Editing Ati

|world=Yolen

|first appeared=[[Mistborn: The Final Empire]]

=== Appearance ===

=== Personality ===

==== Mortal ====

As a mortal, Ati was known for being kind and generous. After taking up Ruin, he fought against the destructive impulses it brought about for many years. Over time, however, Ruin won out, and adapted this kindness to its own intent. This fundamentally warped his personality, leaving him nearly unrecognizable from his original self.{{epigraph ref|sa1|18}}{{wob ref|10334}}

During his mortal life, he was driven to kill Adonalsium, either due to desire for power or a belief in the necessity of the action. Displaying the willingness to kill, either for a cause he believed in, or to gain power.{{msh ref|3|2}}

After dying and losing his Connection to Ruin, he quickly accepted his death and passed into the [[Beyond]].{{msh ref|6|8}} If he continued to exist in the Physical or Cognitive Realms instead of passing away into the Beyond, his personality would have returned to his original one, though his soul would forever carry scars from his time as a Vessel, likely keeping his personality from truly returning to normal.{{wob ref|3009}}

==== Vessel ====

As Ruin, Ati wants to see the destruction of everything in existence. He believes that all life must end eventually, and to force it to carry onward past its expiration date is cruel. In his opinion, the destruction he causes serves a creative purpose; without death, there can be no further life.{{msh ref|4|4}}{{book ref|mb3|45}} Through this framework of understanding his Intent, he sees himself as a sort of caretaker of reality, and as the representative of change itself, and of necessary entropy and decay.{{msh ref|4|4}}{{book ref|mb3|57}}{{wob ref|10334}} Following from this, he does not see himself as evil, but as a natural and necessary force of nature.{{msh ref|4|4}}

He sees great beauty in destruction and endings, and sees it as something one shouldn't mourn, but rather take joy in. As he sees destruction as completion, and finds sublime beauty in that.{{book ref|mb3|45}} He claims that the only reason to create something is to watch it die, to reach its ordained completion.{{book ref|mb3|45}} He attempts to comfort those that resist him, and convince them of his own necessity, and of the inherent goodness in finality.{{book ref|mb3|45}}

As a result of this insatiable craving, he hates how his force of change and destruction is always resisted by [[Preservation]]'s stasis and protection, leading to neither being able to do anything. He considers this state of balance the curse of his existence.{{book ref|mb3|76}} He even curses balance itself, due to his experiences with the concept.{{book ref|mb3|77}}{{book ref|mb3|81}}

At the same time, Ati is prideful and boastful. He considers himself to be a fundamental aspect of reality, and considers himself to be God.{{book ref|mb3|65}}{{book ref|mb3|72}} He seems to revel in mocking those he has defeated, and will appear in front of his victims to gloat about his victory.{{msh ref|4|4}}{{book ref|mb3|57}} This very quality is his weak point, as it often leads him to underestimating his opponents.{{book ref|mb3|81}} When people reject his perceived superiority, especially when they rebel against him, he becomes deeply angered.{{book ref|mb3|72}}

As a megalomaniacal figure, Ati is subtly manipulative, manipulating people in order to fulfill his goals and desires.{{book ref|mb3|part=ars}} He subtly manipulates people in order for them to play into his plans, either through speaking directly into their mind, or through changing the text of documents in manners that fit with his agenda.{{book ref|mb2|epilogue}}{{book ref|mb3|part=ars}} He even directly controls the minds of those spiked with enough [[Hemalurgy|hemalurgic spikes]] to leave their soul vulnerable to his influence, warping their thoughts and emotions to fit his Intent and his greater plans,{{book ref|mb3|prologue}} as he sees people as little more than pawns in his game. and feels a sense of ownership over them.{{book ref|mb3|57}}{{msh ref|4|4}}{{cite}}

Ati is a [[Shard]] of [[Adonalsium]], making him one of the most powerful entities in the [[cosmere]]. He is immortal, unaging, and incorporeal; he fuels the magics of [[Hemalurgy]] and, in part, [[Feruchemy]].{{epigraph ref|mb3|33}} Thanks to being heavily Invested in [[Scadrial]], he can alter any text other than what is written in metal, changing it to suit his needs.{{epigraph ref|mb2|1}} He can also speak to any person wearing a hemalurgic spike.{{book ref|mb5|7}} This all comes at a cost of a drastic personality change, as his mind was forced to adapt to [[Ruin]]'s intent.{{epigraph ref|sa1|18}}

Nothing is known about Ati's origins and life prior to the [[Shattering]], other than that he came from [[Yolen]].{{wob ref|7939}} For unknown reason, ten-thousand years before the True Desolation,{{book ref|sa4|i|1}}{{book ref|tsm|11}} he and a group of others broke cosmere's creator deity, Adonalsium, into sixteen pieces.{{msh ref|3|2}} Of those sixteen, he took up [[Ruin]], and departed alongside [[Preservation]] for an empty star system that would eventually become [[Scadrial]].{{au ref|Scadrial}}

* Ati is potentially named after [[wikipedia:Ate_(mythology)|Até]], the Greek goddess of ruin.