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1* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: How much of what the Lord Ruler did was because he was truly evil, and how much was [[spoiler: Ruin's influence?]] On the flip side, how much of what he did to protect his people was out of genuine caring, and how much was a PragmaticVillainy case of EvilVersusOblivion? It should be noted that he was chosen for his willingness to murder a man who had never personally wronged him ''before'' he was ever [[spoiler: exposed to Ruin.]]
2* CompleteMonster: [[SmugSnake Lord Straff Venture]] is introduced in ''The Final Empire'' as a [[AristocratsAreEvil brutal noble]] ready to commit all manner of atrocities to cement his power. He systematically [[AbusiveParents abuses his children]] to force them to conform to his standards, even trying to have his son Elend assassinated. He sires illegitimate children to use as loyal assassins and spies, and discards his mistresses when they get too old--too old being late teens. In ''The Well of Ascension'', he allows an army of monsters, known for their ruthlessness and utter lack of mercy, to attack an enemy city, regardless of collateral damage. He later decides to allow the city's destruction, concluding he only cares about the Atium rumored to be hidden in the city. Caring for nothing but his own power and advancement, and seeing others as nothing but tools to use or obstacles to be destroyed, Venture stands out as one of the only [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters humans]] in ''Literature/TheCosmere'' completely devoid of sympathy.
3* EnsembleDarkhorse:
4** Mennis among the alpha readers. He was popular enough that Brandon gave him an extra scene in ''Mistborn: The Final Empire''.
5** Yomen, an Obligator from ''The Hero of Ages'', has a pretty big fanbase.
6** [=TenSoon=], due to his awesome CharacterDevelopment. [[spoiler:He even survives the trilogy and becomes a supporting character in ‘’Literature/ShadowsOfSelf'']].
7** Marsh. Brandon even notes in his ''The Well of Ascension'' annotations that he was surprised by Marsh's very positive reception. [[spoiler:He survives the trilogy and has a one-scene cameo in ''Literature/TheAlloyOfLaw'']].
8* GameBreaker: In the TabletopGame, narrators are advised not to try and combine Allomancy and Feruchemy because the rules to handle this ''without'' making it a GameBreaker don't yet exist.
9** Following the release of the ''Literature/TheAlloyOfLaw'' supplement book this is actually no longer the case so long as you keep full Feruchemists and Mistborns out of the blend. Twinborns have their own rules and are very interesting (and balanced!), but have in turn replaced regular Mistborns and Feruchemists. As stated before, if you decide to blend full Feruchemists and Mistborns with Twinborn, you'll have Game Breaking left and right.
10** Considering [[BigBad who can actually do this in-canon]], it's to be expected that it'd be a bit OP...
11* JerkassWoobie:
12** [[spoiler:The Lord Ruler himself. Originally known as Rashek, he murdered Alendi to stop him from releasing Ruin. Then he became a brutal tyrant, who was dong what he thought was necessary to stop Ruin, while spending the entire millennia being driven mad by Ruin.]].
13** Zane, who is an [[AxCrazy Ax-Crazy]] assassin with a creepy possessiveness over Vin. But he has to deal with [[AbusiveParents Straff Venture]] as a father, and he goes after Vin because he thinks she's his only salvation from [[spoiler: the voice in his head driving him insane, which happens to be Ruin.]]
14* MagnificentBastard:
15** [[EvilOverlord The Lord Ruler]] is the [[GodEmperor godlike emperor]] of the Final Empire who rose from humble origins to become a tyrant who united the known world under his rule and reshaped it in his image. Despite centuries spent struggling with [[spoiler:[[BigBad Ruin's]]]] influence on his thoughts, the Lord Ruler remained determined to ensure the survival of humanity [[WellIntentionedExtremist by any means necessary]] and set numerous contingency plans in motion. Even following the Lord Ruler's death his hand continued to work behind the scenes and would play a key role in [[spoiler:Ruin's]] final defeat, and even centuries down the line his influence on Scadrial's history can't be entirely escaped.
