the very least. But on the other hand, the protagonists hope that the revelation that ''sul'dam'' are all potential ''damane'' will upend the Seanchan's own practice of slavery. In addition, long-forgotten uses of the One Power like gateways and many others are returning and getting disseminated. Some completely new things have been discovered as well, including new ways to heal with the One Power, steam engines, and the idea of using gunpowder as a weapon.
** Invoked in-universe: Aviendha was the first person to take the test of a Wise One since Rand revealed the Aiel's history, and she inadvertently changed the ceremony: [[spoiler: in addition to seeing her people's past, she saw the future of her people, and it's a ''very'' BadFuture.]]
** And simply put, The Dragon Reborn is a man who can channel. He ''will'' go insane and perpetrate WorldSundering, unless (by some mercy) he manages to not survive the Last Battle. Winning will be better than losing, but not by much. [[spoiler:Or so it's believed prior to Winter's Heart... and even after that, by many who simply deny the results of the events of that book.]]
* NoWarpingZone -- The thirteenth book introduces [[spoiler:the "dreamspike" artifact]], which blocks the creation of gateways within a large radius of its position, including ones inbound from outside the area of effect. In the Dream World, it visibly manifests as a spherical, semipermeable barrier of similar effect, except that teleportation is still possible between between two points inside the barrier.
* NumerologicalMotif -- Seven {{Cosmic Keystone}}s, thirteen Forsaken. Thirteen is also the maximum number of participants in a female-only circle; such a circle has guaranteed success in cutting off a channeler from the source, regardless of individual strengths. Thirteen Black Ajah working through thirteen Fades can forcibly turn someone to the dark side. The thirteenth repository contains the secret histories of the White Tower (including the law forbidding telling most sisters about them).
* ObfuscatingStupidity -- '''Verin''', above all others. Eleven books of unusual behavior (including chapters ''from her own POV'') and we didn't find out until the twelfth that [[spoiler:she was a Black Ajah ''double agent'' who had dedicated her entire life to uncovering the members, workings, and secrets of the Black Ajah. Cue the SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfAwesome when she [[LoopholeAbuse fatally poisons]] [[HeroicSacrifice herself]] in order to betray the Black Ajah to Egwene, who subsequently purges the Black from the ranks of Aes Sedai once and for all]].
** A lot of people assume this is the case with Perrin. In reality, he tends to be rather straightforward since he isn't used to being a Lord so he more or less makes it up as he goes along. Far from being stupid, he just figures out what he need to do and heads straight for it surprising people assuming he's up to something sneaky.
*** The first book reveals that his seeming slowness is actually a pronounced habit of always thinking before he acts; since, being TheBigGuy, he learned at an early age that he can easily hurt someone if he acts rashly.
** [[spoiler: High Lord Weiramon]] being revealed as a darkfriend gives fuel to the common fan theory that some of his bumbling was actually sabotage in disguise.
* ObliviousAdoption -- Rand is eighteen years old before he discovers that [[MuggleFosterParents farmers Tam and Kari al'Thor]] are not his birth parents. This revelation doesn't change the fact that Rand still [[HappilyAdopted loves them just the same]] and resolutely refers to them as his ''real'' parents, even after uncovering the identities of his [[BlueBlood royal]] biological parents.
* OfferedTheCrown
* OhCrap -- Be'lal and Asmodean, along with several others.
** It's tough to tell with a book, but [[spoiler: Mat's reaction at the Tower of Ghenjei, when he realized he got the EELFINN to not chase him and try to kill him, but forgot to mention the AELFINN absolutely ''had'' to be this]]
** Semirhage also got one [[spoiler: just before she died]]
** [[spoiler: The gholam]] has a very satisfying one right before[[spoiler: it is dropped off a skimming platform]]
* OhMyGods -- 'By the Light', or, more commonly, just 'Light.' [[strike:Satanists]] Darkfriends get to swear by the Great Lord of the Dark and such. Starting in the Sanderson books the phrase 'Darkness within!' gets used.
* OlderThanTheyLook -- Aes Sedai have a characteristic "ageless" face, which it later emerges is not due to their channelling (although that is responsible for their long life) but an effect of the Oath Rod. Channelers who have not sworn on the Oath Rod simply age far more slowly [[spoiler:as well as living longer than Aes Sedai]] and look middle-aged while being multiple centuries old.
** This is also sort of inverted in that the prequel ''New Spring'' reveals that several prominent Aes Sedai whom the reader might have assumed to be older, such as Moiraine, Siuan and Sheriam, are actually only in their forties during the main story.
* OnceAnEpisode: Every book starts with a paragraph that is some variation on the following:
--> ''The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. LegendFadesToMyth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in [[MadLibsCatchPhrase [insert place name here]]]. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was '''a''' beginning.''
** (Which is why it used to be the page quote.)
** [[spoiler:A variation is also the very last paragraph of ''A Memory of Light'', making this the BookEnds passage as well.]]
* OneSteveLimit -- Despite LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, there are few or no identical names. There are still some characters with similar sounding names, though. The most prominent example would be Demandred (the name of one of the Chosen/Forsaken) and Damodred (the family name of Galad and his father, Taringail).
* OurDragonsAreDifferent -- And how. "The Dragon Reborn" is just the fantasy world's equivalent of "[[ChosenOne The Chosen One]]." Beyond that, the only evidence we see of dragons is stereotypical stylized lizards on banners and tatooed on people's arms.
** it get mentioned that the flying lizards "resemble the dragon banner" Rand uses.
** Notably, in the fourth book we see Rand figuring out what the Prophecies mean about receiving two dragon marks. He didn't even know what a dragon ''was''; he had to connect the dots between the creature on the Dragon banner and the same creature being on the Aiel tattoos.
* {{Ouroboros}} -- Aes Sedai's ring. A variation is seen in the series symbol at the top of the page, combining the Ouroboros with a {{lemniscate}}.
* OurOrcsAreDifferent -- Trollocs, which are created from human and animal genetic stock. [[YouDontWantToKnow Don't ask how.]]
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent -- 'Wolfbrothers' can communicate telepathically with wolves, developing greatly enhanced senses and golden eyes. They are also prone to acquiring wolf instincts and, in some cases, completely losing touch with their humanity, becoming essentially wolves trapped in human bodies. [[AllMythsAreTrue Just an old legend]], of course.
* OvershadowedByAwesome -- Many characters, but special mention must go to Perrin and Mat. Both are ''ta'veren'', but in the face of who and what Rand is, their importance is relatively ignored by everyone... Except the force of the Shadow, who are gunning after those two almost as hard as they're going after Rand. Its not until later on that their importance is recognized by the forces of the Light.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: P-R]]
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette -- Lanfear falls between this and RavenHairIvorySkin [[spoiler:before she is reincarnated.]]
* PapaWolf -- Tam al'Thor certainly invokes this trope in ''Gathering Storm,'' furiously confronting and demanding to know what Cadsuane has done to Rand to make him react so violently.
* PaterFamilicide -- Lews Therin Telamon, "the one called Dragon," stepped over the edge of sanity in spectacular fashion: by killing everyone he ever loved, everyone who ever loved him, everyone who shared even a drop of his blood. This is why he is known in legend as "Kinslayer."
* PeopleOfHairColor -- Applies to most of the main continent: the Borderlands, Andor, Cairhien, Tar Valon, Far Madding, Mayene, Ghealdan, Amadicia, northern Altara, Tuatha'an, Aiel. Exceptions being Seanchan, Sea Folk, Shara, Arad Doman, Tarabon, southern Altara, Tear, Illian.
* PerceptionFilter-- The Grey Men, supreme assassins and masters of fading into the background even right nect to you, the latter explained as a consequence of losing their souls.
* PerfectPacifistPeople-- Tinkers.
* PerpetualFrowner -- Bukama from ''New Spring''.
* PersonOfMassDestruction -- Anyone who channels the One Power, and especially with an [[AmplifierArtifact angreal or sa'angreal]]. '''Especially''' when the Choedan Kal, each of which can ''easily'' cause the end of the world as we or anything else knows it.
** As of Towers of Midnight, [[spoiler: Rand may not even need angreal or sa'angreal anymore, except to fulfill various prophecies when they pop... as they always do]].
* ThePhilosopher -- Ishamael, who in his saner moments constantly broods over the endless cycle of the Dark One trying to break free, in a GenreSavvy way. Not that any of the other Forsaken believe him. [[spoiler:Rand also becomes this in Books 13 and 14.]]
* PillarOfLight:
** Lews Therin's DefeatEqualsExplosion resulted in one that created Dragonmount.
** [[spoiler:In Books 13 and 14, Rand's presence creates this, breaking the cloud cover to allow the sun through. He also seals away the Dark One while within a massive one.]]
