Hoid

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This information has the ability to potentially ruin elements of the plot for the reader. Proceed with caution if you have not read these books.

This page or section deals with theories or speculation.

Please read carefully and note that this is not necessarily canonical.

This page or section needs to be updated with new information for Rhythm of War, The Lost Metal, and Tress of the Emerald Sea!

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Hoid
by Ari Ibarra
Abilities	Yolish Lightweaving, Mistborn, Awakener, Lightweaver (Surgebinder), Elantrian, Worldhopper, Dawnshard (formerly), others
Bonded With	Design
Aliases	Wit, Cephandrius, others
Groups	Worldsingers, Worldbringers
Homeworld	Yolen
Universe	Cosmere

“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 to Dalinar

Hoid is a recurring character in the cosmere, originally from Yolen. Hoid is not his original name; before telling Kaladin the story of the Wandersail, he claims he stole the name from someone he should have loved. The dragon Frost once asked him in a letter if he is no longer hiding behind the name of his old master, likely referring to the name Hoid. Among the original Vessels, Hoid is often known as Cephandrius, which is one of his earliest aliases.

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. He was originally human, but has changed enough that when asked, Brandon only says "It's complicated." Hoid is not a Shard, nor is he a Herald, but something else entirely. 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, but that he worldhops between planets. Hoid's motives are unknown, and most of his actions occur behind the scenes. He is searching for something unknown.

His particular style of storytelling in which he manipulates sand or smoke to illustrate his stories, as in Warbreaker and The Way of Kings, does not originate from White Sand, but from another unpublished story, The Liar of Partinel. In Warbreaker, Siri asked Hoid where he learned his style of story telling. Hoid answered, "I learned it many, many years ago from a man who didn't know who he was, Your Majesty. It was a distant place where two lands meet and gods have died. But that is unimportant." His origin will be revealed in the Dragonsteel series, and so it is commonly believed Hoid is from Yolen, the world of Dragonsteel and Liar. He also has a "home base" somewhere in the Cognitive Realm.

Hoid is neither the author of the Ars Arcana, nor of the back-of-book blurbs for The Stormlight Archive. He occasionally will show up somewhere, stand around for a while, realize there isn't a novel-worthy plot going on, and leave.

Appearance & Personality

by Randy Bishop

For more images, see /Gallery.

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 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, hawk-like and arrow shaped. Hoid is tall and thin and also has a sharp nose and jaw with delicate eyebrows. He tends to cock his head to one side and has keen blue eyes. Hoid's hair is white, though he was not born with that color and he occasionally dyes it. There is a particular reason for his hair being white, which will be revealed in the future.

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. If he was asked about whether he called himself a good man personality-wise, Hoid would reply with a "No". Hoid is not always serious when he should be, due to how much normal human interaction bores him.

Hoid cannot directly physically harm people; this is an involuntary trait that is the result of changes to his spirit made during his time as a Dawnshard. Rock says he cannot hurt man because it is forbidden by other gods. He also tells a young Shallan, "You needn't fear me. I'm terribly ineffective at hurting people. I blame my upbringing." Hoid apologizes to Kelsier after beating him in a fight, stating he doesn't have the inclination to do real harm to him. This aversion causes him to be nauseated when thinking about physically harming someone, and is sometimes bad enough to incapacitate him. However, this only extends to physical trauma- Hoid has no issues with mentally hurting someone or through inaction. Hoid also has issues with harming himself physically, such as when he has to manipulate another man into punching him when he wants a tooth knocked out, rather than just doing it himself.

When he is on Roshar during the War of Reckoning and True Desolation, serving as King Elhokar Kholin's, and later Queen Jasnah Kholin's Wit, Hoid has the appearance of a man in his mid-30s with deep onyx hair. He wears a stiff black coat and carries a long thin sword at his waist. This blade is not magically Invested but has personal value to Hoid. It is a symbol of office for the King/Queen's Wit, though Hoid himself is not a skilled swordfighter.

Attributes and Abilities

This page or section deals with theories or speculation.

Please read carefully and note that this is not necessarily canonical.

by taratjah

Creating illusions

Hoid does not yet have the abilities of every planet he's visited. Some of his powers predate the Shattering, but none of them are gained through Hemalurgy. Hoid is concerned about opening himself up to the influence of Shards, so he only gains access to manifestations of Investiture through more conventional, but more difficult ways. Hoid has access to multiple Invested Arts, but not an incredibly large number. He is likely the most powerful non-Shard entity in the cosmere, although a few of the older dragons and aethers might rival him. There are only a few things in the cosmere that are capable of hurting him, one of which is likely Nightblood, and he stays far away from all of them. Hoid also has an unknown seon.

Illusions

“I see. You do not yet understand the nature of lies. I had that trouble myself, long ago. The Shards here are very strict. You will have to see the truth, child, before you can expand upon it. Just as a man should know the law before he breaks it. ”

—Hoid on Lightweaving to Shallan

Hoid has access to an Invested Art known as Lightweaving that originates from Yolen prior to the Shattering of Adonalsium. Lightweaving allows for the creation of optical and auditory illusions. This Lightweaving is much less restrictive than the later Rosharan variant, and does not require a spren or Stormlight to function. Hoid sometimes makes use of this ability in his disguises although he has several ways of changing how he looks including practical effects. He may also make use of it in some of his storytelling, such as the pictures of Derethil and the Wandersail that Kaladin sees in the smoke when Hoid is telling him a story.

