Vin

Vin
by Miranda Meeks
House Tekiel Spouse Elend Venture Parents Tevidian Tekiel, mother Siblings Reen, sister Relatives Salmen Tekiel, Kale Tekiel
Born	1005 FE
Died	1025 FE
Abilities	Mistborn, Hemalurgist, Sliver, Shard of Preservation
Titles	Heir to the Survivor, Empress of the New Empire, Ascendant Warrior, Hero of Ages, Lady Mistborn, Mother, Preservation
Aliases	Valette Renoux
Groups	Camon's crew (former), Kelsier's crew, Venture army
Birthplace	Luthadel
Ethnicity	Skaa
Homeworld	Scadrial
Universe	Cosmere
Introduced In	Mistborn: The Final Empire

Valette redirects here. For the post-Catacendre noblewoman, see Valette Entrone.

“That was an illusion, a dream. I am that child who grew up in the shadows. ”

—Vin.

Vin Venture is a half-skaa Mistborn from the Final Empire on Scadrial. She later becomes known as Heir to the Survivor, the Ascendant Warrior and the Lady Mistborn, as well as taking on the alias Valette Renoux. She was born to Tevidian Tekiel's skaa mistress in year 1005 FE in Luthadel, and was raised by her half brother Reen after he discovered that their sister had been murdered by their mother. The two lived on the streets and worked in the underground, until eventually coming to work in Camon's crew.

Vin trains in and works with Kelsier's crew after he prevents Camon from beating her to death, and infiltrates the nobility under the guise of Valette Renoux, eventually helping to save the survivors of the skaa rebellion's army and killing Shan Elariel before fighting the Lord Ruler and killing him. After the Collapse, she marries Elend Venture and sets herself and Elend up as the empress and emperor of the New Empire, respectively, during the Siege of Luthadel, wherein she kills Zane and Straff Venture, saves the city from rampaging koloss and forces Lord Cett to swear his allegiance to them. In the aftermath of the siege, she inadvertently frees Ruin from its prison at the Well of Ascension.

Following Ruin's release, Vin helps to secure her and Elend's empire; locating the Lord Ruler's storage caverns, participating in the Siege of Fadrex City, and takes up the Shard Preservation shortly prior to the Battle of Hathsin, wherein she gives her life to kill Ruin. In the years following the Final Ascension, she becomes a mythical figure to the descendants of the survivors, known as the Ascendant Warrior. In the Words of Founding, it is said that she became the guardian of the mists and now watches over people in the night.

Appearance and Personality

by Jemma M. Young

For more images, see /Gallery.

Due to a life spent on the streets and in the skaa underground, Vin is relatively small and thinks of herself as scrawny. She has black hair which she kept cut short until she joins the skaa rebellion.

She is naturally suspicious of others due to the circumstances of her upbringing, and slow to trust people out of fear of being betrayed. She initially tends to attempt to make herself seem irrelevant or hide when she is uncomfortable or anxious, and prefers solitude to the company of others, because of the belief instilled in her that no one can betray her if she is alone.

Often she is alert and watchful, having a tendency to perch on things, or sitting in places where she can best monitor her surroundings. Vin is also uncomfortable with having the attention of others, preferring to go hidden and unnoticed. This puts her in an awkward position with the Church of the Survivor, as she displays obvious discomfort as being revered as the Lady Heir. For this reason, she is also uncomfortable around Demoux. She prefers to wear simple, practical clothing, and initially finds noble dresses uncomfortable and impractical, which is reflected later after becoming empress of the New Empire when she refuses to wear royal garb in favour of clothing more practical for battle.

By the time of the siege of Fadrex city, Vin has grown confident and perceptive. She is fully in control, and all of this in tandem makes her seem more powerful than she was before meeting Kelsier.

Vin is very Connected to Preservation, since she hates change and fears people leaving her.

Attributes and Abilities

by Manuel Castañón

Allomancy

Being a Mistborn, Vin has the ability to access and burn all of the Allomantic metals. She Snapped during her difficult birth process, which is one reason why she has great affinity with Allomancy. Vin showed proficiency in using her abilities with even Kelsier mentioning her talent surpassing his own. However due to the limitations of the Final Empire, Vin had no experience burning nicrosil, chromium, cadmium, or bendalloy. In addition Vin’s natural curiosity and ingenuity allowed for extreme demonstrations of her power. A great example of Vin’s ingenuity is the discovery of Duralumin. Knowing that every pure allomantic metal had a supplementary alloy, Vin contracted metallurgists to develop multiple alloy variations for testing.