** [[spoiler:Egwene's death in Book 14 results in one, which becomes a pillar of crystal.]]
* PillarsOfMoralCharacter -- Lan: ''"Duty is heavier than a mountain; death is lighter than a feather."''
* PleasePutSomeClothesOn -- Aviendha deliberately changes clothes and strips herself in Rand's presence to freak him out. Eventually, Rand runs out of patience with this and pointedly looks her up and down, whereupon she remembers her modesty and quickly dresses herself.
** And since she has NoNudityTaboo, it plays out like CantActPervertedTowardALoveInterest
* PoisonousCaptive -- Semirhage. ''Twice.'' Actually, The Dark One counts too.
* PoorCommunicationKills -- Especially (but not exclusively) between the genders. It is one of Jordan's many pet topics that men and women allegedly ''cannot'' communicate and can never learn it.
** It goes ''far'' beyond this. Most of the plot would be resolved almost instantly if Rand would talk just once to his boyhood friends and compare notes about what's going on. Instead, all three of the principles steadfastly avoid one another, apparently because they don't want to be bothersome. Putzes.
** One of the major themes across the books. You can want to help and serve goodness and fight evil all you like, but unless you're willing to trust other people and treat them like allies instead of victims, enemies, hindrances, and the distressed in need of salvation (whether they like it or not), you might as well be actively serving evil and destruction for all the good you actually end up doing. On the few occasions when the characters, major or otherwise, do actually talk honestly to one another, it tends to pay off in spades. Honestly, it isn't a bad message, but it does suffer from AuthorTract and too much time taken to get to the "payoff" bits for this lesson. Shockingly, this mostly goes away as of book 12. As soon as Sanderson takes over as author, people start talking to each other, and TONS of long-dangling plots start to make real progress.
** The world at large is filled with [[CultureClash cross-cultural miscommunication]]. Aiel (Shaido and non-Shaido), Andorans (Andorans proper and Two Rivers folk), Tairens and Illianers, Taraboners and Domani, Andorans and Cairhienin, Tairens and Mayeners... even with a common language, it's a wonder anyone knows what anyone says ever.
** It should be noted that Jordan intended there to be only one more book (which got split into thirds) which would tie up most of the major plot threads, and that while Sanderson has had to write much of the dialogue and narrative, all the major plot points were outlined and mapped out in great detail for him. So clearly Jordan intended the characters to start communicating properly and get plots resolved at this point. The fandom can be forgiven for believing this is all Sanderson's doing, though, thanks to Jordan's [[IdiotBall previous]] [[{{Doorstopper}} track]] [[FourLinesAllWaiting record]].
* PortalCut -- 'Travelling' can kill whoever is unlucky enough to be where the exit portal is opened as the edge is sharper than a razor.
* PosthumousCharacter -- Many, as you'd expect in a series with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters and {{Reincarnation}}, but Gitara Moroso stands out. She gave at least two or three Foretellings that set the stage for the whole series. Gitara is probably in the top three most important characters born in the three thousand years before the story starts.
* PoweredByAForsakenChild -- No, not that kind! Myrddraal blades require a human soul for seasoning, though, and a long-forgotten game played by Darkfriends in the Age of Legends used [[BalefulPolymorph transformed humans]] as playing pieces.
* PowerHigh -- The One Power is so addictive that most channelers who lose the ability to channel die of despair within a year or two. The True Power, the Power supplied by [[{{Satan}} the Dark One]] to his favoured minions, is even more addictive.
* PowerPerversionPotential -- You name it. The Warder bonding process [[MindlinkMates mentioned above]] is just scratching the surface, granting each person a constant view of the other's physical and mental state and also varying levels of mind control. And then there's Compulsion -- more simply, mind control -- which at least two bad guys use freely and recreationally. And then there's the ''a'dams'', which are used to keep magic-users enslaved and can induce any desired sensation at all, pain or pleasure.
** The potential of the Warder bond is mentioned explicitly in the books, with several characters noting how wonderful it is to feel their significant others' love for them through their empathic bond. And how exhilarating it is to feel the lust...
* PowerStrainBlackout -- Physical exhaustion is the main symptom of overchanneling, even to the point of unconsciousness.
* PowerTrio -- In typical {{Fantasy}} fashion, the three boys even each wielded a sword, a bow, and an axe as they left their hometown.
** The main female characters also form their own across a few books though like the boys they eventually get split up.
* PrintLongRunners -- The first book came out in 1990. That's twelve books in twenty years, and it's not done yet.
* PromotedFanboy -- Brandon Sanderson, who now gets to complete the series.
* PropheciesAreAlwaysRight -- This series is one of the few in speculative fiction in which prophecy is extremely nebulous, and following it to the letter is sometimes not the right thing to do at all. All prophecies are eventually proven accurate, but most cannot be correctly interpreted until after they are fulfilled. Attempts to force them into a particular interpretation can backfire. Horribly.
* ProphecyTwist: Many. See above. Nearly every prophecy (and there are quite a few) gets interpreted in several different ways before it comes to pass, meaning that it's always a twist for ''someone.''
** One of the prophesies of the Dragon mentions him wearing a crown of swords. Readers generally took this to mean his reign would be a militaristic, brutal dictatorship, but by the end of the book it is revealed that the prophecy was literal - a country in which the traditional crown has small, ceremonial swords on it.
** Elaida's prophecy that "The black tower will be rent in fire, and sisters shall walk inside its walls. The Dragon shall face the Amyrlin Seat, and he shall know her anger." Well, [[spoiler: sisters have walked inside the Black Tower's walls - as prisoners. The "rent in fire" bit may be caused by infighting amongst the Asha'man, instead of Elaida's strike force. And the Amyrlin referred to in the last part is nit named after all.]] In fact, Elaida has an excellent track record of misinterpreting her own prophecies. Every prophecy she makes is an example of this, really.
*** One particularly version was Elaida's prophecy that the royal house of Andor would be key to winning the Last Battle. This led her to serve as advisor to the ruler and keep the Daughter-Heir on the short leash. However, the woman who was heir to the throne when Elaida made that prophecy vanished without a trace, and only Rand and the reader knows what happened to her: [[spoiler: she went to the Aiel Waste and, years later, gave birth to the ChosenOne]]. Elaida and Elayne would both have had much easier lives if Elaida had known about that... It gets better. Why did the woman who was heir to the throne vanish? Because ''Gitara's'' prophecy told her to get out of Dodge.
** A few in ''A Memory of Light.'' [[spoiler:In the Prophecies of the Shadow, Graendal thinks she reads that Perrin will die and signal the despair of mankind. However, ''Hopper'' is "the Broken Wolf", and ''Demandred'' is the one whose death causes despair to mankind... to the ''Sharans'' under his command, and not mankind as a whole. On another front, we have Rand's death. He does bleed on Shayol Ghul from his side wounds when they open up due to surrounding corruption, but while his body dies, he invokes a FreakyFridayFlip with Moridin, taking Moridin's body while his own dies with Moridin, which is subsequently burned on a funeral pyre.]]
* AProtagonistShallLeadThem: The three ''ta'veren'', especially the Dragon Reborn. Also, Egwene al'Vere. There are other more minor examples, but many of them don't really fit into the realm of "protagonist".
* ProudMerchantRace -- The Sea Folk, and the Domani.
* ProudScholarRace -- The Ogier.
* ProudWarriorRace -- The Aiel and the Borderlanders.
* PsychicLink -- Warder bonds. Inevitably shades over into MindlinkMates when lovers do this; in fact, some male channelers bond their wives for no other reason. (Deconstructed when Rand, subjected to one, starts getting it on...)
* PsychicPowers - Mindspeech: Wolves communicate by telepathy with Wolfbrothers, though Wolfbrothers are not telepathic between each other.
* PsychoExGirlfriend - The downside of reincarnation: Your super-powered ex who made a DealWithTheDevil and has a millennia-old grudge against you for dumping her.
* PunctuationShaker - Every word in the Old Tongue seems to have at least one apostrophe, often several.
* PureEnergy - The titular artifact in ''The Eye of the World'' is an ancient well of ''saidin'' concentrated into liquid form. Definitely not something you want to fall into. Liquefied ''evil'' Pure Energy appears again in Book 9 during [[spoiler:the Cleansing of ''saidin'']].