Hoid's Yolish Lightweaving does not always seem to function perfectly on Roshar; in fact, he needs help from Shallan to fully craft an illusion. His power is somehow limited, and he has trouble making some aspects of it work, even after multiple attempts. It is uncertain why this occurs and whether or not this issue is unique to Roshar. Hoid's bonding of a Cryptic will provide abilities that supplement his own Lightweaving and allows him to overcome his issues crafting illusions, although further impacts or resonances between the two are unknown. Hoid's access to Yolish Lightweaving does allow him to guide another Lightweaver's power, although this is not something he would be able to do with just any Invested Art.

Worldhopping

Hoid travels between various planets within the cosmere by making use of perpendicularities, 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. A knowledgeable person such as Hoid is able to transition from the Physical Realm to the Cognitive Realm. 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. Hoid is very proficient at traveling in the Cognitive Realm. 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. Hoid is known to be aware of perpendicularities on Scadrial, Sel, and Roshar, and likely knows of Nalthis's perpendicularity as well. 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.

Dawnshard

Hoid was once a Dawnshard at some point. His time holding it caused changes to his spiritweb in a similar manner to savantism. These changes meant that long-term, Hoid found himself unable to inflict harm on himself or any others, as well as unable to eat meat he believes was naturally produced (i.e., he could eat meat he believes was made in a lab or by magic). His Dawnshard is in some way connected to the First Gem, his eponymous topaz.

Agelessness and Time-Dilation

“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

Hoid has lived for many more years than any mortal human would be able to live. This immortality is an effect of some remnant of the weapon the original sixteen Vessels used to kill Adonalsium, the Dawnshards. Additionally, Hoid has not actually experienced all those years, instead making use of some time-dilation technique that may render him somehow unconscious or unaware. However, Hoid does not have the ability to travel backwards in time.

Healing Factor

“I'd be surprised if that little knife of yours poses me any real threat, Kholin. ”

—Hoid to Jasnah on her Shardblade

Hoid has access to some sort of healing factor that is capable of repairing both the body and the soul. He is able to regenerate any damaged body parts at will, including his head. He can also heal from being stabbed hemalurgically. Hoid is able to repress his healing factor in some way, preventing instantaneous healing, an ability that he makes use of in some of his disguises. This healing factor makes it very difficult to kill Hoid, although he is still at least somewhat vulnerable. The name of the manifestation of Investiture responsible for Hoid's healing is unknown, but it is ancient, likely originating from some Pre-Shattering source. It is uncertain whether or not this healing factor is at all related to Hoid's apparent agelessness, which is known to originate from a remnant of a weapon built to kill Adonalsium. Hoid is unafraid of Shardblades for multiple reasons, probably including his healing factor.

Fortune

“I have discovered a place that I must be, though to be honest I'm not exactly sure why I need to be there. This doesn't always work as well as I'd like it to.”

—Hoid to Dalinar

Hoid has access to an ability that allows him to make use of the Spiritual attribute of Fortune, which grants him a limited amount of foresight. Hoid's Fortune ability gives him an innate knowledge of where and when he needs to be. While this ability may grant him knowledge of what he is to do, usually Hoid does not know why his ability has brought him to a specific place. Hoid's Fortune ability is not infallible; occasionally it directs him to go somewhere, but either nothing notable is happening or he is unable to discover the reason why he has been led there. Hoid's fortune ability has let him know about instant noodles, although he has had prior experience with them on Taldain.

Connection

Hoid has access to some manifestation of Investiture that allows him to manipulate the Spiritual attribute of Connection. The full extent of this ability is unknown, but its primary known use is to help Hoid speak the various languages of the worlds of the cosmere that he visits. The ability allows him to Connect to whatever land he is in, temporarily altering his Spiritual aspect to believe that he was raised in that place, allowing him to speak as a native. While Hoid has learned naturally how to speak some foreign languages, and is decent with languages, he desires to pass as a local oftentimes, which requires something beyond natural learning. Generally he makes use of his Connection ability to communicate in foreign languages. This ability is not without fault though, as when Hoid speaks naturally it will fill in local idioms and phrases on its own, but if Hoid is careless and focuses on a specific word or phrase the ability may fail and he will say the word verbatim in his own tongue or it may be said in an odd way. Hoid is an expert in using his Connection ability, but even he sometimes makes mistakes. This is the reason he occasionally slips up and may say words that confuse others, such as "coin" and "bunny" on Roshar. As Hoid has demonstrated the ability to fluently speak foreign languages before the knowledge of unsealed metalminds became widespread, it is unlikely that he is making use of Feruchemical duralumin to manipulate Connection.

Visions

Hoid, via unknown means, is able to enter and exit certain visions, as well as bring those he is bonded with, like Design. While doing so, he creates a large, pure white bubble of light, which can shelter those who have been brought into the vision naturally. While in the vision, Hoid is able to create whatever objects he wants. Hoid is only able to do this for roughly twenty minutes before being detected.

by Katie Payne

Metallic Arts

Hoid has also gained access to Allomancy, by burning a bead of lerasium stolen from the Well of Ascension. This grants him power equivalent to that of the ancient Allomancers. It is uncertain how practiced he is with these powers, but he does make use of emotional Allomancy on at least one occasion. He also has access to atium. It is unknown whether or not Hoid has access to Feruchemy. However, he does have access to some unkeyed metalminds, which would not be useful to him without Feruchemical abilities or unsealed metalminds. The particular attributes that are stored in these metalminds are unknown. Hoid does not make use of Hemalurgy, to gain access to the Metallic Arts or any other manifestation of Investiture, as he is concerned about opening himself up to the influence of Shards. He does, however, own many Hemalurgic spikes.