Vin demonstrated varying proficiencies in her allomantic usage. This is primarily caused by Vin’s predilection toward combat oriented metals, and her being a full Mistborn. If she could not immediately see how a particular metal could aid in a fight, Vin would often consider them less useful. However for the time period, Vin developed a deep understanding of allomantic theory. She was considered the most powerful Mistborn of her time even with Elend Venture consuming Lerasium directly, and therefore not suffering a dilution of power from genetic transfer.

Iron and Steel- Vin was extremely proficient in the use of both steel and iron. Being able to combine both the aspects of Steelpushes and Ironpulls allowed for far greater mobility and offensive potential when compared to the average Coinshot or Lurcher. Vin’s naturally more powerful allomancy further enhanced her external physical metals, as she was able to match Kelsier in strength when Pushing against a coin, despite Kelsier being nearly twice her weight. Vin’s control over steel and iron allowed her to use horseshoes as a means of continued motion.

Pewter- Vin used pewter almost constantly and subconsciously. Having subconsciously burned the small amount she absorbed in drinking water as a child to heal her daily wounds her body has grown accustomed to doing so. This is needed to assist in recovering from the many injuries she sustains, even after falling unconscious. Having been trained by Hammond to flare pewter to assist with individual strikes and maneuvers, Vin became a skilled hand to hand combatant. Vin has used pewter to lift and use a Koloss sword. Vin has been able to complete pewter drags.

Tin- Vin often burns a small amount Tin at all times. The heightened senses give her an advantage over those that would try a sneak attack. Vin also flares tin when needed to assist in sight or hearing, often when she is spying.

Brass and Zinc- Vin came to realize her power of emotion influencing even before Kelsier found her. She nicknamed them "luck" and stockpiled her metal reserve (gained from minerals in water) to be used in dangerous situations. However, she doesn't use the power often in her later life, largely due to her lack of finesse in using them. Unlike Breeze who is almost impossible to detect, Vin is often discovered. She has used them however to demonstrate her power, such as when she scared Straff Venture by stripping away all his emotions using a Duralumin powered brass Push. Combined with duralumin, emotional allomancy also allow Vin to control Koloss.

by Danrossidraws

Burning atium

Copper and Bronze- Vin burns both metals constantly. Copper to hide her own allomancy, and bronze to detect others using allomancy near her. Originally Vin thought that she may be stronger at using bronze than other allomancers as she was able to pierce copperclouds. She can also pierce her own coppercloud, hearing allomantic pulses from outside. This was however due to her earring which was in fact a Hemalurgic spike.

Duralumin- Having discovered duralumin herself, Vin kept it a secret. This is because of duralumin’s enhancing abilities being extremely powerful. Duralumin enhanced Steelpushes have allowed Vin to leap extreme distances, as well as throw several horses into the air by their horseshoes.

Gold- Seeing her past self and alternate versions of what Vin could have been unnerved her to the point that she never wanted to attempt it again.

Atium- Due to the power and rarity of atium Vin held it in a form of reverence, both appreciating and fearing its use. Vin also understood atium’s flaws, allowing her to defeat two atium powered Mistborn.

Malatium- During the final fight between the Lord Ruler and Vin, she used the metal to discover the hidden secret behind the Lord Ruler's past. She then used this secret to stun him and kill him.

Electrum- The “poor man’s atium” Vin uses electrum to fight Steel Inquisitors when it appeared the supply of atium had depleted.

Weapons and Combat

by Steve Argyle

In terms of melee combat and weapon skills, Vin was very talented. Having undergone training in combat from both Kelsier (a full Mistborn), and Hammond (an accomplished Thug), Vin has developed a unique set of skills. Primarily using obsidian daggers to prevent Allomantic influence by her opponents, Vin uses various Steelpushes and Ironpulls to quickly maneuver around the battlefield. Doing so she will often surprise her opponents by striking from unforeseen angles. Vin will often utilize tricks to allow her to position herself for surprise attacks as well. An example of this is Pushing her coin pouch away to make it seem as if she was moving in that direction, only to strike from an alternate one. In addition to the use of daggers Vin has been trained in the use of staffs, and even handled a koloss great sword to devastating affect, though in the case of the sword Vin wielded through the strength granted by pewter and not pure skill.