** Well (pun intended), the Eye is actually a reservoire of untainted saidin. Pure energy indeed.
* QuirkyMinibossSquad - The [[NumerologicalMotif thirteen]] Forsaken.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Myrddraal tend to enjoy raping human women; the results of such unions rarely survive, and thankfully usually [[DeathByChildbirth the mothers don't either]]. Using this as a punishment is considered so awful that even [[SmugSnake Moghedien]] received sympathy from the readers after undergoing this courtesy of Shaidar Haran. This happened to Graendal (herself a purveyor of MindRape via Compulsion) at the end of book thirteen and to Mesaana (who created [[AcademyOfEvil horrible schools of corrupted children]] and intended to break [[spoiler:Egwene]]'s mind in the World of Dreams) following her failure to appear at the Cleansing, and also to Moghedien (who [[spoiler:tortured Nynaeve and tore Birgitte from the World of Dreams so she may never find soulmate Gaidal Cain]]), which has also elicited some sympathy. Even villains don't deserve such a fate, it seems.
* RavensAndCrows - ...and rats. Carrion eaters are used as spies for the Dark One because of their connection with death.
* RavenHairIvorySkin: Lanfear to the point where even Loial, an Ogier, has trouble keeping his eyes off her. Also Moiraine and Berelain.
* RealityWarper - The One Power pretty much does this. The Dark One has an even stronger reality warper.
** As of ''A Memory of Light'', [[spoiler:post-Last Battle Rand doesn't even need the Power to do this]].
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld - Channellers enjoy a drastically extended lifespan, perhaps influenced by power and usage. The oldest living Aes Sedai--and a powerful one at that--is approximately 300 years old. [[spoiler:The oldest living ''channeler'' met in the series is about 500.]] Channellers do not degrade as they age either, their minds and bodies stay strong up until death.
* {{Reincarnation}} - The Dragon Reborn is the latest reincarnation of the Dragon, who last went insane and incinerated himself a few thousand years ago after resealing the Dark One. Any other humans who become famous heroes also get stuck in a cycle of reincarnation (appearing together if they were together originally) and hang out in the World of Dreams in the meantime. The second book centers around the Horn of Valere, an artifact that can summon all heroes not currently incarnated. The Dark One, being as it is a ''dark god'', can do this to his followers. Actually, every person will eventually be reincarnated by the Pattern after death.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Ingtar.]]
** [[spoiler: And Verin.]]
** And, to an extent, [[spoiler:Davram Bashere.]]
* ReincarnationRomance - Gaidal Cain and Birgitte Silverbow are a straight example. [[spoiler:Birgitte's ripped-from-the-pattern reincarnation might cause problems for that though.]]
* RestrainingBolt - The Oath Rod, which enforces the [[RuleOfThree Three Oaths]]. The end result is Aes Sedai are notorious experts at [[TruthAndLies spin]] but have their lifespans halved - the Oath Rod originally being used on criminals in the Age of Legends as both punishment and control. Also, ''a'dam'' collars, which prevents collared channelers from using their power or engaging in violent actions without permission, among other things.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeBureaucratized: One of the reasons for the Seanchans' rapid conquests is that they provide order and safety in places like Tarabon, where people are sick and tired of the fighting between the Crown and the rebels and the Dragonsworn and the other rebels and the bandits and the invading neighbors and the Darkfriends.
* RightHandVersusLeftHand: Aes Sedai are supposedly united in a single cause, but spend so much time scheming against each other that it almost never happens. Darkfriends have it worse, often directly opposing each other without knowing that they are supposed to be on the same side.
* RoaringRampageOfRescue: The Dumai's Wells sequence.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge - Rand at the end of ''The Fires of Heaven'' and also [[spoiler:Lanfear when she hears a rumor that Rand has a relationship with Aviendha.]]
** Also Rand in ''Winter's Heart'', hunting down the rogue Asha'man who tried to kill him in the previous book.
* RomanticRunnerUp - Demandred.
* RunningGag: When one of the male leads is faced with a pretty woman, he almost invariably wishes that one of the other two was there, because 'they were better with girls'.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:S-U]]
* ScarilyCompetentTracker - Perrin, as a Wolfbrother, has a sharper sense of smell, sight and hearing then normal humans, and puts them to good use. There are also type of people called 'sniffers', who function in this capacity for borderland lords; they have an odd innate talent that allows them to "smell" the presence of violence and death.
* TheScottishTrope - Sure, saying the Dark One's true name ''supposedly'' attracts his attention, [[BlatantLies but that's just superstition]]. That really bad stuff happens almost immediately following such incidents is just a coincidence. Not even [[QuirkyMinibossSquad the Forsaken/Chosen]] dare to do so, because you can't be too careful when you're working for the Lord of Darkness.
* ScrewTheRulesItsTheApocalypse: The only chance the forces of Light have to survive The Last Battle is to put aside their differences and customs and ''fight together''.
* ScrewYouElves - Rand's character development for at least the first five or six books is basically him losing his patience with the Aes Sedai trying to tell him what to do. The same holds for the other main characters as well to a greater or lesser extent.
* SealedEvilInACan - The Dark One sealed behind the fabric of reality, best accessible from inside Shayol Ghul.
* SecretCircleOfSecrets - The Darkfriends
* SelfDeprecation - one of the ter'angreal is a small statue of a smiling bearded man that Jordan admitted on his blog is a self-insert. It turns out to have thousands and thousands of books recorded in it, almost certainly a little dig at Jordan's reputation for writing {{Door Stopper}}s.
* SelfFulfillingProphecy - Mat's AccidentalMarriage.
** The series is full of prophecies and visions, and while it's possible that none of them are truly self-fulfilling (Mat's marriage ceremony wasn't finished until he had proven himself to her), a great many prophesies help push themselves along. The Stone of Tear was besieged more than once precisely because of the prophecy that only the Dragon could bring it down, and knowledge of that prophesy was why Rand went there. But even if the prophesy had never been made the Dragon Reborn would probably want to go to the Heart of the Stone anyway, because that's where ''Callandor'' was kept.
** Mat receiving the holes in his memory filled was an example of this--he was given them by the Foxes, but would never have gotten them if the Snakes hadn't told him to go to Rhuidean, which fulfilled them calling him a 'son of battles'. But in ''Towers of Midnight'' we also see the Finn literally make one of their prophecies come true: [[spoiler:Mat 'giving up half the light of the world to save the world' is enforced through them demanding of him a price for Moiraine's release, a price he had already guessed thanks to knowing Rand (and therefore the world) couldn't succeed without her. So he agrees...and they take his eye.]]
* SexlessMarriage - Mat and Tuon's, they find each other a bit too ''strange'' to get intimate, although their [=POVs=] have shown they're attracted to each other. [[spoiler:Subverted as of the last book, when they do it in the garden of the Tarasin Palace, in front of her soldiers and bodyguards. And she's pregnant.]]
* SharingABody - Rand al'Thor and Lews Therin. Also, Luc and Isam, and possibly Mordeth/Fain though that seems more of a merge.
* ShirtlessScene - Rand training with a sword at the end of the first book, and the beginning of the second book. Maybe a few more.
** Perrin gets one in book thirteen.
* ShmuckBait: Mat treats Verin's letter like this. Unusually for this trope, he resists all temptation to open it. [[spoiler:Double-subverted when it turns out to contain vitally important information that she couldn't pass along any other way]].
* ShockAndAwe - Another channeling power.
* ShootTheMessenger - Lanfear's minion was a bit dim about [[ClingyJealousGirl what Lanfear's primary characterization is.]]
* ShouldntWeBeInSchoolRightNow - Elayne, Egwene and Nynaeve are exempt from many classes during their novitiate in the White Tower.
* ShoutOut - The Mountains of Dhoom and the Mountains of Mist are references to [[TheLordOfTheRings Middle-earth]].
** Let's not forget the inn in which Rand stays in Book 2: "'The Nine Rings' had been one of his favorite adventure stories when he was a boy; he supposed it still was."
** "Galad" is Sindarin for "light." Galad Damodred, as of the beginning of ''Knife of Dreams'', commands the Children of the Light.
*** Building on the LOTR shout-outs, Galad's name may be a reference to Gil-Galad the Elven king. Gil-Galad, being an Elf and a mighty warrior, would have possessed beauty and graceful movement. Traits young Galad is renowned for having in the Wheel of Time.
*** Also possible reference to Galahad from Arthurian legend. In the Once and Future King, several knights claimed Galahad "Wasn't human" because he would ride up, save them or perform some heroic deed, then ride off without bothering with important things such as minor courtesy. Also, with the other veiled names in the series, this one fits right in.