Awakening

“Perfect pitch makes this all so much easier than it once was.... ”

—Hoid to Kaladin on making music

As a Yolish man, Hoid was not himself born with any BioChromatic Breath. However at some point Hoid has gained access to enough BioChromatic Breath to bring him to at least the Second Heightening. This means Hoid has at least two hundred Breaths, which grant him the ability to recognize unsupressed Breath auras and judge about how much breath another Awakener has, as well as perfect pitch. That is not to say that Hoid may not have reached a higher Heightening, just that the second Heightening is his minimum power level. Hoid's level of skill with Awakening is still unknown, as he has only made use of it on one known occasion, when he Awakened a doll, causing it to walk. This makes it difficult to ascertain his knowledge of Commands or complex Awakenings. Hoid's level of control over Investiture does allow him to suppress his Breath aura, making it difficult to be noticed by others. However, there are various methods of detecting Investiture that could circumvent this suppression. Hoid's perfect pitch does aid him in tuning instruments and making music. Additionally, holding Breath has allowed Hoid to somehow outsource some of his memory to said Breath. After Odium's destruction of some of these Breaths in order to wipe his short-term memory, his level of Breath was reduced to just under the Second Heightening, resulting in a loss of perfect pitch.

Surgebinder

by Elisgardor

Hoid with Design

“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. ”

—Hoid to his Cryptic, Design

Hoid has bonded the Cryptic Design, which grants him access to Surgebinding. While the enhanced reflexes and healing permitted by Stormlight will likely be less useful to Hoid, the Nahel bond allows him to access the surges of Illumination and Transformation. This allows Hoid to Soulcast, transforming one type of matter to another by persuading its Cognitive aspect as well as Lightweaving, which grants him the ability to create visual and auditory illusions. This Rosharan Lightweaving seems to have a compounding effect with his Yolish Lightweaving, and allows him to circumvent the problems that he has experienced with his own illusions. Although Hoid's Ideals are unknown, it may eventually grant him a Shardblade and Shardplate.

Elantrian

“It was constructed of Aons. Which I could now draw. The mechanics might bore you. The results, though, were spectacular.”

—Hoid's Narration, Tress of the Emerald Sea

Hoid became an Elantrian through winning a bet he made with Riina, a member of The Ire. Despite his short time with the power, Hoid showed a notable aptitude for the manipulation of Aons, being able to edit a complex AonDor "curse" placed on Charlie by Riina, who herself is a highly experienced wielder of AonDor. Additionally, Hoid was shown to have spent significant time coveting this specific Invested art.

His knowledge of AonDor is strong enough that he is able to hack the system in order to use it off of Sel.

Storytelling Method

Hoid tells stories with smoke and sand.

Sand

In Warbreaker, Lightsong calls Hoid to tell the story of Hallandren history to him and Siri. As he told the story, he dropped sands, dusts, and small objects.

He began by trailing sand out of his hand, then he added a powdery black sand, when both trails mixed it became a white sand. He began to scatter fern leaves and then threw the handful up with blue and deep red dust making it seem like a minor explosion. He sprinkled silver glitter in front of him, then trailed powdery brown dirt. Black dust, and then flower petals. He then sent out a spray of half a dozen colors from both hands. Then bright yellow dust from one hand and black from the other. Torn writing on paper, followed by metal bits, black charcoal dust from both hands, he crumbled clay, sprinkled golden dust around, bits of grass and earth, a white powder and then a spray of water that turned into mist.

Smoke

While telling stories with smoke he uses a flute, blowing the smoke, it may be Yolish Lightweaving that causes patterns and images to appear in smoke.

In The Way of Kings the chasms echoed the music allowing him to speak and play without the music ever seeming to stop. It is unclear how the flute could be used without chasms or canyons.

History

Origins

Very little of Hoid's origin is known, beyond the fact that he was present at the Shattering of Adonalsium on Yolen. He knew at least some of the original Vessels personally, was friends with Rayse, and Tanavast once bought him a drink. Hoid was offered a Shard at the time of the Shattering, but refused to take it. He kind of considered the Shattering necessary. He also did something in his past that he regretted. At some point Hoid became an unknown Dawnshard, which changed him permanently, although he stopped being one eventually.

Hoid makes at least a cameo appearance in most cosmere works, one exception being Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell.

Taldain

Hoid traveled to Taldain, though for what reasons are unknown. He was there when the Taishin were deciding whether or not to disband the Diem. Hoid later got onto the boat Khriss took to return to Darkside, where he sang a song to the passengers about the meaning of art.

The Restoration of Elantris and Theft of the Moon Scepter

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

—Hoid to a skaze

Hoid traveled to Sel, likely making use of Devotion's Perpendicularity in Arelon. Hoid spoke to the skaze, and seems to have made some sort of agreement with them hinging on his desire to become an Elantrian with the restoration of Elantris. Hoid disguised himself as a beggar, wrapped in bandages. He helped Sarene smuggle weapons into Elantris. Following the restoration of the city by Raoden, Hoid traveled to the Pool to meet a skaze. He removed his bandages, hoping to find himself transformed into an Elantrian, but the transformation had not occurred. The skaze ridiculed Hoid for his failure, but Hoid expressed his joy that secrets still remained unknown to him and then entered the Perpendicularity and transitioned to the Cognitive Realm.

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 stole the Moon Scepter in order to help him translate between various symbols and gain access to the magics on Sel.

At some point, he and Shai ran into each other once again, after Shai devoted herself towards finding him again to take her revenge.

