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Hoid

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Revision as of 15:12, 13 May 2015 by 80.229.244.28 (talk) (Edit: Changes "I's complicated" to "It's complicated")
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Hoid
Wit.jpg
by botanicaxu
Abilities Lightweaving, Feruchemy, Awakening, and Worldhopping
Aliases Wit, others
Homeworld Yolen
This page or section contains spoilers!
This information has the ability to potentially ruin elements of the plot for the reader.
This page or section needs to be updated with new information for Words of Radiance!
Be aware that in its current state, it may not include all additional content yet.

“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[1]

Hoid is a recurring character in the cosmere, who has appeared in every cosmere novel; he was involved in events before the beginning of the published books. The subtlety of his appearances vary from book to book, ranging from him being named outright and making cosmere references to appearances where his name isn't mentioned and he's in a deep disguise. He is confirmed to be the same individual,[2] but one who Worldhops between planets. Hoid's actions and motives are mysterious, as most of his actions appear to occur behind the scenes.

Hoid was originally human, but has changed enough that when asked, Brandon says "It's complicated."[3] Hoid is not a Shard, nor is he a Herald, but something else entirely.[4]

It has been said that the origin of Hoid will be revealed in the Dragonsteel series,[5] and so it is commonly believed Hoid is from Yolen, the world of Dragonsteel.

Hoid has a home base somewhere in the cosmere,[6] and he has a bead of lerasium.[7]

Hoid is not the author of the Ars Arcanums, nor of the back-of-book blurb for Words of Radiance.[8] He occasionally will show up somewhere, stand around for a while, realize there isn't a novel-worthy plot going on, and leave.[9]

History

Very little of Hoid's history is known beyond the fact that he was present at the Shattering of Adonalsium.[10] He knew the original shardholders personally; he was friends with Rayse[11] and Tanavast once bought him a drink.[12] The specifics of his appearances follows, but bear in mind that it is arranged by book, not chronologically. Hoid's appearance in Alloy of Law takes place after his appearance in The Way of Kings.

Sel (Elantris & The Emperor's Soul)

Scadrial (Mistborn)

He has appeared multiple times on Scadrial:

Nalthis (Warbreaker)

Roshar (The Stormlight Archive)

“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.[23]
  • Hoid has visited Roshar prior to the Way of Kings.[24]
The Way of Kings

In a departure from his previous appearances, Hoid plays a relatively major role on Roshar. 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".[25] He also meets Kaladin and tells him a story about Derethil and the Wandersail.[23] During the course of the story, Hoid uses a special, ancient flute called a Trailman's flute. It is also likely that he uses Lightweaving to cause the smoke from the fire to take the form of various elements from his story. In the first Interlude, Ishikk, a man from the Purelake, spends six months being paid by three men to ask around the area after Hoid. These three men are Galladon, Demoux, and a third man from a book that has not been published, referred to as Vao or Blunt. These men are confirmed to be members of the Seventeenth Shard. Hoid appears again later on in the book at the very same time as Taln, a Herald, who breaks through the gates of Kholinar and falls unconscious after declaring that the True Desolation is imminent.[26]

Words of Radiance

Hoid again in this plays a minor role as Wit. For most of the book, they say he is away, which is presumed to be when he went to Scadrial during the Wax and Wayne Mistborn series, but not for certain. Also in Shallan's flashback to five and a half years ago, she meets Wit, who is disguised as a messenger, and he talks to her. Rock also describes an encounter with him in the Horneater Peaks and calls him Lunu'anaki, the god of travel and mischief who cannot hurt man.[27][28] At the end of the book, he meets with Jasnah Kholin as she exits Shadesmar, offering to travel with her.