** There's a lot of references to NorseMythology, which are most noticeable near the end of the series as the characters near the peaks of their power. The most obvious is perhaps Rand al'''Thor'', a tall, red-haired man with a tendency to drop lightning bolts on people and a magic weapon only he can use. And the one closest to the Norse origins is Mat, who, with his wide-brimmed black hat, a spear rumoured to never miss its target, and [[spoiler:only one eye]], is the spitting image of a young Odin. Although his personality is a lot more like Loki. And most recently, from ''Towers of Midnight'', [[spoiler: Perrin forges the Power-wrought hammer Mah'alleinir, a clear reference to Mjollnir, though it doesn't share any of that weapon's mythical traits]].
*** Rand shares many similarities with Tyr, Norse god of War and Justice, [[spoiler:in particular the loss of his hand.]] Perrin has many similarities with Perun, a slavic god similar to Thor, wielding a hammer and defending the common people, but also carrying an axe, a bow and commanding wolves. In the Christianized versions of his myth, he is named St Elias (also the name of a supporting character with similar abilities).
**** In connection to the Tyr reference (Tolkien was a fan and scholar of Norse Mythology), one handed, red haired, conflicted AntiHero who has to fight the supreme evil of the world because of an oath/prophecy and is of a disinherited noble family? Hello [[TheSilmarillion Maedhros Feanorion!]]
*** Building on Mat's similarities to Odin, the inscription on his spear has two ravens, and a poem that makes reference to "thought" and "memory," the names of Odin's ravens. Mat also jokes that he was hanged for a lack of knowledge, which the Eelfinn gave him (if not exactly knowledge he wanted). Similarly, Odin hanged himself on the World Tree Yggdrasil to acquire knowledge.
** He also includes references to his hometown, Charleston. The ogier, for example, are named for Ogier Street downtown.
** In the last Wheel of Time novel, A Memory of Light, chapter 23 is called At the Edge of Time, the same name as the Blind Guardian album which featured two songs about the book series.
* ShrugOfGod - Jordan's stock answer to many things was 'RAFO' - Read And Find Out.
* ShutUpKiss - Lan knows how to handle Nynaeve. He's probably the only male who manages to keep her in check.
* SilkHidingSteel - Female Aes Sedai in general, and Moiraine in particular, are often described in these terms.
* SituationalSexuality - Fairly common among initiates in the White Tower, where girls are isolated from men (and the world altogether) and would have problems anyway due to their powers and extended lifespan. Treated as a very private matter and not looked down upon, most (though not all) of these relationships dissolve upon completing the long training process. For instance, Moiraine and Siuan were in such a relationship during their training days, distanced themselves somewhat after becoming Aes Sedai, and eventually gained male love interests. All of the all-female organizations have some mention of this.
* SlapSlapKiss: Seems to be the norm in Saldaea. Faile and Perrin are a good example.
* SlutShaming: Inverted. Most of the shame applies to Mat, who gets a lot of flak for groping so many serving girls.
* SmugSnake - Lots and lots of scheming nobles and other ruling classes among most civilizations fit this, but Elaida really, really, really, ''really'' takes the cake for sheer incompetence while being extraordinarily vindictive and arrogant at the same time, alienating most of the Tower with her plots and failures.
* SoProudOfYou: The tearful reunion between Rand al'Thor and his adoptive father in ''Towers of Midnight'' certainly invokes this trope.
* SoulJar - Reserved for evil minions who ''really'' screwed up. Not much you can do when the Dark Lord's poking at your soul in a can.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: There are some examples of differing spelling in the books. Notably, one of the Heroes of the Horn can be known as Oscar or Otarin, and, in Creator/BrandonSanderson's books, the Great Captains are simply known as "great captains", with no special capitalizations.
* SphereOfDestruction - One city gets erased in a black, spherical void late in the series, through very unique circumstances.
* SplitPersonality - a likely explanation for Lews Therin's voice in Rand's head.
* [[spoiler:SplitPersonalityMerge - at the very end of ''The Gathering Storm''.]]
* SpontaneousWeaponCreation: Rand occasionally creates a sword made of fire, though this is a rather inefficient use of the One Power.
* SpringIsLate: Several times.
* SpringtimeForHitler: The rebel Aes Sedai intended to make a show of defiance before rejoining the tower, and elected Egwene as their leader so she could absorb the brunt of the punishment for rebelling... until she masterfully manipulates them into openly declaring war on the tower.
* SpySpeak
* StandardFemaleGrabArea: Three female prisoners are being taken to trial and all are held firmly by the arm. This probably isn't the only time this happens.
* TheStarscream: Several. Lanfear is the best example; she wants to defeat the Dark One, take his place, and rule the universe with her lover. Other Forsaken are just waiting for the chance to stab in the back the one placed in charge of them by the Dark One. Padan Fain ''was'' a loyal servant of the Dark One until traumatic experiences gave him both a grudge and some unusual powers, and now he's equally willing to stab Darkfriends and heroes as he finds them. See ChronicBackstabbingDisorder above. Liandrin is also a prominent example of how not to be one, since even when shown how truly insignificant her powers were, she continued to try supplanting Moghedien so as to curry favor with the other Forsaken. This didn't work out well for her at all, and as of the most recent book she ''still'' hasn't gotten free of the punishment Moghedien gave her--which short of being stilled is the worst FateWorseThanDeath a channeler can suffer.
** All the Forsaken wish to supplant Ishamael as Nae'blis (the Dark One's {{Dragon}}). The Dark One offered the position to all of them in ''Lord of Chaos'' to encourage the competition. The only exception is [[spoiler:Demandred]], who cares nothing for rule in any degree except in how it helps him to achieve his primary goal: [[spoiler:defeating the Dragon]].
* StartXToStopX - In the twelfth book, its revealed that [[spoiler:in order to keep the Dark One sealed away, they first need to break the seals on the prison, so they can remake the seals even stronger.]]
* StealthPun - A throwaway reference to "the ''ter'angreal'' used to produce the cloth for Warder cloaks" strongly implies that said cloth is produced by weaving with the One Power.
* StormingTheCastle - In particular, Rand builds much of his empire through use of this trope. And what's left is generally snatched up by the Seanchan, who are fond of a bit of castle-storming of their own.
* StoryboardingTheApocalypse: Four times in ''A Memory of Light'' [[spoiler:during the duel between Rand and the Dark One outside of the Pattern]]. These are them mentioned in order of appearance.
** VillainWorld: [[spoiler:[[TheBigGuy Nynaeve]], [[TheArchmage Egwene]], [[OnlySaneMan Logain]], and [[LivingLegend Cadsuane]] have all been [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Turned]] to the Shadow and named Chosen. The [[GardenOfEvil Blight]] has extended to at least [[SmallTownBoredom the Two Rivers]], if not the entire world. [[BlondeBrunetteRedhead Elayne, Min, and Aviendha]] have been taken to Shayol Ghul to be submitted to [[AndIMustScream endless]] ColdBloodedTorture. Anyone who can channel is immediately Turned to the Shadow to avoid hope rising amongst the masses. The Chosen each control a portion of the world, and fight each other in a ForeverWar. Seanchan was completely destroyed down to the last human being there]].
** CrapsaccharineWorld: [[spoiler:In this world, the people remember that the Last Battle was won. However, there is no law, and MoralSociopathy is the new normal, with MightMakesRight being the primary way of showing authority, and acts such as murder or theft meaning absolutely nothing to those who cause them except concepts of extreme social Darwinism.]]
** [[spoiler:TheEvilsOfFreeWill: Shown by Rand himself, this is a world where the Dark One no longer exists at all. However, as he realizes, without the Dark One and the very concept of evil, there is no conflict. And without conflict, there is no choice whatsoever, meaning no innovation or change of any sort. People in this world seem hollow, and nothing like themselves.]]
--->'''Dark One:''' [[spoiler:[[TastesLikeDiabetes PERFECT.]] [[CreativeSterility UNCHANGING.]] [[CrapsaccharineWorld RUINED.]] DO THIS, IF YOU WISH, ADVERSARY. IN KILLING ME, I WOULD WIN.]]
** [[spoiler:CessationOfExistence: A "compromise" that the Dark One proposes to Rand, in which the entire world simply ceases to exist. If Rand were to surrender, he would destroy the world, but agree not to remake it InTheirOwnImage. Unfortunately, Rand knows that he will never do this, as, being a being of pure evil, he can't be trusted to follow his word.]]
* StrangeSecretEntrance - The Eye of The World can only be found once by any person, with a single exception. It moves, but always within a specific, very dangerous region.
* SubspaceOrHyperspace: Skimming, and also using the Ways.
* SugarBowl: [[spoiler: During the final battle, Rand explores a (potential) reality completely free of the Dark One. It TastesLikeDiabetes, and humans lack the capacity for choice and change.]]
