Hammond
| Hammond | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
| |||||
| Abilities | Thug | ||||
| Groups | Kelsier's crew, Venture army | ||||
| Residence | Luthadel | ||||
| Ethnicity | Skaa | ||||
| Homeworld | Scadrial | ||||
| Universe | Cosmere | ||||
“Well then, I've got quite a number of philosophical puzzles you might enjoy. . . . ”
—Ham[1]
Hammond is a skaa misting on Scadrial. He is a member of Kelsier's crew who helped to organize the rebellion's army of Skaa.[2]
Appearance and personality
Ham is humble, long-winded, and kindly. [3] He argues about the rightness of the fight they are in. He also shows attachment towards his crew and soldiers and wants to make sure there are greater plans for them. [4]
Ham always seemed happy. [5] He works to give his family a better life and dreams of moving with them to a city where they can live like noblemen, a place where you can stop worrying and just live. [5]
He would wear his customary loose shirt and vest, both sleeveless; however, when acting as General Hammond, he would wear a uniform which he disliked using. [5] Ham likes philosophical debates. He questioned if going against the Lord Ruler was good or bad as overthrowing God is not in itself something good. [6] or like to talk about atium economics [7]
It was due to his philosophy that he figured out that Skaa were made different from noble men. From the number of children to birth to physical differences like height. [4]
History
Ham ran general security for jobs, providing his crewleader with manpower and warriors, assuming such are necessary. [2]
He joined Kelsier on his Skaa rebellion working initially for Yeden, based on the promise of payment, including the Lord Ruler’s atium. His role was to train the Skaa army. [2] He did that on secure caves away from Luthadel becoming General Hammond. He would leave the crew for months to train and inspect them, [8] and made good progress with their skills. [4]
He was later replaced in the training camps by Yeden and sent back to Luthadel to work closer with Kelsier. [4]
He also trained Vin in using Pewter. Through doing this he gained a friendship with Vin, who accompanied him when travelling to meet the Garrison in Luthadel where they found that their army was exposed and they were marching to fight them. [5] Ham was asked by the Garrison to join them, and Kell asked him to do so and be the inside guy, though Ham decided he would not betray them from the inside. [9]
After most of the army was lost to the Garrison killing Yeden in battle and scattering the rest. [9] the crew was ready to quit, but with the Lord Ruler executing random Skaa in reprisal for the army creation, Kelsier rallied the team to push further and used the fact that the Garrison was out to strike directly into Luthadel. [10]
Ham was then tasked to bring the remaining troops into Luthadel and continue recruitment to join the rebellion. They would be trained in small packs without the knowledge of each other’s existence. [11] He was successful at training this army as well. [12]
When Renoux , Spook along with his servants, staff and guards were captured, Kelsier decided to rescue them. Ham fetched one of the rebel teams and led the attack to rescue them while Kelsier fought the Steel Inquisitor [13] who eventually killed him as he had planned. [14]
After Kelsier’s death, he left instructions for the final assault. Ham would take care of four remaining noble houses, fetch the army and go to warehouses. The assault leader would be Clubs though. [14] He did manage to bring down Keep Elariel and kept fighting till the end. [15]
Attributes and Abilities
Ham is a Thug.[2]. Thugs—or, Pewterarms, as the nobility prefer to call them—are the most sought-after Mistings. A competent Thug can stand against a half-dozen regular men, and he can lift more, endure more, and move faster than any other hired muscle. [5]
The way Ham fought, he simply attacked with raw strength and speed, throwing enemy soldiers out of his way. [14]
Relationships
He has a wife that he had to leave behind to protect her from his job. She is a seamstress who lives outside the city and tells people her husband works in the Garrison. He misses her as he only sees her a couple of months a year. [5]
Kelsier
Ham is very loyal to Kelsier, but is also worried about him and his ego. He along with Dox and Breeze try to restrain him when he goes overboard. {{book ref|mb1|24}. Kelsier on the other hand, considers Ham as prone to think about things that no sane man would consider. Still, he listened and the debate on if Skaa were made inferior was an idea Kelsier never forgot. [4]
Breeze
Ham and Breeze are good friends as well as colleagues. The warrior philosopher is a foil for Breeze. Since Breeze tends to be arrogant, long-winded, and manipulative, and Breeze is humble, long-winded, and kindly they tend to disagree a lot and pick on each other.[16]
Vin
Vin likes Ham, and he in return. He trains her and helps taking care of her the times she arrives back injured from a mission. [17]
Quotes
“ You know I’ll join your crew no matter what the job. This sounds crazy, but so do most of your plans. Just…just tell me. Are you serious about overthrowing the Lord Ruler? ”
— Ham to Kelsier and the crew on joining the Skaa Rebelion [2]
{{quote We may be friends, but when it comes to fighting, none of us would hesitate to kill the others.” | Ham to Vin on the Garrison [5] }}
Trivia
Brandon really wished he'd made Ham a woman. The character would have gone interesting places--and would have done good things for the lore of the world if women Thugs were heavily recruited to be soldiers. [18]
Notes
- ↑ The Hero of Ages chapter 30#
- ↑ a b c d e The Final Empire chapter 4#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter annotation 4#
- ↑ a b c d e The Final Empire chapter 21#
- ↑ a b c d e f g The Final Empire chapter 24#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter 10#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter 13#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter 16#
- ↑ a b The Final Empire chapter 25#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter 26#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter 27#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter 29#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter 33#
- ↑ a b c The Final Empire chapter 34#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter 37#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter annotations 4#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter 31#
- ↑ Broken reference - Book shorthand incorrect: wob