Appearance & Personality

Hoid's appearance varies drastically 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;[25] hawk-like and arrow shaped. Hoid is tall and thin[29] and also has a sharp nose and jaw with delicate eyebrows.[25] He tends to cock his head to one side[23] and has keen blue eyes.[29] Hoid's hair is white, although he occasionally dyes it.[30]

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.[26][23]

On Roshar as King Elhokar's wit he was described as

“Tall and thin, the King’s Wit rode easily on a black gelding. He wore a stiff black coat and black trousers, a color matched by his deep onyx hair. Though he wore a long, thin sword tied to his waist, as far as Adolin knew, the man had never drawn it. A dueling foil rather than a military blade, it was mostly symbolic.”

—[29]

This blade is not Nightblood.[31]

Abilities

Hoid does not yet have the abilities of every planet he's visited.[32] Some of his powers predate the Shattering, but none of them are gained through Hemalurgy.[33]

  • Lightweaving - possible illusion magic from Yolen. This allows him to create images of anything he likes, and even possibly change how he looks to others.
  • Worldhopping - Hoid is very good at manipulating Shadesmar.[18] He can travel to any world he likes, and can even use this ability to move swiftly around a single planet and to get to otherwise inaccessible areas, like the Well of Ascension.[34]
  • Feruchemy - Hoid uses Feruchemy to gain limited foresight--he knows where he needs to go and when he needs to be there.[35][36]
  • Allomancy - Hoid retreived a bead of Lerasium from the Well of Ascension so that he could become an allomancer.[37][38] Brandon has been very careful with his wording[39], so it is unclear if he used it for that purpose, but he does appear to consume metal in Shallan's flashback the same way an allomancer would.[40][41] Brandon also said that he did it to make people act a certain way, implying that it was brass or zinc.[42]
  • Extremely long life and time dilation[43] - Hoid is far older than any human could really live. He also hasn't lived through all those years. He can move swiftly forward in time, but has not yet traveled backwards in time.
  • Awakening - Hoid likely has a Breath, something that a scene in Words of Radiance seems to confirm, as he mentions how playing an instrument was easier now with 'perfect pitch' - something granted to those with the Second Heightening.[44]
  • Regeneration - Hoid is able to regenerate body parts and even heal his soul if it is severed.[45] He is unafraid of Jasnah's Shardblade saying, "I'd be surprised if that little knife of yours poses me any real threat ...." Sanderson has also said that Hoid would do well in a fight between all his protagonists because he is "really, really, really hard to kill."[46]
  • Inability to hurt others - Hoid cannot easily kill people "because of certain things in his past."[46] Rock says he cannot hurt man because it is forbidden by other gods.[27] He also tells a young Shallan, "You needn't fear me. I'm terribly ineffective at hurting people. I blame my upbringing."[40]

Known Pseudonyms

Speculation

This page or section deals with theories or speculation.
Please read carefully and note that this is not necessarily canonical.

Hoid Wrote The Letter

In the epigraphs in Part 2 of The Way of Kings, there is the text of a letter. Both its author and recipient are unknown. This letter refers to all the original Shardholders by their names and begs the recipient for aid in the struggle against Rayse, holder of the Shard Odium. If Hoid wrote this letter, 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. This provides strong evidence that the author of the Letter is Hoid, as he is being hunted in an area far from where he really is by three men who are probably from the Seventeenth Shard. It is confirmed that we "may have read that Hoid has specific beef with Rayse." As for only the Letter tells about Hoid having a grudge against Rayse this can be seen as an acknowledgement that Hoid wrote the Letter.[47]

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.[48] Some believe that Hoid is a common root to both of these organizations, one of which, the Worldbringers, was very Realmatically aware.[49]

Lerasium Bead

We know that aside from the beads of lerasium burned by the original nine Allomancers and Elend there is at least one more other bead somewhere in the cosmere.[10] We know that Hoid was at the well prior to Vin and Elend arriving there.[34] Also, Hoid has "metal he isn't supposed to have".[50] Hoid has also been confirmed to have retrieved something from the Well.[34] Combining all these facts heavily hint that Hoid is in possession of a bead of lerasium.