* SuicideByCop - In ''The Great Hunt'', Ingtar's implied fate. Otherwise it seems he was planning on [[DrivenToSuicide Sheathing the Sword]] on his own.
* SuicidalPacifism - The Tuatha'an.
* SummoningArtifact- The Horn Of Valere summons the Heroes of the Ages.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: A mark of Wolfbrothers.
* SupernaturalSensitivity: Channelers can always tell if someone of the same gender is channeling nearby, and how strongly, but need to see the flows of Power in order to determine the nature of the weave used. Weaves can be concealed by 'inverting' them, a method rediscovered partway through the series. Also, those holding the True Power can only be sensed by those who use it.
* SuperSenses - Perrin gains increased senses, as a result of [[spoiler:being a Wolfbrother.]] And channelers gain heightened senses when they are actively embracing/seizing.
* SuperStrength - Warders and [[{{Golem}} gholam]] seem to have this to some extent.
* SwordAndSorcerer - The whole point of the Aes Sedai / Warder grouping.
* SwordFight - Rand and Turak in ''The Great Hunt''.
* TangledFamilyTree - Rand is in the middle of this. As of book 12: [[spoiler:Rand is the half-brother of Galad by the same mother, Tigraine Mantear, although Rand and Luc/Isam are the only characters who actually know this.]] Galad is the half-brother of Elayne and Gawyn by the same father, Taringail Damodred. (Probably.) Rand is in a relationship with Elayne [[spoiler:and as of the latest book, she's pregnant, expecting twins]]. Gawyn wants to kill Rand in revenge because he believes Rand killed Gawyn's mother Morgase, although she isn't actually dead. Gawyn is in love with Egwene. Egwene is a friend of Elayne's and [[ChildhoodMarriagePromise used to be betrothed to Rand]]. Morgase is now working for Rand's childhood friend Perrin as a servant. Moiraine Damodred, Rand's [[TheObiWan Obi-Wan]], is Taringail's younger half-sister, and so Galad, Gawyn, and Elayne's aunt; her [[LoveInterests Love Interest]], Thom, is one of Morgase's ex-lovers, and another Morgase ex, Gareth Bryne, is, [[spoiler:engaged to Moiraine's [[SituationalSexuality former]] [[BiTheWay lover]] Siuan]]. Tigraine's brother, Luc Mantear, is also alive and merged some way or other with Isam Mandragoran, first cousin of Lan Mandragoran, another mentor figure of Rand's and Moiraine's Warder. No characters know anything at all about Luc/Isam being alive or connected except for himself.
* TautologicalTemplar - the Children of the Light.
* TechnicalPacifist - The Aiel, who swore an oath to never touch a sword. Doesn't stop them from using spears, nor from becoming a militant warrior culture. (This is the cause of the GoMadFromTheRevelation mentioned above: the Aiel found out that they had obeyed only the letter of the law, not the [[ActualPacifist spirit]].)
* TeleportInterdiction: The thirteenth book presents the ''dreamspike'' artifact, which blocks the creation of Gateways within a large radius of its position, including ones inbound from outside the area of effect. In the Dream World, it visibly manifests as a spherical, semipermeable barrier of similar effect, except that teleportation is still possible between between two points both inside the barrier.
* TeleportSpam - Battles between really high-powered channelers are often this, with both sides launching an attack and Traveling out as fast as possible. Battles in the World of Dreams are essentially always TeleportSpam.
* TerrainSculpting: During the Breaking of the World, all male Aes Sedai went mad and caused total upheaval, creating mountain ranges, dredging seas and creating new ones on top of existing countries. It's suggested that the shape of all the world's landmasses has been radically changed.
* TerrifyingRescuer: In the first book when Perrin is captured by Whitecloaks, Lan scares the crap out of him while coming to the rescue. Rand is on a larger scale, what with all the prophecies saying he's going to destroy the world while saving it, but also has a few specific instances where his channeling scares people worse than whatever threat he's using it to save them from.
* ThemeNaming - Rand's surname might be a reference to Thor of Norse mythology. He's even got the right hair color...
** KingArthur - Most of the characters and much of the underlying skeleton of the story [[strike:are adapted from]] share names with Arthurian myth: Egwene Al'Vere (Guinevere); Morgase (Morgawse); Elayne (Elaine of Carbonnek); Nynaeve (Nineve); Rand al'Thor (Arthur); The Sword-In-The-Stone Callandor (Caliburn); Jeraal Mordeth (Mordred); Thom Merrilin (Merlin); and many, many others. ''Sa'angreal'' = "Sangreal" = The Holy Grail, just as another data point. And of course who can forget the historic backstory character Artur Hawkwing Pendraeg, who united the known world in a single kingdom of justice and fairness a thousand years ago, and is now numbered among the greatest heroes of history who are prophesied to be recalled to life at a time of great need. A more complete list of references can be found [[http://www.darkfriends.net/wheel/3_sources/3.05_king-arthur.html here]].
** There's also the Forsaken, who are all named after demons and dark gods from various mythologies.
** The series' universe has something of a recursive chronology, where each Age will eventually be repeated after all of its events have faded beyond legend. Furthermore, our current world is strongly implied to be the first Age. Which means that the reason those characters seem familiar is because they are the reincarnated gods and heroes of our age.
** The implication seems to be that our world is the Age opposite the one taking place in the books: our misremembered present is their legends (like the reference to the ColdWar) while their misremembered present is our legends (see above).
* ThereAreNoCoincidences: Where ''ta'veren'' are concerned, coincidences happen all the time, with the Pattern working to help them. However, they all work toward some purpose or another... [[InMysteriousWays though the actual effect they work toward is unknown almost always until it has already happened]].
* ThisWasHisTrueForm: When someone dies while using [[MasterOfIllusion Mask of Mirrors]], the weave falls apart and shows the true identity of the user.
* TheoryOfNarrativeCausality - This is pretty much what it means to be ''ta'veren''.
* ThirdEye - Moiraine's forehead jewel serves as this symbolically, especially since she can use it as a CrystalBall.
* ThreeWishes - Mat unknowingly gets them during his visit to the Eelfinn in "The Shadow Rising." His third wish is enough of a "reset button" to get him back to his former location, but he still has a bunch of other people's memories and a medallion that stops magic. Towers of Midnight reveals that [[spoiler:his third wish [[ChekhovsGun was actually]] a spear that allows him to cut his way out of the Tower of Ghenjei, and not [[RedHerring them taking him outside]]]].
** ''Towers of Midnight'' also reveals that [[spoiler: Moiraine and Lanfear each got Three Wishes as well, though not what they wished for.]]
* ThirteenIsUnlucky - There are thirteen Forsaken. There used to be more, but thirteen were [[SealedEvilInACan sealed away for 3000 years]]. Thirteen Myrddraal and Thirteen Black Ajah working together can also force a channeler into the Dark One's thrall.
* ThisIsReality - Rand reminds himself several times that he isn't some hero in a story. At other points, he wonders [[RealityIsUnrealistic why "real life" isn't more like the stories portray it]].
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks - Elayne is saved during an assassination attempt by a guardsman [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks throwing his sword.]] [[spoiler:This is revealed to be a set-up. The guardsman is a Darkfriend who arranged the assassination so he could save Elayne and gain her trust]]
** Double-subverted with Mat's ashandarei (a polearm). He explicitly notes that it's not balanced for throwing, so he's not surprised when he misses [[spoiler:the Gholam]], but he's grateful that the spear still [[spoiler:trips it up, allowing Talmanes to escape]].
* TooDumbToLive - A ton of characters, usually in high ranking positions.
** Some of the [=NPCs=] too. There are people living in Randland who are trying to kill Rand because if there's no Dragon Reborn, there's no Last Battle! [[SarcasmMode What could be simpler]]!
* TookALevelInBadass
** Mat, twice: once after losing the tainted dagger (gaining reality-warping luck), and once after going to Rhuidean (gaining a Named WeaponOfChoice and crazy strategy skills).
*** Hell, this is all Mat does, throughout the entire series. Luck is a great way to gain levels.
** Rand takes at least three separate levels, once in ''The Great Hunt'' after learning how to use his sword properly, again in ''The Dragon Reborn'' when he pulls out [[OnlyTheChosenMayWield the Sword in the Stone]] which just happens to be a WeaponOfMassDestruction, and the third time in ''The Shadow Rising'' after [[spoiler:besting Asmodean and really cranking up his knowledge and use of The Power]]. By ''Lord Of Chaos'' he can kill 2 warders with his bare hands in the time it takes to magically restrain him. In ''Towers of Midnight'' [[spoiler:he takes another level just in time to fix most of the mistakes he made over the last 7 books]]
** Perrin: it's much more gradual, but over the course of the fourth book he really starts to stand out on his own.
*** Also [[spoiler:gains a serious Level by forging his WeaponOfChoice in book 13]]
*** Also [[spoiler: masters [[DreamLand Tel'aran'rhiod]] to the point of ''blocking balefire with his bare hands.'']]
*** Takes one last level in ''A Memory of Light'' by [[spoiler: mastering the technique of teleporting between dimensions without needing a Gateway or any other kind of weave. It allows him to ''finally'' kill Slayer and give Rand the cover he needs.]]