The Collapse of the Final Empire and Catacendre

Hoid arrived on Scadrial, likely through Ruin's perpendicularity in the pits of hathshin. He took up the guise of an informant, pretending to have bad eyesight in order to make himself less threatening to people seeking information from him. At some point he became known to both Dockson and Ashweather Cett. Kelsier, pretending to be a nobleman, contacted Hoid, requesting information on House Renoux. Hoid (closed shop, smoking tobacco) met with Kelsier on the streets of Luthadel and told him that House Renoux was buying large amounts of weapons and armor from various noble houses and that Lord Renoux was considering a marriage between Valette and Elend Venture. He also claimed that Renoux was rumored to have some sort of leverage on Venture and that he knew Shan Elariel to be a Soother. At some point following this, he left Scadrial to attend to other business, again likely via the Pits.

by LittleGreyDragon

Kelsier and Hoid's meeting at the Well of Ascension

Around a year later, Hoid returned to Scadrial, traveling through Scadrial's subastral, riding on the back of a Cognitive Shadow to the Well of Ascension, Preservation's Perpendicularity. He was using an oar coated with a strange glowing substance connected to the substance drunk by members of the Ire. He encountered the Shadow of Kelsier, who asked for help returning to the Physical Realm. Hoid told him that there was nothing to be done, but he challenged Kelsier to an insult battle, with the prize being the true answer to one question. Kelsier instead threatened Hoid. Hoid attempted to enter the pool, but Kelsier attacked him. Hoid easily overpowered Kelsier and caused him serious pain, but not permanent injury. Hoid then transitioned through the Well and stole a bead of lerasium from the adjacent room. He later consumed the lerasium and became a Mistborn. When Kelsier spoke of the incident to Preservation, Preservation spoke briefly on Hoid, calling him Cephandrius. Later, Kelsier told Khriss and Nazh about his meeting with Hoid, and they seemed distressed to know that he had arrived and stolen a bead of lerasium.

Hoid then traveled to the Terris Dominance to figure out Feruchemy, 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 and led the Terris refugees to the Central Dominance.

A year later, Hoid was in Fadrex City, again acting as an informant, and Ashweather Cett suggested Vin speak to him. Just before Vin arrived, Kelsier's Cognitive Shadow noticed Hoid from within the Cognitive Realm. 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, but Kelsier attempted to warn her away. Since he was in the Cognitive Realm, he couldn't communicate with her directly, but she did sense that something was off about Hoid and instead chose not to speak to him.

Nalthis

Several centuries later, Hoid traveled to Nalthis and took the role of a master storyteller. Lightsong summoned him to the Court of the Gods, where he recounted the story of Vo, explained the origin of the Hallandren God Kings, and answered Lightsong and Siri's questions. He likely achieved perfect pitch while on this world by obtaining additional Breaths. At some later point, Vivenna also met Hoid; she later described him as one of the only people on Nalthis that is cosmere-aware.

Hoid spent a lot of time gambling on Nalthis, and was fairly renowned. He would arrange things so that he could never lose, and then bet everything on himself. However, someone else managed to arrange it so that he couldn't win, either, resulting in a tie and the loss of his winnings.

Vasher once met Hoid when he was using the alias "Dust", several years before Vasher's activities on Roshar.

Obrodai

Hoid visited Obrodai at some point prior to the True Desolation. A female avatar was created by Autonomy and instilled with a great dislike of Hoid in order to prevent him from returning there.

Roshar

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

—Hoid to Kaladin.

Prior Visits

While rescuing Design before leaving Kholinar, he recognizes one of the Fused as Vatwha, an old acquaintance. At some point, "thousands of years ago," Hoid visited Roshar and mingled with the original inhabitants of the world, even dancing with the ancient singers. The Fused, however, are now trained to watch for him - most likely to capture him and deliver him to Odium.

Hoid is worshipped by the Unkalaki as Lunu'anaki, the god of travel and mischief who cannot hurt man.

Hoid is a member of the Worldsingers with the rank of Master Worldsinger. Sigzil was once his apprentice.

He has been to Aimia at some point.

Hoid attempted to bond a Nahel spren at some point before the Recreance, possibly during a Desolation, but presumably failed.

The Way of Kings

by ShiroXIX

Insulting the lighteyes

In a departure from his previous appearances, Hoid plays a more conspicuous role in the events on Roshar, since his goal is to become a Radiant. Most often seen under the guise of Wit, Elhokar Kholin's court jester, he influences Dalinar, going so far as to ask Dalinar if he has ever heard the term "Adonalsium". He also tells Kaladin the story of Derethil and the Wandersail. During the course of the story, Hoid uses a special, ancient flute called a Trailman's flute. It is also likely that he uses his Yolish Lightweaving to cause the smoke from the fire to take the form of various elements from his story. Ishikk was hired by three men from the Seventeenth Shard to search for Hoid in the Purelake. Hoid was in Kholinar when Taln arrived to herald the coming of the Desolation.

by Marie Seeberger

Shallan hugging Wit

Words of Radiance

Hoid again plays a minor role as Wit, though he is absent for most of the book. In Shallan's flashback to three and a half years ago, she meets Hoid disguised as a messenger, and he talks to her. Here, Hoid is seen ingesting metals and Soothing Shallan. Rock also describes an encounter with him in the Horneater Oceans.

Hoid is also seen acting as the carriage driver for Adolin when he is visiting Shallan at 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.

Hoid, acting as Wit, visits Kaladin while he is in prison. He tells Kaladin the story of a man named Fleet who raced a highstorm across one end of Roshar to the other. Fleet wins, but dies of exhaustion at the end, and his spirit goes on to race the wind forever.

Later, at the end of the book, he meets with Jasnah Kholin as she exits the Cognitive Realm, offering to travel with her.

Edgedancer

The white-haired man who Lift says jumped into the mouth of a greatshell is implied to be Hoid.

Oathbringer

by taratjah

Hoid, in his Wit persona

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.

