Unmade
“The Unmade are a deviation, a flair, a conundrum that may not be worth your time. You cannot help but think of them. They are fascinating. Many are mindless. Like the spren of human emotions, only much more nasty. I do believe a few can think, however.”
—From the Diagram, Book of the 2nd Desk Drawer: paragraph 14[1]
The Unmade are a mysterious group on Roshar. They are Splinters of Odium, and Taravangian has referred to one of their number as an "ancient, evil spren."[2] While they are traditionally depicted as personifications of destruction, they are also shown as individuals.[3] The only confirmed member of this group is Yelig-nar, or Blightwind. He was referenced in one of Dalinar's visions, when he met with Nohadon. Yelig-nar had broken into Nohadon's chancery and slaughtered all Nohadon's wordsmen.
Speculation
Other entities speculated to be Unmade include Nergaoul, Moelach, Dai-gonarthis, and Re-Shephir.
It is likely that there have been several more Unmade referenced that have simply not been named as such. Re-Shephir,[4] the Midnight Mother, and Dai-gonarthis,[5] the Black Fisher, seem likely candidates. They have hyphenated names in the same style as Yelig-nar's, along with a title like his. All three of these beings are also described as having to do with "consuming". There is another potential member as well, "the black piper in the night," seen by Cenn in a death vision.[6] The black piper bit is reminiscent of Re-Shephir and Dai-gonarthis, who were also referenced in death visions. Sja-anat [7] is another possible unmade.
One possibility that has been raised is that the Unmade are the opposites of the Heralds, servants of Odium as the Heralds served Honor.
By symmetry with the Surgebinding diagram, the powers of the Voidbinding diagram appear also to be associated with faces, which have been theorized to be the Unmade. This would suggest that the Unmade are connected to the individual voidbinding powers.
The names of the Unmade are similar to those of demons/false gods in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Nergaoul is similar to Nergal, a Babylonian war god, and Moelach is similar to Moloch, a Carthaginian god to whom children were supposedly sacrificed. Re-Shephir is similar to Resheph, a Caananite god of darkness and pestilence. Dai-gonarthis is similar to the Phoenician sea-god Dagon. It has been speculated that there is some connection between the names of the Unmade and their powers. Nergaoul causes the Thrill, and is similar to a war god. Moelach prompts Taravangian to kill the weak, and is similar to Moloch, to whom children were sacrificed. Re-Shephir is called the "Midnight Mother" and might have created the shadow-creatures known as Midnight Essences , which would be appropriate for a deity of darkness. Dai-gonarthis bears the title "Black Fisher," which is appropriate for a sea god.