** Egwene: during the fifth book, as she takes the Aiel code of honor to heart, thus setting up several MomentsOfAwesome in the 11th and 12th books. Interestingly, it's not really a combat-application level, but more of a moral-rectitude one, the kind Rosa Parks took when she sat down on a bus and said, "[[CaptainAmerica No: ''you'' move]]."
** What Olver was doing during his time in the Band. We'll have to wait to see how it worked out for him.
*** As of ''A Memory of Light'': He has impressive tenacity, but he is about as much warrior as you can expect a pre-teen to be. Let's call that half a level.
* ToThePain - In Book 5, the thief-catcher Juilin tries to get information out of a group of prisoners, so he describes to his companions in explicit detail, within earshot of the prisoners, what items he will need for the torture: "Some rope to tie her, some rags to gag her until she is ready to talk, some cooking oil and salt... She will talk." [[spoiler: Later, after the interrogation, he revealed that he didn't know what he would have actually done with the oil and salt.]] Also, figs and mice would be involved...[[NoodleImplements somehow]].
* TownWithADarkSecret - In Book 12, Mat and his group enter a village which has a standing order that visitors are forbidden entry after sunset. The reason being [[spoiler: anyone killed within the bounds of the village after dark becomes trapped there with no memory of the night's events which is a mercy considering the night drives any said person into a murderous rage.]]
* TradingCardGame - One exists. It is, fittingly, incredibly complicated to play and takes a very long time to finish one game (two hours). Involves an inordinate ammount of XanatosSpeedChess and some FridgeLogic with some of the cards.
* TrainingFromHell - In order to increase their numbers as fast as possible, the Asha'man force their trainees to use their powers constantly, for everything from common chores to extremely dangerous attacks. And that's when they're not busy training to be blademasters. This naturally incurs heavy losses to death, burnout, and insanity. It works, though.
** The Aes Sedai training regimen is a prolonged version developed for a very different purpose. The White Tower is as much a SchoolForScheming as it is a WizardingSchool; its purpose is to ensure that students come out as women of immense mental fortitude as well as skill with the One Power, without breaking them in the process.
** The Asha'man training method actually makes more sense when you consider that male channelers are characterized as periodically leaping forward in strength following heavy use of the power such as battles. The whole thing works with the differing characteristics of saidar and saidin; with saidar you go with the flow and let your strength advance steadily and with saidin you have to take it firmly in hand and master it.
* TranslationConvention - Explanation for why modern tongue does not resemble the Old Tongue.
* TraumaCongaLine - Queen Morgase. Oh, Queen Morgase. Particularly in Book 7.
** Also Galina, but she deserved it.
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening - Channelers with the spark typically start channeling this way.
* TrilogyCreep - It was originally planned to be six books, so it would technically be 'Hexalogy Creep'. (Rumors have said 'trilogy,' but that's madness.) Also, since it's been said for the last five years or so it was going to be twelve books until Brandon Sanderson confirmed the last book is going to be split in [[strike:two]] [[http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=19734 three]], it's now also guilty of ''[='=]Dodecalogy Creep[='=]'' as well.
** Let's be fair, though. Sanderson is attempting to write a novel equal in word-count to the last ''four'' entries of the HarryPotter series. Such a tome would be less a {{Doorstopper}} and more The Great Wall of China.
** The first three books makes a pretty good standalone trilogy as the ''origin'' of a ChosenOne, where he collects his main allies, beats a StarterVillain, and the most difficult and important part, [[BecauseDestinySaysSo finally accepts his destiny]]. Same for the first six, by the end of which [[spoiler:the ObiWan is gone and]] everyone has come into their power and made a mark on the world. One could read the first three or six novels, stop, and leave the actual Last Battle to the imagination or fanfic. Given the pace of the writing, though, getting from the Two Rivers to the Last Battle in six books would never have been remotely possible.
* {{Tsundere}} - A few. Not as many as is [[{{Flanderization}} assumed]], though.
* UglyGuyHotWife - Gaidal Cain and Birgitte Silverbow, Lan and Nynaeve. Ugly ten-year-old Olver already tries to charm beautiful well-endowed women (and it works), so he'll probably end up with a hot wife too once he grows up.
* {{Uncoffee}} - The Seanchan drink "kaf".
* UndeadAuthor - Invoked pretty amusingly (though it's played for drama) in ''The Towers of Midnight''. Mat's preparing to infiltrate the Tower of Ghenjei, and Birgitte (who has memories of numerous past lives) tries to dissuade him by relating her own attempt to enter it many centuries earlier. She gets to the point in her narrative where she's trapped in the tower's maze with no provisions and all her instruments for holding off the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn depleted. Mat asks, “So how did you get out?” and Birgitte replies, “I didn't. That was the end of that story.” The amusing part is that despite this, Birgitte still expected the story of her tragic demise to get out (through Aes Sedai or others asking the Finn about her fate) and is disappointed that Mat didn't recognize it because no one knows the story. It's later implied, when Mat describes to Thom the main points of the story and its ending without using any names and it sounds familiar to him, that someone did find out about it somehow. But overall the story is only able to be told because the UndeadAuthor could do so herself thanks to the Horn of Valere and her memories of previous lives.
* TheUnreveal - In universe, Aviendha sees the past of the Aiel and is rather underwhelmed by how their history was laid out, expecting epic decisions when everything was a natural progression. This is because she had already heard about this from Rand.
* UnusualEuphemism - Besides OhMyGods, several swear words are substituted to be more PG: "God damn you" = "Light burn you," "hell" = "Shayol Ghul" or "Pit of Doom," and the expletive so horrifying its equivalent can only be guessed at -- "Mother's milk in a cup."
** "Blood and ashes!" "Sheep swallop and buttered onions!"
** When Birgitte senses (through the Warder bond) that Elayne's having sex with Rand, she threatens to drag her out and "kick her tickle-heart around the palace".
* UpbringingMakesTheHero: This would seem to be the Pattern's reason for having Rand raised as a farmboy in the Two Rivers, rather than with the Aiel who were his people. At the same time it arranged for his mother to become a Maiden of the Spear precisely so that he could have the great warrior blood of the Aiel, while being raised in the Two Rivers not only gave him common sense and a hero's morality but also the legendary stubbornness and warrior blood of the descendants of Manetheren. It is all these things, as well as having people like Tam, Mat, Perrin, Nynaeve, and Egwene around him, that allowed him to avoid Lews Therin's mistakes and thus keep from [[spoiler:being pushed over the DespairEventHorizon into a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds[=/=]PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery mindset, or just plain becoming HeWhoFightsMonsters]]. Rand even specifically states to Min that the reason the Dark One didn't claim him was because "I was raised better this time".
* TheUsualAdversaries - Trollocs.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:V-Z]]
* VillainForgotToLevelGrind:
** Trollocs, Myrddraal ''et al'' never got any ''less'' dangerous; you still see them slaughtering {{Muggles}} and various armies throughout the books. The protagonists, meanwhile, are all several orders of magnitude more {{Badass}} than they started out as, with Rand's PowerLevel in particular making him a literal OneManArmy.
** Forsaken now seem to have been just a distraction for the good guys, while the real evil was preparing on various fronts.
* VillainousBSOD: Semirhage gets one in ''The Gathering Storm'' when [[spoiler:Rand uses the True Power while she has him collared with a device that renders him unable to use Saidin.]]
* WalkingWasteland:
** [[spoiler: Padan Fain]] is one of extreme proportions. In fact, he's so much this trope that he's capable of corrupting the Dark One's own servants [[UpToEleven even more than they already are]].
** Rand temporarily becomes one of these as he gets ever closer to his DespairEventHorizon. After he recovers, he reverts back to something like FertileFeet.
* WanderingMinstrel: Thom. Rand has to be one to make his way with Mat to Caemlyn in the first book as they are split off from the rest of the party.
* WarIsHell: Rand feels TheChainsOfCommanding rather early in the series, and the theme becomes increasingly prevalent toward the Last Battle.