16** [[RebelLeader Kelsier]] was little more than an arrogant master thief until he and his wife were sentenced to the dreaded Pits of Hathsin by the Lord Ruler. Escaping, he proceeded to hijack the rebellion as his private army and carefully spread his reputation as a quasi-religious figure across the empire, so that when he was killed his martyrdom would trigger a mass uprising that would topple the Lord Ruler - and ''The Secret History'' describes how [[spoiler: even death couldn't keep him down for good as he continued his scheming as a [[OurGhostsAreDifferent cognitive shadow]]]]. Charismatic, brilliant, and more than a little mad, the Survivor of Hathsin would topple a thousand-year empire through sheer force of will and cunning and create a reputation for himself as an iconic figure that would endure for centuries.
17* NightmareFuel: Where to **start?** Steel Inquisitors, Kandra, and the rampant rape and murder of skaa women are just a few examples from the first book alone. Also, [[HumanSacrifice Hemalurgy]] in all its applications... [[spoiler: the Kandra actually turn out to be its ''least'' scary manifestation]].
18* ParanoiaFuel: Consider the BigBad's ability to alter written words and how powerful that is. This very book series could have been changed by him. In fact, you're reading right now. These very words could be the words of an evil god, working to manipulate your thoughts. [[spoiler:[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou I am everywhere.]]]]
19* RomanticPlotTumor: In ''The Well of Ascension'', Vin and Elend spend much of the book whining about their relationship and constantly fretting that one isn't good enough for the other. In Vin's case she's nervous that Elend doesn't love her as she is, but as her facade of Lady Valette and thinks that Elend should be with someone who doesn't emasculate him by being the one always protecting him and killing on his behalf. Elend, meanwhile, thinks that he's not badass enough to be worthy of a Mistborn like Vin and feels like he cannot understand how due to how "mysterious" she is. This is all while there's a siege going on, three armies camped outside Luthadel and assassins constantly being sent after Vin and/or Elend - you'd think they would spend their energy on more pressing concerns than how much they "love" each other.
20* SpoiledByTheFormat: In the audiobook version of ''The Hero of Ages'', it is very easy to tell who the Hero is as soon as the first epigraph is read [[spoiler: in Sazed's voice]].
21* StrangledByTheRedString: Vin and Elend in the first book. They do share a few conversations in which they get to know each other, especially one during which Elend confesses to her his feelings about having to do something against the Final Empire's corruption and about his trauma when his father forced him to sleep with a skaa woman before having her killed when Elend was 13. However, you can make the argument that Vin falls for him too quickly, something that contrasts her otherwise extremely suspicious nature. She is even willing to put her life at stake by taking on other Mistborn (something she has never done up to that point) against the explicit wishes of Kelsier and the crew for his sake. Fortunately, the sequels flesh it out a LOT more.
22* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
23** Much is made in the first book about Kelsier not having enough time to personally train Vin, and having the other crewmembers (who are Mistings, and so can only burn one metal) teach her their specific metals. Vin quickly realizes that, in exchange for the versatility of being Misborn, the Mistings have learned to use their individual metals much more subtly and thoroughly than Kelsier had. Little ever comes of this, however, with Vin instead discovering [[spoiler:duralumin, which lets her put super-duper oomph behind her Allomantic powers.]]
24** A minor one. During one of the parts told from Breeze's point of view, we learn that he's actually a full-blooded aristocrat but never revealed this secret to anyone. This could have led to interesting dialogues and developments if other members of the crew discovered it, especially Kelsier and Dockson. However, this backstory never actually plays any part during the story.
25* TooBleakStoppedCaring: At the beginning of ''The Hero Of Ages'', [[spoiler: Ruin]] has returned and is poisoning the minds of everyone with a Hemalurgic Spike, the Mists are slowly starving the already paltry crops of the empire, the Steel Inquisitors have an army of 300,000 koloss, and the entire world is slowly being smothered in ash. The heroes are trying to fix all this, but only have some faint leads on how to. Happy days.
26* TheWoobie:
27** Vin, early on. She has some moments of it later, but by that point the fact that she's enough of a badass to take on fake gods [[spoiler: and a real one]] kind of offsets it...
28** And [[DemonicPossession Marsh]]. Seriously, with all the stuff that happens to him, Marsh needs a hug. [[spoiler:Provided he doesn't stab you or something.]]
29* WoobieSpecies:
30** Believe it or not [[spoiler:the koloss. They're made from a combination of five humans, so they know they were human once, but just can't remember what it was like. They desperately want to be human, but everyone treats them as inhuman monsters because technically, they are.]]
31** The kandra experience loads of FantasticRacism, and some of their masters use them as punching bags because while they feel the intense pain, they can heal.

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