Disguises

Vin has also shown herself to be skilled in disguising herself as seen when she inserted herself into the court lifestyle under the guise of Valette Renoux. She used this alias to help Kelsier spy on the nobility, as well as plant lies among them.^[expand]

Ascension

Later when she took the shard of Preservation, Vin was imbued with a large amount of power. She was shown to be able to augment the powers of Allomancers as seen when she strengthened Elend's Allomantic abilities.

Weaknesses

Despite Vin's amazing displays of allomancy and melee prowess, she is still extremely small in stature. When deprived of allomantic metals, Vin is left weak and nearly defenseless. When forced to burn aluminum, she was unable to achieve any reasonable resistance against her captors. Additionally, due to her small size, she is very vulnerable in a steelpushing match, and when she tried pushing against Kelsier, he warned her that it could be catastrophic if she did.

Additionally Vin's friends can be used against her. Her desire to protect them pushes Vin into situations where she is disadvantaged. This is more evident when Elend is concerned. Fearing assassination attempts Vin used pewter and tin to allow her to remain awake for extreme lengths. This could have bordered on pewter dragging had she not been convinced to rest occasionally. The fatigue caused her to naturally be in a weakened state.

History

by GisAlmeida

As a thief

Early Life

Childhood

Vin was born of Tevidian Tekiel, lord prelan of the Steel Ministry to a skaa prostitute. Vin had an unnamed younger sister as well as an older half brother on their mother's side, Reen. Vin and her sister inherited Allomantic powers from their father, the latter being born a Seeker.

Her mother was insane and was driven by Ruin to kill Vin's infant sister with a bronze pin, creating a Hemalurgic spike which the mother then used to pierce the young child Vin's ear. Because of the earring's Hemalurgy, this gave Ruin access to speak into Vin's mind and influence her. Ruin was able to use Vin as an unwitting pawn and get himself released from the Well of Ascension. Because the Hemalurgy allowed Vin to take on the Allomantic power of her murdered sister, her Allomantic Seeking ability became twice as strong as a typical Mistborn or Seeker, enabling her to pierce Allomantic copperclouds and locate the hidden Well of Ascension.

Her half-brother Reen saved Vin from their mother and after the death of her mother and sister, she lived on the road with him. At times, she had lived like a beggar, sleeping in exposed alleys. Reen's lessons and attempts to strengthen her -- like taking her on burglaries to teach her to steal and teaching her to survive the skaa underground -- were abusive. He beat her for things such as being too friendly with other crewmembers or making a foolish comment and drawing unwanted negative attention. This abuse had a profound effect on Vin's ability to trust, but was successful in instilling the lessons he believed she needed to learn to survive and work the thieving crews in Luthadel. At some point Vin realized her ability to soothe people, unaware that she was an Allomancer she thought of it as her "Luck" using it in her thievery. She also subconsciously burned tiny amounts of tin and pewter that helped her survive on the streets. A couple months after they joined Camon's crew, Reen disappeared, leaving Vin to think he had abandoned her. Later Vin discovers that Reen never betrayed her. Despite being captured and tortured by Inquisitors, Reen never gave her up, swearing that she had died even while he was being tortured.

The Skaa Rebellion

Camon's Crew

by ephermeres

Studying Allomancy with Kelsier

For six months after Reen left, Vin continued to work in Camon's crew. Camon, who knew she was an Allomancer, saw her as a powerful tool but at the same time was scared that she would turn against him. Camon abused Vin, hitting or even whipping her for little to no reason. He also didn't pay her so that she could not run away. Vin unwittingly soothed Camon's victims, making them more gullible to Camon's scams. After some time, Camon joined with Theron, another Crew leader, for a scam against the Canton of Finance. Though the scam seemed to have gone unnoticed, unbeknownst to them, Vin's Allomancy alerted the obligators to her abilities, and a Steel Inquisitor was put on Vin's trail. Kelsier noticed this as he was following Vin and Camon, and stepped in to distract the Inquisitor, making them lose Vin's trail for the time being. During her time working in the crew, Vin grew to somewhat trust Ulef, another member of the crew. Though she did not think of him as a friend, believing that friendship was a gateway to betrayal, he was the closest thing to a friend she had at the time. As Vin got a foreboding feeling and prepared to leave the crew's lair, she told Ulef that she was leaving, and asked him to join her. However, Ulef betrayed her to Camon, who was drunk and believed that Vin planned to sell him out to the Steel Ministry. Camon flew into a drunken rage, intending to beat Vin to death, before Kelsier entered the lair and intervened, saving Vin's life. Kelsier had Milev replace Camon, and had the latter put out on the streets.