* WeaponOfMassDestruction - Callandor, a very powerful [[GenderRestrictedAbility male]] sa'angreal. With it, even an average channeler can wipe whole cities off the map. And even that has nothing on the Choedan Kal, which can allow a mortal to challenge a god if they want to. Just using them causes every Power-sensitive person ''on the planet'' to flip out in varying degrees.
* WeAreAsMayflies - Humans compared to the Ogier.
* WeAreEverywhere: Darkfriends, otherwise normal people who have sworn service to the Shadow, are spread throughout the world, infesting every level of authority. Whether doing the Great Lord's personal work, or just doing the best they can to spread chaos, mistrust and fear, they could be anybody... even lifelong acquaitances/friends of the main characters.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: A big theme of the series.
** On the one hand, there's the MarsAndVenusGenderContrast that is one of the big underpinnings since all the greatest feats of the Age of Legends were performed by male and female channelers working together, and this will also be required to win the Last Battle...but thanks to the taint and the Breaking, there is fear, distrust, disgust, and outright hate between the two genders of Aes Sedai (with an entire Ajah built around hunting down the men and gentling them that tends to be filled with man-haters).
** On top of this there is the divisions between the Ajahs, the Tower split that is engineered by the Shadow, the Game of Houses, the enmities between the various nations (Andor vs. Cairhien, Tear vs. Illian, Arad Doman vs. Tarabon, the constant scheming between the nobles of Murandy and Altara), the Whitecloaks vs. the Aes Sedai, the Aiel vs. everybody else, the Seanchan vs. everybody else), and the disagreements between the various factions supporting Rand. Overcoming all of this and getting everyone unified is a big issue in Rand's mind for the Light to win, let alone for an enduring peace afterward.
** Some of this is even cleverly and diabolically induced by the Shadow--aside from the Tower split, the Seanchan's return (and mere existence) was engineered by Ishamael, the Aiel split over Rand is made possible by Asmodean marking Couladin with the dragon tattoos, a great deal of the Black Tower is Turned thanks to Taim, the Shaido are scattered by Sammael, and in the last book [[spoiler:Graendal uses MindManipulation in the World of Dreams to turn the four Great Captains into [[ManchurianAgent Manchurian Agents]], thus splitting and demoralizing the Light's forces]].
** On the other hand, the Shadow itself is struggling together too what with the ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, EvilVersusEvil, ItsAllAboutMe mentality of the Forsaken. And then when you throw [[EvilerThanThou Fain]]/[[WellIntentionedExtremist Mordeth]] and [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Aridhol]] into the mix...
* WeCanRuleTogether - Multiple times by different minions of the Dark One, usually on their master's behalf... [[FaustianRebellion but not always]].
* WellIntentionedExtremist - The nicer Whitecloaks tend to be this. The worse ones tend to be swaggering bullies who just don't care.
** The dead nation of Aridhol also qualifies. Adopting the Shadow's methods of harshness and cruelty in the name of the Light, they became just as bad and quite possibly worse than the Dark One's servants.
** Pretty much ''all'' of the series' secondary villains (people who aren't aligned with the Shadow) qualify. The Seanchan, Whitecloaks, Elaida, and the Prophet are mostly well-meaning but deeply misguided people who have evil methods of getting what they want.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse - Anyone with less than a photographic memory ''will'' be asking this at some point in the books. Guaranteed.
** [[ScarilyCompetentTracker Hurin.]] He returns to Shienar early in the third book, and is never mentioned again. This wouldn't be so odd, ''if'' the story weren't filled to the brim with [[ChekhovsGunman Chekhovians]].
*** [[spoiler:He comes back in ''The Gathering Storm''. The fact that Rand hadn't seen him in so long was actually enormously significant. [[DroppedABridgeOnHim And then dies during the Last Battle]].]]
** In Book 14, certain characters appear but then (evidently) just fall through the balefire-caused cracks in reality: [[spoiler:Alviarin, Bayle Domon]].
* WhatTheHellHero - ''The Gathering Storm'' [[spoiler:Nynaeve calls Rand out for balefiring an entire castle.]]
** He gets a lot of it throughout the series. In ''A Crown of Swords'' he gets it from Perrin because he lets the Aiel beat the Aes Sedai who captured him and Min in the previous book, though this turned out to be a staged argument so that Perrin would have an excuse to leave and get the Prophet. At least, it was supposed to be only staged.
** He also gets it in ''The Gathering Storm'' for [[spoiler:returning damane to the Seanchan instead of freeing them like he should, nearly balefiring '''his own father,''' condemning tens of thousands of people in Arad Doman to starvation and Seanchan invasion, exiling Cadsuane for plotting to control him and he gets a huge WhatTheHellHero combined with WhatHaveIDone from Lews Therin when he starts channeling the True Power.]] They might as well have entitled ''The Gathering Storm'' as ''WHAT THE HELL, RAND?!?''
*** But fortunately this leads to Rand asking himself what the hell he is doing, so there is hope that he might learn a bit now.
*** Indeed most of [[spoiler: Rand's actions in ''The Gathering Storm'' are designed to show that the effects on Rand's mind of all the crap he's gone through have '''not''' been positive, and the ending makes it clear that he's finally managed to get over at least some of it, and is now somewhat more human. Sanderson saw that the only way to fix Rand was to finish off breaking him, and then fixing him again afterwards. This may be a nod to the seals on the Dark One's prison, which need to be destroyed before he can be resealed properly.]]
** Another major WhatTheHellHero moment is in ''A Crown Of Swords'', when Nynaeve and Elayne get called out for being such jerks to Mat after he crossed an entire continent to save their lives in Book 3 and for leaving him LockedOutOfTheLoop for the current story arc. They end up being forced to apologize, which is an extremely satisfying moment for a lot of fans. As soon as they apologize and let him help them out, he [[BornLucky sets off a chain of events]] that leads to the MacGuffin they're looking for.
* WickedCultured - Several of the Forsaken, but none moreso than Asmodean, who [[Literature/GoodOmens didn't fall so much as saunter vaguely downward]] so that he could... play music?
* WindsOfDestinyChange - The power that comes with being ''ta'veren.''
** In addition to the big, plot-furthering [[ThereAreNoCoincidences Coincidences]], there are more minor effects of ''ta'veren''-ness. There are frequent scenes (this happens most often when ''ta'veren'' travel to a new place, but exactly when and how is apparently random) where highly unlikely but trivial or random events happen around them. Someone walking along the street drops a bucketful of sand and it spills perfectly into some significant symbol, or someone trips over their own feet and breaks their neck, or someone proposes marriage purely as a joke and is amazed to hear the subject accept. In the 12th book, Verin explains that at one point she wanted to go north, requiring only a few hours alone to concentrate on Traveling, but after half a dozen apparently random interruptions she realized the Pattern didn't want her to do that, so instead she began circulating posters and offering rewards for directions to the nearest main character she knows of who happens to be a ''ta'veren'', assuming that the Pattern must be pulling her to him. And it worked!
* WitchSpecies - Female witches known as ''Aes Sedai'' ('servants of all'), and male witches who, during the series, take on the name ''Asha'man'' ('guardians'). (In the Age of Legends, both were called ''Aes Sedai''.) Magic is an inherited trait, though still unpredictable and rare. Male witches are doomed to go insane and die horribly unless they are cut off from the source of magic, and so Aes Sedai have a program of 'gentling' male witches. This, coupled with the fact that Aes Sedai rarely marry, has resulted a drastic weakening of magic in general by the time the series is set, except among isolated places where Aes Sedai rarely recruit. Like the village where the series begins.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity - The taint on ''saidin'' causes inevitable insanity in its users. As time progresses one of the main characters begins to show the effects of this, becoming schizophrenic, moody, and temperamental; halfway through the series, he seems like a completely different person, though he ''is'' [[ChosenOne under a lot of pressure]]... The Forsaken also have access to the True Power, an extremely addictive, ''evil'' flavor of magic that also has serious psychological consequences; most would only consider using it under ''dire'' need unless they had a few screws loose to begin with.
* WizardingSchool - The White Tower in Tar Valon. Rand and the Asha'man's so-called "Black Tower" would be more of a Wizarding Boot Camp.
* WizardsLiveLonger - Channeler prolongs lifespan to a few centuries, or even longer provided that [[spoiler:the channeler hasn't used the Oath Rod, which drastically reduces lifespan.]]
* WomanInWhite - Lanfear.
* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask - [[spoiler:Egwene, when she becomes a political-puppet rebel Amyrlin.]]
** And also Elayne, makes sense as she is the Daughter Heir of Andor.
* WordOfGod - Robert Jordan, occasionally putting long arguments to rest... when he didn't point the finger at [[ShrugOfGod RAFO]]. See {{Jossed}}.