It was later confirmed that Hoid does in fact have a lerasium bead.[7] His original intent in acquiring the bead was to become an allomancer, but Brandon's careful wording throws into question whether or not Hoid actually used the bead for that purpose.[38][39][42] In the letter it also references that someone is keeping something safe for Hoid. It is presumed to be the Lerasium bead that he took.

Quotes

Warbreaker

“I only tell stories, Your Grace. They may be truths, they may be fictions. All I know is that the stories themselves exist and that I must tell them.”

—Hoid to Siri on the truth of his stories[22]

“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.”

—Hoid to Siri on where he learned his particular method of storytelling.[22]

As Hoid developed that type of storytelling,[51] it's possible that the "man who didn't know who he was" is himself. Also, "where gods have died"and "many, many years ago" seem to speak of the Shattering.

The Way of Kings

“The foolishness of men who care, Dalinar, and the brilliance of those who do not. The second depend on the first—but also exploit the first first—while the first misunderstand the second, hoping that the second are more like the first. And all of their games steal our time. Second by second. ”

—Hoid to Dalinar[25]

“Nonsense. Balderdash. Figgldygrak. Isn't it odd that gibberish words are often the sounds of other words, cut up and dismembered, then stitched into something like them—yet wholly unlike them at the same time?

“I wonder if you could do that to a man. Pull him apart, emotion by emotion, bit by bit, bloody chunk by bloody chunk. Then combine them back together into something else, like a Dysian Aimian. If you do put a man together like that, Dalinar, be sure to name him Gibberish, after me. Or perhaps Gibletish.

”

—Hoid to Dalinar (after namedropping Adonalsium)[25]

“I've abandoned my real name. But when next we meet, I'll think of a clever one for you to call me. Until then, Wit will suffice—or if you must, you may call me Hoid. ”

—Hoid to Dalinar[25]

“I began life as a thought, a concept, words on a page. That was another thing I stole. Myself. Another time, I was named for a rock.”

“A pretty one, I hope.”
“A beautiful one,” the man said. “And one that became completely worthless for my wearing it.

”

—Hoid to Kaladin[23]

“What you saw belongs to you. A story doesn’t live until it is imagined in someone’s mind.”

“What does the story mean, then?”
“It means what you want it to mean. The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon. Too often, we forget that.

”

—Hoid to Kaladin on stories[23]

“People see in stories what they're looking for, my young friend. I have no answers for you. Most days, I feel I never have had any answers. 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[23]

“Can you feel it? Something just changed. I believe that's the sound the world makes when it pisses itself ”

—Hoid to the Kholinar city guards[26]

“What is it we value? Innovation. Originality. Novelty. But most importantly...timeliness. I fear you may be too late, my confused, unfortunate, friend. ”

—Hoid to Taln[26]

Trivia

  • The character of Hoid existed before the concept of Adonalsium was developed. He first appeared in a short story Brandon wrote long ago. He was on a planet trying to figure out how the magical system of the area worked.[52]
  • Brandon has stated that Hoid is his favorite character, but he couldn't say why without giving away spoilers.[53]
  • Brandon may eventually write a parallel novel to the Mistborn series that chronicles what Hoid was up to behind the scenes.[34]
  • Hoid loves bacon.[54]