Kelsier's Crew

Vin joined Kelsier's crew and began her Mistborn training with him.

In her first practical lesson with Kelsier, they ventured outside the city walls and were picked up in a carriage by Sazed, who took them to Fellise, where Vin was tutored by him as it was decided that she will infiltrate the noble court on their behalf. She contributed to the plan by supplying a method to infiltrate the Steel Ministry from her old crew: Theron's fake canal convoys.

During the meeting, Ham interrupted, reporting that the Ministry found Camon's lair, where Milev and his crew had continued to operate. The crew moved to investigate the lair, wherein Vin's old crew mates had been butchered by an Inquisitor. Finding the former crew leader hung from a hook in the streets, the crew realized that the Inquisitors must still be on Vin's trail after Camon's last scam.

by Elisgardor

With Elend as Valette

The House War

Vin spied on the noble houses by disguising herself as a noblewoman: Valette Renoux, an identity created as a cover, who is the fourth cousin of Lord Renoux, daughter of Lord Hadren and Lady Fellette Renoux. Kelsier revealed that he chose House Renoux and the Valette cover in part because of their status as weapons merchants, making them valuable to various houses. Vin attended her first ball at Keep Venture to establish her identity within Luthadel, and she attracted the attentions of several young men, declining their offers to dance on account of her inexperience. She recognized her father and met Elend Venture, the heir to House Venture, although she only learned who Elend really was after the fact when speaking with Sazed.

Vin followed Kelsier one night, discovering the spikeway between Luthadel and Fellise in the process. After he discovered and confronted her, he introduced her to atium for the first time, and they attempted to raid the Lord Ruler's palace, Kredik Shaw. During the raid, the pair were forced to flee when they were attacked by the Steel Inquisitors guarding the palace, and Vin was left behind. She recovered Alendi's logbook before she was gravely wounded in her attempt to escape. Sazed, however, managed to save her from the Inquisitors and brought her back to Clubs' hideout. Vin spent the subsequent two weeks unconscious as she recovered from a massive wound in her side, and it took three more months to recover fully from her ordeal at Kredik Shaw.

Gradually, Vin grew more comfortable when adopting the Valette persona, but she was given a sobering reminder of the realities of the Final Empire when she witnessed a soldier murder a skaa kitchen boy for begging from a nobleman.

Vin tried to get training from Ham with pewter by watching him spar, but the two found out that the Luthadel Garrison was being called away to quell the skaa rebellion's army led by Yeden in a sudden attack against the Holstep Garrison as a test of their strength. After informing the rest of the crew, Vin joined Kelsier on a desperate mission to save the skaa army's survivors. They found the army being massacred in an ambush from the Valtroux Garrison, and Vin stopped Kelsier from trying to stop it himself, reminding him that even though they were Mistborn, they're not invincible. Instead, they returned to the caves, finding the two thousand men, lead by Demoux, who stayed behind out of loyalty to Kelsier. Vin and Kelsier led the remnants of the army back to Luthadel.

by Rafael Sousa

Fighting Shan Elariel

Two weeks later, after Vin had recovered from the consequences of pewter-dragging, the executions in the later named Square of the Survivor began. She discovered her father's identity as the Steel Ministry's lord prelan during the executions after pointing him out to Kelsier. The executions provided Kelsier the opportunity to renew the crew's determination, by showing them what it is that they're truly fighting for.

After the executions in the fountain square, the crew committed even more to provoking an all out house war in earnest, making it the top priority now that the bulk of their army was lost. Vin began to spread misinformation among the nobility, while remaining the crew's primary spy among them. Vin and Kelsier went to meet Marsh in the Twists, and while waiting, she experienced burning gold for the first time, seeing the two versions of herself, the trusting version who lost her street instincts, and the hateful and lonely version. The meeting with Marsh yielded the truth about the Ministry Allomancers, that they were being used in the Soothing stations positioned throughout the skaa sections of Luthadel.