* TheWorfEffect
** [[spoiler:Padan Fain's]] increased fear induction among readers mostly relates to defeating increasingly powerful Shadowspawn with limited effort, if any.
** [[spoiler: Gawyn and Galad, both regarded by nearly everyone as [[MasterSwordsman Master Swordsmen]], get easily defeated by Demandred in ''A Memory of Light'', and also received similar treatment against [[TookALevelInBadass Mat]] in Book 4.]]
* TheWorldTree - There is a Tree of Life in the forbidden city of Rhuidean. In a reference to the Norse god Odin, [[spoiler:Mat is hung from this tree as a price for knowledge]].
** And [[spoiler:loses one of his eyes in Book 13. A very poetic reading of his "half the light of the world to save the world" prophecy]].
* WorldBuilding ''and'' WorldSundering.
* WouldntHitAGirl - Despite the great amount of political power that women wield, and their willingness to beat up on most men they meet, Randland cultures are extremely protective of women.
** Rand al'Thor is the most prominent example. He refuses to harm a woman even if she's an ancient Forsaken of legendary power using BlackMagic to kill everyone he knows and loves. He also goes out of his way to avoid putting women in danger, which upsets his Amazonian bodyguards immensely. In fact, Rand has memorized the name or identifying characteristic of every woman who died because of him or while in his service. He once goes into a Heroic BSOD after a woman who tried to steal his throne and betray him commits suicide, even though he had already prevented her execution. This is a primary symptom of his insanity and a side-effect of the fact that the person he's a reincarnation of killed his wife and family. In ''The Gathering Storm'', [[spoiler:he stops following this.]]
** Mat Cauthon also develops a case after ordering the death of a woman in ''Crossroads of Twilight''. Luckily for Mat, his betrothed has no such compulsion, and kills a treacherous female assassin for him.
** This seems more a cultural quirk of the Two Rivers than Randland in general. Characters outside the Two Rivers don't obsess over it as much.
** In the nation of Altara, women wear knives around their necks to slash up their husbands when angered, and are legally within their rights to kill them on a whim. The husbands are expected to accept this treatment without resistance.
* WoundThatWillNotHeal: Rand's side wounds. They were caused by a tainted weapon, so the presence of something ''really'' corrupted tends to set it off.
* XMeetsY: The series (especially the early books) is often described as ''TheLordOfTheRings'' meets ''{{Dune}}''. From ''TheLordOfTheRings'' we have: The Third Age, the Shire (the Two Rivers), Ents (the Ogier--they even have the same {{catchphrase}}!) and Aragorn (Lan, the ranger heir to a fallen kingdom in the north) among others. From ''{{Dune}}'' we have: the Bene Gesserit (the Aes Sedai), the Fremen (the Aiel) and the sandworms (the worms in the Blight).
* {{Yandere}} - Lanfear.
* YearInsideHourOutside: Vacuoles work this way, if they aren't [[YearOutsideHourInside the inverse]]. Combining this with GroundhogDayLoop and FateWorseThanDeath makes for quite the [[AndIMustScream horrific punishment]] for Moghedien.
* YearOutsideHourInside: As one comes closer to Shayol Ghul, time distorts more and more, with time for the person inside going at the speed of minutes, while time for someone outside goes at that of hours.
* YinYangClash: For every weave, there is an equal and opposite. This comes into play a lot, with varying degrees of violence. There's also [[TheForce the One Power]], the opposite to [[TheDarkSide the True Power]].
* YouALLShareMyStory: As per the ChekhovsArmy, the effects of ''ta'veren'' ensure that pretty much everyone who could possibly have any importance in the story ends up coming back to finish what is necessary.
* [[YouCantFightFate You Can't Fight Ta'veren]] - A major theme, as Rand and crew are railroaded into fighting the Dark One, but taken very personally by Mat, who [[IJustWantToBeNormal wants nothing to do with]] the kind of adventures he ends up involved in. Mat ''tries'' to ScrewDestiny but eventually, after many painful lessons, resigns himself to the inevitability of his fate and the personal prophecies he has received.
** There are also Min's viewings, which will come true ''no matter what'' is done attempting to prevent them. Sometimes ''because'' someone tries to prevent them. A major downer occurs when Min encounters a Cairhenian rebel in the seventh book that she knows will go on to murder and rape dozens of people, knowing she can't do anything to stop him.
* YouShallNotPass - Offscreen, [[GentleGiant Loial]] gathers the women and children of the Stone of Tear in a room and guards the door against an invasion of Trollocs and Myrddraal.
** Rand, after [[spoiler: Ituralde's defence of Maradon]].
** Loial also has a LetsGetDangerous moment with Perrin, promising that no one will get to the unconscious Faile while he lives.
** Manetheren's army marched faster than anyone ever thought possible to meet the Trolloc army camped on its doorstep, managed to hold out longer than anyone ever believed and when they finally fell fought to the last man.
** The exact details aren't given, but an Amyrlin during the Trolloc Wars died in the decisive battle of the war surrounded by a wall of Trolloc and Myrddraal corpses, as well as ''nine'' enemy channelers.
** During the Last Battle [[spoiler: both Mat and Perrin (the latter more so than the former) do this in a more understated way than is usual for the trope. Each defends Rand from an enemy that they are uniquely equipped to face while Rand is otherwise occupied.]]
*** [[spoiler: Gaul probably deserves a more specific mention though; while Mat and Perrin were both very offense oriented, fighting an equal, Gaul fought against much greater odds in a purely defensive battle.]]
*** [[spoiler: Thom]] performs exactly the same function in the same location for a similar length of time, except he's doing it in the real world while [[spoiler: Gaul]] is doing it in the World of Dreams.
* YourMindMakesItReal - Injuries and deaths in the World of Dreams (''Tel'aran'rhiod'') carry over to the real world. Furthermore, if you think about something too long, it may just pop into existence. Someone summons a DeathTrap this way at one point. If you concentrate hard enough, it will disappear, but that can be hard with spikes cranking towards your face.
** Egwene and Perrin use this. He redirects [[spoiler: Balefire]], she takes off [[spoiler:an a'dam]]
* YourNormalIsOurTaboo: The novels has several examples, but one of the most noted is the difference between Aiel and 'Wetlanders'. To Aiel, nakedness is not taboo, they use co-ed sweat tents as a fill-in for showers in their desert homeland, Wetlanders find this scandalous. And this trope occurs for both sides, to Aiel displaying affection in public is taboo. Kissing your spouse with others watching would apparently be viewed similar to how a Wetlander might view having sex with them in public.
[[/folder]]

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* EvenEvilHasStandards: Egwene says quotes to this effect twice.
-->'''In ''The Gathering Storm'':''' I dare the truth, Elaida. You are a coward and a tyrant. I'd name you [[ReligionOfEvil Darkfriend]] as well, but I suspect that the [[BigBad Dark One]] would perhaps be [[InsultToRocks embarrassed to associate with you]].\\

* InsultToRocks: [[spoiler: Egwene to Elaida]] during her TheReasonYouSuckSpeech in ''The Gathering Storm'': [[spoiler:"I'd name you Darkfriend as well, but I suspect that the Dark One would perhaps be embarrassed to associate with you."]]

*** [[spoiler: Gaul probably deserves a more specific mention though; while Mat and Perrin were both very offense oriented, fighting an equal, Gaul fought against much greater odds in a purely defensive battle.]]

*** To clarify: [[spoiler: Perrin, who is now very deep into learning the Dream from the wolves, points out that [[CrowningMomentOfFunny "It's just balefire"]]. Egwene just stands there and sputters after Perrin [[IronicEcho chastises her for being in such a dangerous place]]]].

* AccidentalMarriage: [[spoiler:Mat.]]
* AcheyScars: Rand's side wounds, which never fully heal. They were caused by a tainted weapon, so the presence of something ''really'' corrupted tends to set it off.

* ProphecyTwist -- Many. See above. Nearly every prophecy (and there are quite a few) gets interpreted in several different ways before it comes to pass, meaning that it's always a twist for ''someone.''

* AProtagonistShallLeadThem -- The Dragon Reborn.

* StoryboardingTheApocalypse: Three times in ''A Memory of Light'' [[spoiler:during the duel between Rand and the Dark One outside of the Pattern]]. These are them mentioned in order of appearance.

* YearInsideHourOutside: Vacuoles work this way, most of the time. Combining this with GroundhogDayLoop and FateWorseThanDeath makes for quite the [[AndIMustScream horrific punishment]] for Moghedien.