Difference between revisions of "Hoid"

{{character

|image=Worldsinger by Ari Ibarra.jpg

|aliases=Wit, Hoid, [[#Known Pseudonyms|others]]

|world=Yolen

|universe=[[Cosmere]]

|books=[[The Stormlight Archive]], [[Elantris]], [[The Emperor's Soul]], [[Mistborn (series)|Mistborn]], [[Warbreaker]], [[White Sand]]

{{quote

|And while I am your friend, please understand that our goals do not completely align. You must not trust yourself with me. If I have to watch this world crumble and burn to get what I need, I will do so. With tears, yes, but I would let it happen.

}}

 

 

Hoid was involved in the events taking place before any of the cosmere's published books begin, and is the second oldest character seen so far.{{wob ref|945}} He was originally human, but has changed enough that when asked, [[Brandon]] only says "It's complicated."{{wob ref|6614}} Hoid is not a [[Shard]], nor is he a [[Herald]], but something else entirely.{{wob ref|8843}} He is very skilled with disguises, and the overtness of his involvement varies from book to book. In some, he is named outright and makes references to other events and places in the cosmere, while in others he is seen only deep in disguise, almost unrecognizable. Brandon has confirmed that all of these appearances are the same individual,{{wob ref|4414}} but that he [[worldhopping|worldhops]] between planets. Hoid's motives are unknown, and most of his actions occur behind the scenes. He is searching for something unknown.{{wob ref|7842}}

 

 

Hoid is neither the author of the [[Ars Arcanum|Ars Arcanum]], nor of the back-of-book blurb for ''[[Words of Radiance]].''{{wob ref|2888}} He occasionally will show up somewhere, stand around for a while, realize there isn't a novel-worthy plot going on, and leave.{{wob ref|5821}}

 

== Appearance & Personality ==

{{for|/Gallery|more images}}

 

Hoid's appearance varies dramatically from book to book. He's often in disguise, which makes his true appearance difficult to ascertain. Couple this with the fact that he can most likely Lightweave his appearance in order to look however he wants, it makes it nearly impossible to know for sure what he looks like. To the best of our knowledge, his face is lined,{{book ref|twok|54}} hawk-like and arrow shaped. Hoid is tall and thin{{book ref|twok|12}} and also has a sharp nose and jaw with delicate eyebrows.{{book ref|twok|54}} He tends to cock his head to one side{{book ref|twok|57}} and has keen blue eyes.{{book ref|twok|12}} Hoid's hair is white, although he occasionally dyes it.{{book ref|twok|i|1}} There is a particular reason for his hair being white, which will be revealed in the future.{{wob ref|9236}}

Hoid's true personality, while also usually disguised, is more easily seen as he occasionally drops whatever part he is playing. One of his overall most noticeable traits is his sharp wit and intelligence. The characters he plays often have a penchant for jokes and mockery but when he removes the facade his personality often seems mysterious and grave.{{book ref|twok|epilogue}}{{book ref|twok|57}} If he was asked about whether he called himself a good man personality-wise, Hoid would reply with a "No".{{wob ref|1704}}

 

 

 

== Attributes and Abilities ==

{{theory}}

 

=== Illusions ===

Hoid travels between various planets within the cosmere by making use of [[perpendicularity|perpendicularities]],{{wob ref|1472}} places usually created by the presence of a Shard on a planet where the sheer power of Investiture causes the borders between the realms to be weakened.{{au ref|drominad}} A knowledgeable person such as Hoid is able to transition from the Physical Realm to the Cognitive Realm.{{wob ref|1472}} Hoid can then travel to a different world's subastral, as the distances between worlds in the Cognitive Realm are much smaller than in the Physical Realm.{{wob ref|4132}} Hoid is very proficient at traveling in the Cognitive Realm.{{wob ref|5981}} He can easily travel to any world that has an active [[perpendicularity]], even those worlds where the perpendicularities are dangerous to pass through such as the [[Well of Ascension]].{{msh ref|2|1}} Hoid is known to be aware of perpendicularities on Scadrial,{{msh ref|2|1}} Sel,{{book ref|Elantris|part=postscript}} and Roshar,{{book ref|sa2|46}} and likely knows of Nalthis's perpendicularity as well.{{book ref|wb|32}}{{wob ref|9501}} While Hoid typically makes use of natural perpendicularities in his travels, later in life he may also have access to an ability that essentially allows him to generate his own personal perpendicularity, much like the [[Surge]] of Transportation.{{wob ref|9294}}

 

{{quote

|Other men . . . other men, as they age, merely grow stranger. I fear that I am one of those. I am the bones of a foreign species left drying on the plain that was once, long ago, a sea. A curiosity, perhaps a reminder, that all has not always been as it is now.

|Hoid on his age{{book ref|sa3|68}}

}}

 

=== Healing Factor ===

|Hoid to Jasnah on her Shardblade{{book ref|sa2|epilogue}}

}}

 

=== Fortune ===

|side=right|size=300px

}}

 

=== Connection ===

|Hoid to Kaladin on making music{{book ref|sa2|59}}

}}

 

=== Surgebinder ===

{{quote

|It's either go with me now or wait it out and get captured. I honestly don't even know if you've the mind to listen. But if you do, know this: I will give you truths. And I know some juicy ones.