In the course of spying on the nobility and spreading her information, Vin learned from Elend that House Venture worked the Pits of Hathsin and mined the Lord Ruler's atium. As the house war reached the point of no return, the noble parties and balls came to a close as alliances were formalized. Elend rejected Vin, but she saved his life shortly after when she uncovered Shan Elariel's plot to kill him. She fought Shan and her fellow assassins, and killed the male Mistborn accompanying Shan. When confronting Shan directly, Vin realized that her atium was about to run out, and extinguished it prematurely, leading Shan to think that she was vulnerable. Vin burned atium at the last second, taking Shan by surprise and killing her.

Vin and Kelsier discovered what they assume to be Marsh's remains during their next meeting with him, and Kelsier decided to retaliate by destroying the Pits of Hathsin and ending the atium production there for the next three hundred years. The Lord Ruler ordered more executions in response to the attack, and Vin watched as Kelsier interrupts them, rescuing the House Renoux prisoners and killing Bendal, before he faced the Lord Ruler and was killed by a spear through the chest. Vin subsequently felt betrayed by his death after all of his assurances, and Ruin returned in Reen's voice to reaffirm her sense of betrayal.

by Carlos C Diaz

Fighting the Lord Ruler

The Skaa Riots & the Death of the Lord Ruler

Vin was imprisoned in Kredik Shaw after Kelsier's death at the hands of the Lord Ruler, and was forced to burn aluminum to destroy her metals. She was taken to be questioned by the Lord Ruler, and had her earring ripped out while battling him, allowing the mists to Invest their power in her, restoring all her Allomantic abilities. Vin killed him by Pulling out his metalminds and fatally stabbing him with a spear.^[expand]

TenSoon would later argue during his judgement that as the one to kill the Lord Ruler, Vin had effectively taken his place and inherited his title, and should thus be considered the Mother of the kandra to replace their Father.

The Siege of Luthadel

After the fall of the Final Empire, she helped Elend establish his ideas for fair and free governance. Whilst the Siege of Luthadel progressed, she practiced her Allomancy, courted Zane Venture, discovered duralumin, befriended the kandra TenSoon, and successfully intimidated the two besiegers: Straff Venture and Ashweather Cett.

Zane & the Attack on Keep Hasting

Upon hearing that Elend went into Jastes Lekal's koloss army, Vin experienced a round of uncertainty and self-doubt, uncertain of even her ability to protect one person. Zane took advantage of her doubt, and convinced her that Elend wouldn't let her protect him, and that she should attack Cett.

Alongside Zane, Vin launched a brutal assault on Keep Hasting, the keep which Lord Cett had appropriated as his own residence when he entered Luthadel. In minutes, the two Mistborn wiped out three hundred of the one thousand men garrisoned there and made their way to Lord Cett and his son, Gneorndin Cett to threaten them. Though Vin had suspected ever since she first saw him that Cett was an Allomancer feigning his physical disability, it quickly became evident that neither he nor his son were Allomancers, or that they posed any threat on their own, leading Vin to spare their lives. When Zane moved to kill them, she convinced him not to. Following the attack, Cett pulled out of the city and withdrew from the siege entirely.

After the attack, Vin hid in an abandoned thieves' hideout, frightened by her own actions until TenSoon and Elend found her and talk to her. She revealed that Kelsier sometimes frightened her with his rationale for killing nobles. During her conversation with Elend, she decided that she had to go north to the Terris Dominance and look for the Well of Ascension.

Zane attempted to convince Vin to leave with him, but she refused and he becomes upset, attacking her. In the ensuing fight, TenSoon's identity was exposed to her. Zane additionally revealed multiple of his manipulations throughout the siege; placing an Allomancer among Cett's staff, forcing Vin to fight off Allomancer assassins in front of Elend to intimidate him, and attempting to make Vin explore her potential as a killer. Zane seemingly had the advantage, as he was burning atium and blocking her every attack, and in her desperation, Vin attempted to draw on the mists to no avail, because her Hemalurgic earring was not removed during the fight. However, TenSoon tipped her off to the Flaw, hinting at it and allowing her to take control of him with a duralumin-enhanced Soothing. Vin used this to her advantage, attacking Zane with TenSoon's body and retrieving the bead of atium, although the latter turned out to be a fake, a lead ball with a thin coat of atium. Cornered, with no means of escape, Vin was forced to fight Zane, and used his own foresight granted by atium to predict what he will do and allowing her to react, causing her atium shadow to split. Vin stabbed him in the neck, killing him.

