Difference between revisions of "Kelsier"

He is almost always late to gatherings, which he attributes to always having somewhere better to be{{book ref|mb1|27}}. He always smiles and projects an excited and positive attitude, which is particularly unusual in the skaa underground. He does this in order to fight the Lord Ruler's oppression of all the skaa, he wants to have one thing which cannot be taken away from him.{{book ref|mb1|prologue}} He hates all of the nobility and tends to believe that all of them are to blame for the plight of the skaa, although near the end of his life this attitude changes due to Vin's insistence that [[Elend]] is different and that not all the nobles should be fought. He has an imposing presence and is a natural leader, easily taking charge and swaying even the downtrodden skaa of Luthadel into joining the rebellion with his charming personality. However, he is not above using this personality to manipulate those around him to his own ends, as can be viewed through his spreading of the rumoursrumors of the "eleventh metal".

Some might say that Kelsier is a psychopath, though this is debatable due to the intense anger he exhibits when innocents (or rather his idea of innocents) are harmed, which is a very empathetic trait. He also shows regret and guilt for what happened to Vin in the aftermath of the Kredik Shaw burglary. Throughout the series, he has fond memories of his wife whom he misses greatly, whose death caused him to snap into Allomancy. Nevertheless, Sanderson states that Kelsier derives pleasure from killing people, but only allows that part of his personality to surface occasionally, when he is fighting noblemen, and he tries to channel this aspect of his personality into a good cause.{{wob ref|4103}} This leads us to believe that he isn't a psychopath by definition, he is most likely insane in another way.

[[File: Kelsier's Meeting by Rafael Sousa.jpg|thumb|right|x120px|<center><small>by [[Coppermind: Artists/Rafael Sousa|Rafael Sousa]]</small></center>Kelsier meeting the skaa]]Born to a [[noble]] father and skaa mother{{book ref|mb1|8}}, his mother kept both Kelsier and Marsh alive by pretending that she was a noble to their father, so that their children would be considered merely illegitimate noblemen instead of half-breeds; however, their father eventually found out. Thus Kelsier's mother was killed, and because of this, the brothers have a deep hatred of noblemen. Kelsier then made his living as a thief, becoming famous throughout [[Luthadel]]. However, after a failed attempt at stealing from the Lord Ruler himself in his secret room inside [[Kredik Shaw]], he was sent to the [[atium]] mines in the [[Pits of Hathsin]]{{book ref|mb1|4}}. There he spent his time believing that his wife Mare had betrayed him to the Lord Ruler, until he witnessed his wife being beaten to death by guards after she gifted her Atium bead to him. He then "Snapped", becoming a [[Allomancy|Mistborn]]{{book ref|mb1|17}}. Using Allomancy he was able to escape the Pits. Kelsier was then trained by a Mistborn named [[Gemmel]]{{book ref|11m}} and they travelledtraveled to the far north of the [[Western Dominance]] to a city called [[Mantiz]] where Kelsier heard rumoursrumors of the [[malatium|Eleventh metal]] from the skaa in [[Keep Shezler]]. Kelsier sought and eventually found the Eleventh metal as he believed it would help him to defeat the Lord Ruler.{{book ref|11m}}

When several skaa from the rebellion arewere about to be executed, Kelsier attempts to save them. He is confronted by a Steel Inquisitor, which he eventually manages to defeat by beheading him with the Inquisitor's own obsidian axe. However, Kelsier is then confronted by the Lord Ruler, who backhands him across the face and then stabs him in the chest with a spear, killing him.{{book ref|mb1|34}} Kelsier later reveals in his letter to Vin that he had intended to use the Eleventh Metal to destroy the Lord Ruler but could not discover how to use it in his fight.{{book ref|mb1|35}} His death results in the founding of the Church of the Survivor, who refer to Kelsier as "Lord of the Mists". Vin also becomes a major religious figure in the wake of his death, since Survivorists perceive her as Kelsiers heir.

When he returns to Scadrial he finds that Preservation's power is significantly weakened. He also runs into Vin and is shocked to see how far she has come in the time he was away.{{msh ref|6|1}} He stays with her for a while after that, but ultimately has to leave.{{msh ref|6|3}}

|From the Well of Ascension, of course. It's the same power, after all. Solid in the metal you fed to Elend. LiquidThe liquid in the pool you burned. And vapor in the air, confined to night. Hiding you. Protecting you.<br>Giving you power!