Hoid appears as Wit in the middle of the novel, discussing the nature of power with Shallan. Prior to that, while telling the story of Mishim in Alethkar, Hoid sees something next to his pack, which startles him. After the story, Shallan looks into Hoid's pack and sees a small, sealed black jar. The side of the jar pointing at Shallan was white. This might be a jar of sand from Taldain's Dayside, with the sand turning white showing Hoid a Surgebinder is near. This may be important, but not much is known about it. During Hoid's conversation with Shallan, he says that he knew of a group like the Cult of Moments, describing them as equally foolish and dangerous. It is unclear at the moment which group he may be referring to.

He later helps her get into the Cult of Moments, finding Shallan at her darkest moment, when she discovers the food she has been giving to the poor is just making things worse.

Shalash, upon seeing sketches of Talenel and herself, wonders aloud why Midius (a name taken by Hoid in an as-yet-unpublished text) is giving away drawings of them.

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.

Dawnshard

Cord mentions that in the time when her grandmother served as watcher of the pool, Hoid warned the Unkalaki about the Gods Who Sleep Not.

Rhythm of War

During an unknown point before the expedition in Emul and Singer occupation of Urithiru, he and Jasnah began a romantic relationship.

He and Jasnah both went to the expedition in Emul. During their expedition, Ruthar angered them both greatly, and Jasnah sent him to insult the highprince. After doing so, Ruthar challenged him to combat, but he choose Jasnah as his champion. She easily stabbed him through the throat, but had Renarin heal him.

When Kaladin was stuck in a vison by Odium, he appeared to him in order to tell him the story of the Dog and the Dragon, in order to try and cheer him up and point him in the right direction.

He and Jasnah worked together in order to write up a contract for the contest of champions with Odium.

After Taravangian took up Odium, Hoid was visited by the new Shard while he was telling stories. Taravangian's demeanor revealed what happened to Hoid, who began to leave, before Odium found that he stored his short term memories in his Breaths. He destroyed these, erasing part of his memory, in order to redo the interaction.

The destruction of his Breaths led him to falling below the Second Heightening, and losing his Perfect Pitch.

The Letters

by Jenny Slife

With Frost

In the epigraphs in Part 2 of The Way of Kings, there is the text of a letter written by Hoid to Frost. It offers valuable insights into his personality and goals. The author of the Letter is being hunted by the Seventeenth Shard and has set a false trail for them to follow, which lines up well with the interlude in which three men are searching for Hoid. The author comes across as not at all worried about them, and in fact seems mildly amused.

The Letters in Oathbringer's epigraphs are all from Shards and all of them are directed to Hoid, as is the letter from the epigraphs of Part 2 of Rhythm of War.

Post-Catacendric Scadrial

“Oh, my lord, I know it, I do. I own the place, technically. Now, regarding those coins for old Hoid, my good lord... ”

—Hoid to Wax

At some point following his actions on Roshar, Hoid returned to Scadrial to attend the wedding of Lord Joshin Yomen and Lady Mi'chelle Ostlin, two friends of his that he had made at some unknown point in the past. Rather than coming to Scadrial in response to some important event, Hoid initially came merely to congratulate his friends. He came dressed all in black, appearing as a scruffy looking beggar and spoke to the couple soon after they arrived at the dinner. It is unknown if he was present for the subsequent Vanisher attack. Hoid may have left the planet briefly afterwards, but something on Scadrial had caught his attention and he was back several months later. Hoid became employed as Waxillium Ladrian's new carriage driver. By that point he had become friendly with Wayne, who liked him but did not know anything about Hoid's true identity. When Wax headed to the precinct station to question Rian, Hoid drove the carriage and Wayne rode up front with him. During the carriage ride, Hoid eavesdropped on Wax's conversation with Harmony about Bleeder's plans to disrupt the Elendel Basin.

Hoid's actions after this point are unclear. Hoid somehow obtained a coin-like unsealed metalmind containing a memory of Kelsier aiding the southern Scadrians in surviving the aftereffects of the Catacendre. He also spent some time in New Seran and following Nazh's theft of Nicki Savage's map of New Seran, Hoid asked her if she wanted to hear a story, an offer that she declined. He has also somehow come to the conclusion that he is the true owner of Kelesina Shores' mansion there, for somewhat legitimate but unknown reasons. He was apparently a regular intruder on the mansion grounds, to the irritation of the guards. During this time, Hoid took the appearance of a beggar with long, unkempt fingernails and a ragged shirt. Hoid appeared blind with milky white eyes.

When Waxillium Ladrian walked up the path to Kelesina's mansion to attend a party with Steris Harms, Hoid climbed out of the bushes, startling Wax. Wanting to reveal Kelsier's resurrection and identity as the Sovereign, Hoid looked for an opportunity to pass on the unsealed metalmind. He asked Wax for a few clips. Steris noticed Hoid's cologne and asked him if he was wearing cologne. Hoid was startled by her observation and claimed that he had been drinking perfume, as it had quite a kick. Steris told him that that was unhealthy and Wax advised Hoid that he should leave the private grounds. Hoid agreed but claimed that it was his property and again asked for coins. Wax gave him a banknote and told him again to leave the grounds. Hoid claimed it was far too much and that he wished to give Waxillium change. As Wax walked away, Hoid threw the coin at Wax's head, who caught it in midair. A groundsman then noticed Hoid and tried to chase him off. Hoid laughed and escaped back into the bushes again.

In Bilming, he traded his harmonica with Wayne for a rat named Sir Squeekins. Since this event, he has been taking good care of Sir Squeekins.