Vin went to find Elend in her wounded condition, and while Sazed tended to her wounds, she married Elend. Sazed took the opportunity to convince the couple to flee the city in search of the Well of Ascension, in an attempt to save them, along with Spook.

by Eleonor Piteira

In the Well

The Battle of Luthadel

Convinced of the need to find the Well of Ascension, Vin and Elend left Luthadel, and headed towards the Terris Dominance in hope of finding the Well of Ascension. Some time after their departure, the koloss army attacked Luthadel. Vin realized that the Well was located under Kredik Shaw, and returned to find the Battle of Luthadel under way. She utilized a duralumin-enhanced steel jump to kill Straff Venture via bisection with a koloss blade, and stopped the koloss assault on the city by controlling them through emotional Allomancy.

The Well of Ascension

She found the Well of Ascension beneath Kredik Shaw in the aftermath of the battle. Once they entered the Well's chamber, the mist spirit attacked Elend -- its hand forced by Kelsier -- fatally stabbing him in the hope that Vin would use the power to save him. Despite Preservation's best attempts to prepare Vin to take up the power, and Kelsier's attempt force her to use it, Vin entered the Well and, encouraged by Ruin's tricks, gave up the power in the belief that it was the best choice, thus inadvertently releasing Ruin from his prison. Preservation showed Vin the final bead of lerasium in the chamber in order to allow her to save Elend by feeding him the bead and transforming him into a Mistborn.

Aftermath of the Koloss Assault

The crew held a funeral service for the fallen at Keep Venture. While Demoux spoke at the service, Vin sat on the steps, watched over by Ham. Kelsier attempted to comfort her in the wake of the disastrous release of Ruin, but due to the separation between the realms, she was unable to hear him.

The New Empire

Vin and Elend set about expanding their empire, and brought large numbers of koloss under their control by killing Ruin's Inquisitors. They searched for the atium cache and the storage caverns, discovering more about the history of the world. They also read about the metal electrum, which helped to protect them from atium attacks.

by Egilde Art

Dancing with Elend

The Siege of Fadrex

They besieged Fadrex City in hope of locating the atium and the last of the Lord Ruler's plates. During the siege, Vin's attempts to gather information about through Ashweather Cett's contacts led her to Slowswift. She spoke with Slowswift, and though he was reluctant to sell information about Aradan Yomen's weaknesses, she quickly deduced how to convince him to sell her the information: by appealing to his fear of change and convincing him that the change coming upon the world was inevitable, and that Yomen could not protect Fadrex from it.

Upon approaching the next informant, Hoid, for confirmation of Slowswift's information, she hesitated before contacting him. Because of Kelsier's desperate attempts from the cognitive realm to keep Vin away from him, she got a bad feeling about the situation and left. She trusted her instincts and kept away from Hoid entirely.

Vin briefly scouted the Canton of Resource from outside, then proceeded to the third and final of Cett's informants, but Preservation empowered Kelsier with something similar to Allomancy, so that he could better follow Vin through Fadrex City while she was spying. Her bronze burning picked up on Kelsier trailing her in the cognitive realm, and she believed she was being followed by an enemy Mistborn and attempted to lose him. Ruin interfered upon noticing Kelsier, however, stopping him from pursuing her and sending a puppet of his own making after Vin, imitating the pulses that Kelsier was giving off in order to trick her. Ruin's puppet stopped giving chase the moment Vin turned to face it, and she concluded that it must have been the mist spirit.

Vin was captured and imprisoned by Yomen. While imprisoned, Vin was visited by an apparition of Reen, who was later revealed to be Ruin. After learning about Ruin, she fought Marsh, and escaped back to Luthadel where she fought the other Inquisitors and destroyed the palace in a mist-powered Push, finally able to use the mists after Marsh regained enough control over his body to defy Ruin and remove her earring, which was a Hemalurgic spike.