}}

 

=== Storytelling Method ===

 

== History ==

 

He makes no appearance in [[Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell]].{{wob ref|6665}}

 

 

{{quote

|There is beauty in every disaster, friend, if you are clever enough to find it."

Hoid returned to Sel several years later, and found himself a position in the court of Emperor [[Ashravan]] in the [[Rose Empire]] as the Royal Fool. He allied himself with the [[Forger]] [[Shai]] in her attempt to steal the [[Moon Scepter]], an artifact that allows for the translation of the various symbols of Selish Investiture. He arranged for her to be caught after she'd left the Gallery with the Scepter, later using her duplicate to steal the scepter for himself. Hoid steals the Moon Scepter to interpret Sel magic and to help him gain the magics on Sel.{{wob ref|12146}}

 

 

 

Hoid then traveled to the [[Terris Dominance]] to figure out [[Feruchemy]],{{msh ref|2|2}}{{wob ref|1552}}{{wob ref|12754}} and then became wrapped up in matters he did not anticipate. This may refer to him becoming involved after the [[Inquisitor]] attack on [[Tathingdwen]] and the slaughter of the [[Synod]]. Hoid took up the guise of a Terris leader{{wob ref|5942}} and led the Terris refugees to the Central Dominance.{{book ref|mb2|56}}

A year later, Hoid was in [[Fadrex City]], again acting as an informant, and Ashweather Cett suggested Vin speak to him.{{book ref|mb3|27}} Just before Vin arrived, Kelsier's Cognitive Shadow noticed Hoid from within the Cognitive Realm.{{msh ref|6|1}} Kelsier tried to touch Hoid's soul, but was rebuffed by a shock that numbed his hand. At that moment, Vin arrived intending to meet with Hoid,{{book ref|mb3|27}} but Kelsier attempted to warn her away from the Cognitive Realm{{msh ref|6|1}} and she sensed he had something off about him{{wob ref|5760}} and instead chose not to speak to him.

 

 

=== Obrodai ===

 

{{quote

|I've come to your land to chase an old acquaintance, but I end up spending most of my time hiding from him instead.

}}

===== Prior Visits =====

 

{{image|Wit by ShiroXIX.png|side=right|width=200px|Insulting the [[lighteyes]]}}

 

 

Hoid is also seen acting as the carriage driver for [[Adolin]] when he is visiting [[Shallan]] at [[Shattered Plains|Sebarial's warcamp]]. He speaks to [[Kaladin]] about his flute and mentions that he wants an interesting story from him. When [[Shallan]] recognizes him she happily hugs him for his advice from three and a half years prior when he encouraged her at her worst and told her to keep seeking the light.{{book ref|sa2|55}}

Later, at the end of the book, he meets with [[Jasnah Kholin]] as she exits the Cognitive Realm, offering to travel with her.{{book ref|sa2|epilogue}}

 

The white-haired man who [[Lift]] says jumped into the mouth of a [[greatshell]] is implied to be Hoid.{{book ref|sa2.5|12}}{{book ref|sa1|57}}

 

The three letters in part two of Oathbringer are directed at Cephandrius. The first two explicitly say this, while the third simply says "friend". It is likely that they are all referring to the same person.

 

 

In the epilogue, Hoid is shown in [[Kholinar]] insulting a [[Thaylen]] man in an attempt to elicit a reaction. Upon realizing that the man can't understand Alethi, Hoid decides repeating it all in Thaylen would be boring, so he cuts in front of the man. The man hits Hoid, knocking loose a tooth which Hoid discards upon leaving the area. Hoid uses [[Awakening]] to lure a child away from the corpse of her mother, leaving the child in the care of a family in the city. He then heads to the palace where he finds a [[Cryptic]], presumably the spren [[Elhokar]] was about to bond before he died.{{book ref|sa3|epilogue}}

 

==== The Letters ====

 

 

=== Post-Catacendric Scadrial ===

* Cephandrius Maxtori{{wob ref|5882}}{{wob ref|3985}}

=== Suspected Pseudonyms ===

 

== Speculation ==

* Prior to the events of ''Words of Radiance'', Hoid had not been hugged in "a long time."{{wob ref|3169}}

* He has dressed in drag before, "multiple times."{{wob ref|11824}}

 

== Notes ==