“Carriage for you, sir? ”

—Hoid to Wax in the middle of the ocean

Hoid later became involved in the sting operation that Marasi ran in Bilming. He had a silent interaction with Moonlight from different trucks. Moonlight commented that she couldn't tell whether she was watching Hoid or if Hoid was watching her, but then resolved that they were both just keeping an eye on the same third parties. After Wax arrived in Bilming, and gave chase to Dumad he casually appeared in a sleek black car to give Wax a ride. He also showed up to rescue Wax from the ocean in a small boat after the explosion of the Pewternaut A16.

Bet with the Sorceress of Lumar

Hoid would later go on to visit the planet of Lumar, a relative backwater in the cosmere. At some point he informed his friend, the kandra Ulaam, of his intentions to visit the planet via letter. Still hoping to gain access to AonDor, he met with Riina, who was living on the planet in the guise the Sorceress of the Midnight Sea. While visiting her island, Hoid agreed to a bet with her. Riina would be allowed to place him under a curse, and in exchange, if he could successfully break it, he would be granted admission to the Elantrians and the ability to use AonDor. The curse placed on him stripped him of his sense of humor, sense of style, sense of decorum, sense of purpose, intelligence, and sense of self. In order to break the curse, he would need to return to the central room of the Sorceress' ship on her island. As a part of the curse, he was also forbidden from telling anyone any information about his curse, how he had been given it, or how it could be broken. Riina finished her casting by sending Hoid far away from the Midnight Sea. During his time here, he likely came into possession of some Midnight spores.

“I once ate an entire watermelon in one sitting. And it gave me diarrhea.”

—Hoid to Tress while under the effects of Riina's curse

While under the effects of this curse, Hoid's behavior bore little resemblance to his normal personality. He dressed quite oddly, trying at times to wear every shade of orange he could find, or his red-sequined briefs. He spent time doing things like inventing the card game Kings, in which you hold your cards backwards and can see everyone's hand but your own, an invention that lost him many of his possessions. Bad jokes and nonsensical ideas filled basically all his time, and he was only very rarely able to think clearly enough to communicate anything meaningful or work to accomplish his goals. He was left with some dim awareness of his situation though, a cruel decision on the part of Riina who wanted him aware enough to be horrified by his situation. Any attempt to share information about his curse would only start him stuttering and send him back to his normal befuddled state.

Hoid spent a long time at sea, wandering without apparent progress at breaking his curse. Ulaam eventually arrived on the planet and found Hoid, but was uninterested in working too hard to free him from his curse, preferring to simply stick close and wait for the problem to resolve itself. The two of them spent at least a year traveling together in this way. Eventually Hoid would become the cabin boy of the Whistlebow. He came into contact with Charlie, son of the duke of Diggen's Point and returned there to give Tress a ceramic cup and Charlie's first letter to her. Later, he was traded for by Fort for a large sum on the orders of Captain Crow who was interested in Hoid once she had heard that he had been cursed by the Sorceress. Hoid settled onto a routine onto the Crow's Song, working as a cabin boy there as well, and kept fed despite his near-uselessness by Fort. Ulaam continued as his companion, and the two were suffered by the crew despite their oddities, due in part to Ulaam's skill with medicine. During his time on the Crow's Song, Hoid gave midnight spores to Weev, the ship's sprouter, believing them to be licorice.

Another of his shipmates, Tress, became interested in Hoid's past after Ulaam explained to her that Hoid had been cursed, and approached him on the deck of the ship to try to obtain information about the Sorcess despite his curse. Hoid was unable to say much of note, but he dimly realized she was trying to help him and was able to offer some cryptic clues, asking Tress to bring him to her planet so he could save her, meaning the map of Lumar present on the Sorceress's ship. He also told her to look for a grouping of six stars, a carving under her bed, which would lead her to Weev's secret supply of midnight aether. After Tress recovered the midnight aether, Ulaam confronted Hoid, asking if he had given the aether to her. Ulaam and Tress continued to press Hoid for information and he was able to tell them to look for a person that is not a person and could talk when they should not, which they realized referred to Charlie in his guise of Huck the rat.

As the Crow's Song continued its journey into the Crimson Sea, Hoid continued to stymie Tress's attempts to wheedle more information out of him, unable to point at words on a sheet of paper that might be relevant to his curse. However, Tress realized that he she could glean information from his silences though, as he stopped speaking when the subject turned to the matter of his curse. This allowed him to indicate to her where Riina's island might be found on a map. As they traveled closer to the Midnight Sea, Huck convinced the addled Hoid to dump much of the ship's food and water overboard, in an unsuccessful attempt to force the crew to return the to Emerald Sea.

by Howard Lyon

Hoid's duel with the Sorceress.

Later when the Crow's Song reached the Sorceress's island, the ship's crew carried Hoid into the Sorceress's ship to save Tress and Huck, who had realized that bringing Hoid to the center of the Sorceress's power would break the curse, and hopefully allow him to defeat her. When Hoid entered the tower, the terms of the bet were fulfilled and he was restored to his sense and transformed into an Elantrian. Hoid arrived just in time to use AonDor to throw up a shield and prevent Riina from cursing Tress. In the brief confrontation that followed, Riina judged that she was not confident enough that she could defeat Hoid to risk a direct confrontation with him, instead choosing to flee the planet and let Hoid, Tress, and Charlie go free. While Hoid was unable to directly remove the curse on Charlie, he was able to tweak the parameters so that Charlie could break the curse himself once he returned to Diggen's Point with Tress. Hoid may have lingered with them for some time giving Charlie some pointers on storytelling and music.

Hoid would later share his adventure with Tress and Charlie as a story to an unknown audience, potentially made up of people from the planet First of the Sun. It is unknown exactly when he tells this story relative to the events, but it is known to be within years or decades, but less than centuries.

Relationships

Due to his nature as a worldhopper, Hoid has met most of the main characters in the cosmere, as well as a large quantity of side characters.