The Battle of Hathsin & The Final Ascension

by Korina Hunjak

When Vin absorbed the mists in the fight against the Inquisitors her body was eventually vaporized by the power and she took up the Shard Preservation and attempted to right the world in similar ways to the inexperienced Rashek. She failed in many of the same ways as Rashek, initially, from unforeseen consequences of each action, as well as Ruin's interference. She observed the final fight between Elend and Marsh, fueling Elend's Allomancy with Preservation's power. Marsh beheaded Elend, killing him, and removing the last thing binding Vin to the world. She attacked Ruin directly, killing both Ati and herself, leaving both Shards to be taken up by Sazed.

In his letter to Spook, Sazed revealed that he had spoken with Vin and she was happy where she was. Sazed also tried to bring her back to life, but found that merely healing a body does not return the soul.

Post-Catacendre Myths and Culture

In the world remade by Harmony, Vin becomes mythologized as the Ascendant Warrior, and was rarely referred to by her real name. The myths told of her slaying the Lord Ruler, carrying the world upon her arms, being able to kill with a glare alone, able to discover secrets no others knew, and capable of defeating entire armies of enraged koloss on her own. It was believed that she merged with the mists, becoming their guardian and watching over those in the night. The "Lady Mistborn's knives" were considered relics from mythology, alongside other objects such as the Lord Ruler's metalminds. Additionally, she was a historical model for modern women in the Elendel Basin, her example creating more egalitarian views about women in the Basin's society. Her legacy in this regard was also written into law. However, the way in which she was mythologized leaves a staggering reputation for other women in the Basin to live up to.

Large statues of her and Elend stood atop their tomb and museum in the Field of Rebirth and dominated the area. In New Seran, an old, sunken statue of Vin, eight feet tall and made of black marble, resided in a graveyard among the graves of the impoverished. Ranette created a gun which she named Vindication, after Vin. Vin was depicted ripping out the Lord Ruler's insides in several illustrated religious texts. In some artwork of her, such as the murals in Kelesina Shores' mansion in New Seran, she was depicted rising above a flock of ravens, symbolic of Steel Inquisitors.

Coinshots started calling the nightscape above the mists the Ascendant's Fields.

Relationships

by Ari Ibarra

With Elend

Elend

“I want him to hold me. I want him to talk to me, even if I don’t understand what he’s saying. Anything to keep him there, with me. I want to be better because of him. ”

—Vin

Vin first meets Elend at a ball at Keep Venture, largely by accident. Elend seems to like her, and Vin returns the feelings. Dockson and the others warns her, telling her that Elend is just pretending to like her in order to annoy his father. Vin, however, is firm in her belief that Elend is different from the other nobles. As the house war escalates, Elend starts avoiding Vin, not wanting her to become a target for assassins. Vin realizes how much she truly cares for Elend that night, and saves Elend from an assassination attempt lead by Shan Elariel, his fiancée. At the execution in Luthadel square, Elend attempts to rescue Vin because he thinks she is in one of the cages. When she is captured by the Lord Ruler, Elend courageously leads a team of guards into Kredik Shaw to rescue her. Soon after he finds out her identity as a skaa and a Mistborn.

“I know what I want, now. I love Elend. I don’t know what kind of time we’ll have together, but I want some, at least.”

—Vin

They began living together, and Vin acts as Elend’s bodyguard, keeping him safe from assassins. Elend proposes to her at some point, but Vin denies him. They have some tension for a few months, though they don’t talk about it to each other. Vin feels that he is too good for her, and that he deserves someone better than her. Vin believes that Elend is scared of her and the way she kills so many assassins. In turn, Elend feels that he is too boring and unimportant for one such as her. They both talk to Sazed separately, asking for advice. Sazed encourages each of them to continue with the relationship, telling them how they are good for each other.

After fighting and killing Zane, Vin runs to Elend and has Sazed marry them in a quick marriage ceremony. After Elend later becomes a Mistborn, he and Vin fight together on multiple occasions. They work together to try and conquer Fadrex City. When Vin ascends to Preservation, she watches, helpless as Elend fights Marsh at the Battle of Hathsin. When Marsh kills Elend, it takes away the only thing Vin has left to live for, enabling her to sacrifice herself to kill Ruin.