Notes

  1. ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 67#
  2. ↑ {{{3}}}
    — Theoryland - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "qa-690-39" defined multiple times with different content
  3. ↑ would call him human, but he's not exactly that {{{3}}}
    — Theoryland - Mar 22, 2014#
  4. ↑ {{{3}}}
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  5. ↑ {{{3}}}
    — Theoryland - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "qa-622-135" defined multiple times with different content
  6. ↑ {{{3}}}
    — 17th Shard forums - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "17s-post-42472" defined multiple times with different content
  7. ↑ a b {{{3}}}
    — Theoryland - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "qa-897-21" defined multiple times with different content
  8. ↑ Who wrote the dust jacket?
    — Theoryland - Mar 19, 2014#
  9. ↑ {{{3}}}
    — 17th Shard forums - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "17s-post-104720" defined multiple times with different content
  10. ↑ a b {{{3}}}
    — Timewasters Guide forum - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "twg-7302-0" defined multiple times with different content
  11. ↑ Odium and Hoid were once friends
    — Theoryland - Feb 15th, 2014#
  12. ↑ Words of Radiance epilogue#
  13. ↑ Elantris chapter 58#
  14. ↑ a b Deleted prologue from The Emperor's Soul
    — Brandon's website - March 31, 2014# Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "the-emperors-soul-deleted-prologue-imperial-fool" defined multiple times with different content
  15. ↑ The Final Empire chapter 19#
  16. ↑ {{{3}}}
    — Theoryland - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "qa-428-58" defined multiple times with different content
  17. ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 56#
  18. ↑ a b {{{3}}}
    — Theoryland - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "qa-428-102" defined multiple times with different content
  19. ↑ {{{3}}}
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  20. ↑ {{{3}}}
    — Theoryland - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "qa-632-3" defined multiple times with different content
  21. ↑ When will we hear Hoid's story?
    — Theoryland - Nov 8, 2011#
  22. ↑ a b c d Warbreaker chapter 32#
  23. ↑ a b c d e f g The Way of Kings chapter 57#
  24. ↑ Has Hoid been on Roshar before?
    — Theoryland - Mar 22, 2014#
  25. ↑ a b c d e f g The Way of Kings chapter 54#
  26. ↑ a b c d The Way of Kings epilogue#
  27. ↑ a b Words of Radiance chapter 46#
  28. ↑ Hoid in Words of Radiance
    — Theoryland - Mar 17th, 2014#
  29. ↑ a b c The Way of Kings chapter 12#
  30. ↑ a b The Way of Kings interlude I-1#
  31. ↑ {{{3}}}
    — 17th Shard forums - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "17s-post-65432" defined multiple times with different content
  32. ↑ Does Hoid have all the abilities of the planets he's visited?
    — Theoryland - Mar 14, 2014#
  33. ↑ Hoid has no Hemalurgy
    — Theoryland - Jan 17, 2015#
  34. ↑ a b c d {{{3}}}
    — 17th Shard forums - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "17s-post-42244" defined multiple times with different content
  35. ↑ {{{3}}}
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  36. ↑ {{{3}}}
    — Theoryland - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "qa-895-2" defined multiple times with different content
  37. ↑ Hoid has a metal he isn't supposed to have
    — Theoryland - Dec 18th, 2011#
  38. ↑ a b Did Hoid use his bead for Feruchemy?
    — Theoryland - Mar 29, 2014#
  39. ↑ a b Is Hoid an allomancer?
    — Theoryland - Mar 29, 2014#
  40. ↑ a b Words of Radiance chapter 45#
  41. ↑ {{{3}}}
    — Theoryland - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "qa-1073-1" defined multiple times with different content
  42. ↑ a b What alloy did Hoid drink?
    — Theoryland - Mar 20, 2014#
  43. ↑ {{{3}}}
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  44. ↑ {{{3}}}
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  45. ↑ If Hoid got beheaded, would his body grow a new head?
    — Theoryland - Mar 4th, 2014#
  46. ↑ a b {{{3}}}
    — Theoryland - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "qa-1044-9" defined multiple times with different content
  47. ↑ Hoid has a specific beef against Rayse
    — Reddit - 2013-03-11#
  48. ↑ {{{3}}}
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  49. ↑ {{{3}}}
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  50. ↑ {{{3}}}
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  51. ↑ {{{3}}}
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  52. ↑ {{{3}}}
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  53. ↑ {{{3}}}
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  54. ↑ [1]
    — Twitter - {{{date}}}# Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "tweet-422872722599710720" defined multiple times with different content
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