The Shards

Hoid's relationships with the various Vessels are varied, to say the least, ranging from hate and terror to respect and cameraderie.

Tanavast

Hoid was acquainted with Tanavast before the Shattering. Tanavast did like Hoid enough to buy him drinks once.

Rayse

Hoid was once friends with Rayse, but is now terrified of the Shard, and takes many precautions against him. However, he is not above taunting the Shard, as he feels him to be the most detestable person he has ever met, albeit preferably from a position of superiority. Prior to Rayse's death, Hoid had not met the Shard in person for more than a thousand years.

Taravangian

Prior to Taravangian's Ascension, Hoid had never notably interacted with him. However, after the occupation of Urithiru, when going to challenge Rayse, he realized that a new Vessel had Ascended, and was completely terrified, as Rayse was controlled by the power, but a new Vessel might have more control. However, Taravangian destroyed the Breaths holding his short-term memory, so he did not believe anything to be amiss.

Koravellium Avast

Hoid, while not enemies with Koravellium, has never really gotten along with her. However, he recognizes the fact that she poses a threat to Odium, and respects that.

Sazed

Sazed has a benevolent feeling towards Hoid. However, the latter has nevertheless hidden from the Shard whenever he visits Scadrial, a decision of which Sazed disapproves and questions, but by which he is also fascinated. He wishes to work with Hoid to keep Odium contained, as he is highly disturbed by the wound upon the Spiritual Realm where Ambition was Splintered. They disagree on whether it is the Vessel or the power that is more dangerous, with Sazed believing that the Investiture will make any Vessel of Odium the same as their predecessor, but they agree that it would be the combination of a Vessel's craftiness and the power's Intent that would be most fearsome--coincidentally, a very good description of Taravangian.

Bavadin

Hoid has a long-standing grudge against Bavadin for unknown reasons. She has instilled in many of her avatars, including the one on Obrodai, a deep dislike of him; however, he and Bavadin herself had a relationship at some point.

Edgli

Hoid and Edgli mutually detest each other. However, their conversations are far more polite than Hoid's relations with Bavadin or Rayse.

Cosmere-Wide

Khrissalla

Hoid thinks well of Khriss. Although it is unknown how much information she has shared with him, she knows far more about the cosmere than he, as she pursues the knowledge for the sake of scholarship, while he uses it to sound smart and achieve his goals. If he were to ask her about something that she knew, though, and she perceived that he was asking for a morally good reason, she would tell him.

The Seventeenth Shard

Hoid is quite dismissive of the Seventeenth Shard. Although they fear that his actions will exacerbate Shardic conflict due to their non-interventionist policy, he easily evades those whom they assign to pursue him.

Frost

Hoid and Frost know each other well, having worked together in the past, and have a method of communicating with one another besides the Silverlight Mercantile interplanetary postal service. Despite this, they are completely opposed on the courses of action that would be best for the cosmere. Frost, as a member of the Seventeenth Shard, believes that the best course of action is to let events play out as they will, especially in regard to Odium's growing power and ambiton. However, as Hoid is a worldhopper and Frost is not, the former believes that he has a more informed stance, and plans to take more active action against the Shard.

The Ghostbloods

Hoid has a very different opinion of the Ghostbloods than he does of their leader, viewing them as generally not a threat.

Wan ShaiLu

It is unclear how he feels about Wan ShaiLu, despite him betraying her without hesitation in order to get his hands on the Moon Scepter.

Wan ShaiLu, on the other hand, despises him for his betrayal. After escaping from the Rose Empire, she began to hunt after him to enact her revenge, an act that she eventually succeeded at. Their current relationship is unclear, but she does wonder to herself if she was keeping watch over him, or he over her, but she knows that they are in reality just keeping watch over the same third parties.

Riina

He has a very hostile relationship with Riina, with her having cursed him to tastelessness and unintelligence.^{[expand][citation needed]}

Ulaam

“Hoid has too many issues to count. I wouldn’t trouble yourself with his situation. He’s nearly as deft at untying knots as he is at creating them. ”

—Ulaam to Tress on Hoid

He has a relatively amiable relationship with Ulaam, with the two considering each other friends. Though Ulaam does enjoy insulting and humiliating him, even recording what he said during his curse from Riina in order to embarrass him for years, and also has sent records to their mutual friends.^{[expand][citation needed]}

Roshar

In his position as King's, and later, Queen's Wit, Hoid has had opportunities to interact with many notable Rosharans, and has taken full advantage of such chances.

Kaladin

Hoid feels paternally to Kaladin. In such situations as when Kaladin is terrified at the discovery of his Radiant powers, languishing in prison, or trapped in a vision concocted by Odium and Moash in order to try and break him, Hoid is always there with a story to bring him back from the brink, and at one point gave Kaladin his Trailman's flute.

Shallan

Hoid feels similarly to Shallan as he does to Kaladin. Visiting her in times of need, such as when her father is growing more and more abusive or when she's sitting in a dark building in Kholinar, racked with guilt about Grund's death, he guides her to a path of self-forgiveness.

Sigzil

Hoid's relationship with Sigzil seems similar to that of Jasnah and Shallan. When in Azir, Hoid found Sigzil to be in some sort of trouble, and, after rescuing him, took the young Azish man under his wing and began teaching him as a Worldsinger. The two traveled Roshar together, at one point ending up in Babatharnam, where Hoid had to pay for Sigzil to be freed three separate times, though Sigzil suspected that they mainly arrested him because Hoid had a lot of money. Hoid graduated him as a full Worldsinger in Tanat 1173.