Reen

“He beat me over and over and over. He swore at me, he yelled at me. He told me he’d betray me. Everyday I thought about how much I hated him. And I loved him. I still do. ”

—Vin

Reen is Vin's half-brother. When their mother tries to kill Vin, it is Reen who rescues her. Reen raises Vin on the streets, and she accompanies him, learning how to be a thief. Reen is abusive towards her, often beating her and yelling at her. He drills into her the instinct to trust nobody, saying that anyone would betray her, including him. Eventually he does leave her, abandoning her to survive on the streets by herself. Even though he betrays her, Vin later realizes that she still loves him. At some point Reen gets captured by the Inquisitors, and is interrogated about the whereabouts of Vin. Despite the torture, he protects Vin, insisting that she died of starvation years ago.

by Katie Payne

With Kelsier and the other members of his crew

Kelsier

“It was a fun job wasn’t it? When you remember me, please remember that. Remember to smile. ”

—Kelsier’s note to Vin and the rest of the crew

Kelsier is Vin’s mentor, and teaches her to use her Allomantic abilities. Though she initially is wary and suspicious of Kelsier, she eventually learns to trust him, and he becomes somewhat of a father figure to her. He tries to teach Vin to smile and occasionally look on the bright side of things. They go on several outings together, including fighting Inquisitors. Though Kelsier is killed by the Lord Ruler, he continues to watch over Vin as a Cognitive Shadow. He feels guilty for abandoning her, but does his best to help her. He eventually plays an important role in freeing her from Ruin’s influence.

Zane

“Just… someone more like myself. The kind of man I should be with. ”

—Vin, talking to Sazed about Zane.

From the first time she sees him, Vin is intrigued by the mysterious Mistborn who watches her from the tops of buildings, and who always manages to slip away from her when she gives chase. Soon, Vin meets Zane and they get to know each other well. They duel in the mists nearly every night, never seriously trying to kill each other. Zane tells Vin of her immense skill and power, and tells her that Elend is just using her as a tool. He gets her to attack Cett’s keep with him, and they slaughter thousands of soldiers.

Vin’s relationship with Zane causes her emotional turmoil, as she tries to decide between Zane and Elend. In the end, it’s a conversation with Sazed that helps her make up her mind. One night, Zane comes to her and asks her to run away with him. Vin refuses, choosing Elend over Zane. Zane attacks her, this time intending to kill her. Though Zane burns atium, Vin still manages to kill him during the course of their fight.

Sazed

“Oh, child. When will you stop worrying and simply let yourself be loved? ”

—Sazed

In Vin’s chaotic and confusing life, Sazed remains a constant and steady person for her to confide in. He has saved her life on more than one occasion, and Vin trusts him completely. Throughout Vin’s time in Kelsier’s crew, Sazed often suggests different religions to her from his copperminds. She goes to him for both advice on important current events, as well as relationship advice. He remains calm at all times, which often has a calming affect on Vin in turn. At Vin’s request, he preforms Vin and Elend’s marriage ceremony.

Quotes

For more quotes, see /Quotes.

“Anonymity. Hiding, even when you’re with others. Being quiet, unobtrusive. Forcing yourself to stay apart—emotionally, at least. It’s a way of life. A protection. ”

—Vin to TenSoon

“You brought armies to attack my city. You threatened my people. I won’t slaughter your soldiers, make them pay for what you did, but I will kill you, Cett. ”

—Vin to Lord Cett

“I can't decide if you're a fool, (...) or if you simply exist in a way that makes you incapable of considering some things. (...) You said that the only reason to create something is to destroy it. (...) We create things to watch them grow, Ruin. (...) To take pleasure in seeing that which we love become more than it was before. ”

—Vin to Ruin during the Battle of Hathsin.

“She was strong and vulnerable all at once. She was my last master, and my greatest. She had a way of pouring everything of herself into what she did. When she fought, she was the blade. When she loved, she was the kiss. In that regard, she was far more . . . human than any I have known. ”

—TenSoon speaking of Vin to Waxillium Ladrian.

“All right, what was that pink thing I just passed in the hallway? ”

—Vin's first reaction upon seeing Allrianne Cett

Trivia

• Vin was originally male in a single chapter of Mistborn before Brandon changed his mind.

See Also

Subpages

• Gallery
• Quotes

Related Articles

• Vin's earring
• Elend Venture
• Kelsier
• Preservation
• Church of the Survivor

Notes

Preceded by Kelsier

Vessel of Preservation

Succeeded by Sazed

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