Design

Hoid has a fondly exasperated view towards Design. Though, as a pair who share a Nahel bond, they are extremely close, he is consistently frustrated by her habit of spoiling stories that he's telling, as he sees it.

Despite this amicable relationship, they are not the best for each other, exacerbate certain features of one another in a way that isn't good for either of them.

by Jessica Liu

With Jasnah

Jasnah

Hoid is romantically involved with Jasnah. He also has immense respect for her, both due to her sheer intelligence and the fact that, when all else fails, she is, above all, paranoid. Jasnah notes that he seems to think such things as kissing her safehand would spark passion in her, though it is her view that mental stimulation is far superior.

Sadeas

Hoid dislikes Sadeas, insulting him at any chance he gets. Though at first he tries to get Sadeas to kill him in order to remove the man as a threat (since Shardblades are unable to hurt him anyway), he makes fun of Sadeas after his death just for the fun of it.^{[citation needed]}

Scadrial

Kelsier

Kelsier and Hoid mutually detest one another. Hoid considers him extremely dangerous, though he doesn't think much of his organization. However, this doesn't stop him from taking action against the Cognitive Shadow, such as when he gives Wax a coppermind containing knowledge that Kelsier would have preferred to have stayed hidden.

Wax

He seems to think positively of Wax, acting as his coachman and helping him on multiple occasions, such as giving him a coppermind containing information on Kelsier, and saving him from the ocean after the destruction of the Pewternaut.

Wayne

He has a rather cordial relationship with Wayne, although he finds him bizarre. He once tried to convince Wayne to stop being so hard on himself and accept that he is a good person. Wayne also likes Hoid, and enjoys talking with him, though he doesn't know his true identity.

While relatively cordial, Hoid does seem to get annoyed by his kleptomania. Even though he wanted his harmonica back, he did ultimately accept Wayne's trade of it for a rat.

Joshin Yomen and Lady Mi'chelle Ostlin

He is good friends with Joshin Yomen and Lady Mi'chelle Ostlin, with their wedding being a big part of why he returned to Scadrial, wanting to come to congratulate his friends.

Lumar

Tress

He holds enough respect for Tress and her adventure that he sees her as very mature and talented for her age, and he remembered her adventure and told it and told the tale years to decades after they parted. Though he still felt that she didn't have the right to give him commands, but ultimately obliged due to her being his captain. He has kept tabs on her and the rest of the crew of the Crow's Song for several years after his curse was broken.

Tress knew Hoid as a cabin boy on Diggen's Point, and a member of the Crow's Song. Though, for much of their relationship, she held little respect for him due to the effects of the curse Riina put on him. She eventually came to see him as a means to an end for finding Charlie. Her opinion on him greatly changed after he saved her from Riina after his curse was broken, though she still viewed him as a member of her crew and thus under her command.

Known Aliases

• Hoid
• Roamer
• Dust
• The King's/Queen's Wit
• Imperial Fool of the Rose Empire
• Topaz
• Drifter
• Wanderer
• Lunu'anaki
• Cephandrius Maxtori
• Midius
• Bearer of the First Gem
• Whitehair

Speculation

Worldsingers & Worldbringers

The names of the Worldsingers, a group of storytellers on Roshar, and the Conclave of Worldbringers, the leading body of the original Terris religion, are strikingly similar. Brandon has stated that this is not a coincidence. Some believe that Hoid is a common root to both of these organizations, one of which, the Worldbringers, was very Realmatically aware. In addition to this he is known to be a founder of the Worldsingers.

Quotes

For a list of quotes, see /Quotes.

Trivia

• The character of Hoid existed before the concept of Adonalsium was developed. He first appeared in a short story Brandon wrote long ago, going by the name Kamp. He was on a planet trying to figure out how the magical system of the area worked.
• Brandon has stated that Cephandrius is only a few decades off from his real name.
• Brandon has stated that Hoid is one of his favorite characters, alongside Dalinar, by the virtue of being one of the oldest.
• Brandon may eventually write a parallel novel to the Mistborn series that chronicles what Hoid was up to behind the scenes.
• Hoid loves bacon.
• Hoid's parents were married, or at least he is not illegitimate.
• His favorite type of spren is a Cryptic.
• He has a good opinion of Khriss, and they have met at least once.
• Hoid has had a romantic interest in the past. In fact, there were several.
• He is the happiest when "getting away with something". When asked in what published book that was, Brandon responded with The Bands of Mourning.
• Prior to the events of Words of Radiance, Hoid had not been hugged in "a long time."
• He has dressed in drag before, "multiple times."
• Hoid's quest may be "To make that which once was."
• In 2018, Brandon did a reading of an uncanonical scene he had written several years prior, called "The Traveler." In it, two men, likely Hoid and Frost, have a conversation shortly after the deaths of Leras and Ati. A recording and a transcription of the reading can be found here.
• Hoid is unimpressed with the Ghostbloods.
• Hoid loathes the Set, and the members who know of him loath him in return.
• Hoid does not pay taxes.
• Hoid was at least acquainted with Tanavast before the Shattering.
• Hoid fears The Beyond.
• Hoid's favorite color is black.
• Though he once (extremely accurately) said to Shallan that he began life as words on a page, this was not in fact a break of the fourth wall.
• Hoid, under the name Topaz, was Brandon's first Dungeons & Dragons character.
• Brandon does not believe he would aid Hoid's cause if he was in the cosmere.
• Hoid likes milkshakes.
• Hoid is interested in having a nose that can't smell cheese.
• Hoid has spoken with the Nightwatcher.
• For several books, Hoid's best friend was somebody named Bat'Chor. This may no longer be the case as of Mistborn Era 2.
• Hoid is a fan of ramen.

Notes

Footnotes

References

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