Character Description/Races

[Turok]

Hey so I am always trying to figure out or remember what everyone looks like and what certain groups of people look like so I was wondering if there was already somewhere that I could find a write up of something like that or if someone would want to make one on here. For instance

 

Characters:

Rand-Tall, dark, and handsome.

Bela-Tall, dark, and...handsome?

Etc.

 

Races:

Borderlands-Asian?

Andor-White/Scandinavian

Etc.

 

 

Mostly just the main characters would be nice, including the forsaken (those are the ones I get confused on the most). Anyway if anyone wanted to try making something like that up I would appreciate it.

 

Thanks

[randsc]

Rand is exceptionally tall, fair, and red-haired.

Egwene is not tall, with fair skin but dark hair and eyes.

Mat is wiry, dark-haried and dark-eyed.

Perrin has brown hair and eyes.

Nynaeve, fair, dark eyes, dark hair.

Elayne, red-gold hair, blue eyes.

Aviendha, reddish hair, blue-green eyes.

Tuon, ebony skin, full lips.

 

Race is, quite intentionally I am sure, not a part of Rand-land. What we would call racial characteristics are just points of physical description. Which I find quite refreshing, actually.

 

Cultural differences are someething else.

 

There are many, many resources out there, but broadly:

 

Andor = England

Cairhein = France

Aeil seem to be racially Celtic, with Native American social organization and Zulu military tactics.

The Sheinarans are prety much Samuri, aren't they?

The Saldaeans are some sort of semitic people with a horse culture.

Tear sounds an awful lot like Spain.

Seanchan sure seems like Imperial China.

And on, and on.

Edited January 24, 2011 by randsc

[moratcorlm]

The character descriptions at http://encyclopaedia-wot.org/ generally include any physical descriptions at the top. Most characters seem to be white, though Domani have "copper"-colored skin and Saldaeans "tilted eyes", and some Tairens and the Sea Folk are brown-skinned, while some Seanchan, like Tuon, are black. Within the white population, Andor apparently has a number of blonds, many Taraboners have dark blond hair and brown eyes, the Cairhienin are short, with dark hair and eyes, and the Aiel have red hair and light eyes. There's probably more that I've forgotten.

 

As for the Forsaken, many are fairly ambiguous racially; Semirhage is clearly black, Graendal and Sammael white (as are Moridin and Cyndane), Lanfear was pale but I'm not sure whether in the European or Asian sense... the rest are probably white, but there's wiggle room.

[White_star]

...

 

Mostly just the main characters would be nice, including the forsaken (those are the ones I get confused on the most). Anyway if anyone wanted to try making something like that up I would appreciate it.

 

Thanks

Main Characters by Height

Some aren't really mains but should get mentioned. Most of this is in the books or from the encyclopedia moratcoim mentioned and some is guessed. I think most are light skinned unless noted otherwise.

FYI, since the neck is never mentioned in the measurements, whenever a description says "a head" taller or shorter I assume the neck is included in it.

Ex. Tam is a head shorter then Rand so I see Tam's head coming up to where Rand's neck meets his shoulders.

 

Light-side

 

Loial is head and shoulders taller then Rand. His nose is as broad as his face. He has pointed ears with tufts of hair. His hair is a shaggy black mane. His eyebrows are very long and hang down like tails. He has pale eyes. He has a narrow strip of hair up his chest as thick as fur.

Lan is blue eyed, broad shouldered, has shoulder length dark hair that is graying at the temples and held back w/ a hadori, heavy build, hard angular face, hairy chested, and not as handsome as he used to be.

Rand has gray/blue eyes, dark-reddish, unruly, silky-fine hair, fair skinned (that is different enough from TR's folk for Elaida to point it out), taller then most men, in fact he's just as tall as Lan and is more broad in the shoulders though not as heavily built (however, for Lan to be MORE heavily built means Rand is already well built to begin with)(TGH), is more slender then Perrin(TDR), 3rd or 4th most physically appealing mentioned of main men with his legs and rear-end getting some mention. He's a good enough swimmer to teach someone, a strong walker/runner, the best of the young men in archery, an excellent climber and at throwing his own weight around so muscle groups for these activities will be well developed. Shares facial features with his mum.

Logain is dark eyed, dark hair of shoulder length curls, darkish skin(?), broad shouldered, tall, almost as "big" (I guess the author meant build-wise) as Rand(CoT), rivals Rand in physical appeal

Perrin is half a head shorter then Rand but just as broad shouldered, just as (if not more) built then Lan due to his black smith training, has yellow/golden eyes, dark brown shaggy hair, short beard (and I guess mustache), slightly hairy chested, handsome

Galad is dark of eye and hair, light skinned(?), 1st place in physical appeal, tall, slender, (I haven't seen him described as having a heavy build or broad shoulders)

Gawyn is a full head taller then his sister, has the same reddish gold curls, blue eyes, similar build as Rand, broad shouldered, oval face, handsome

Thom has White hair, long white mustache, blue eyed, tall but slightly stooped

Mat is almost a full head shorter then Rand, long-limbed wiry body, brown eyes and hair, NOT described as good looking(except from two sources one which is second hand) but not ugly enough for Birgitte, his bottom IS mentioned though as well as his eyes once (I think), smooth chested, well muscled for his size.

Tam is a full head shorter then Rand, mostly gray hair that used to be black, dark eyes, square face, broad shouldered and deep chested, good build, is the best archer in the TR so he's got a very strong back

Aviendah is a full head shorter then Rand, similar skinned and hair color, green eyed, "full-busted for a (former)maiden of the spear", long legs, well built for a woman, and beautiful.

Berelain is tall, dark of eye and black hair that falls below the shoulders(?), is built enough to handle herself in a fight, very beautiful(#2 most beautiful).

Faile is tall, has a large, bold nose, a generous mouth, high cheekbones and dark, slightly tilted eyes.

Birgitte has blue eyes, long golden hair intricately braided, and is taller then Elayne.

Elayne is tall for a girl and beautiful. Her face is a perfect oval framed by a mass of sunburst curls, her lips are full and red. Her eyes are sapphire blue and she has a fine, well-rounded bosom (whatever that means). Now has a pregnant belly.

Bela is a small, strong, shaggy mare. (I don't remember if her color was mentioned.)

Min is taller then Nynaeve, slender, has large dark brown eyes and dark hair that is now in ringlets to her shoulders. She has more bosom then Leane which isn't much.

Nynaeve is beautiful, slender with same coloring as Egwene but a little taller, and same bust size as Elayne.

Egwene has big brown eyes and dark hair, and is slightly taller then Moiraine. She's slender and beautiful.

Moiraine has large, dark eyes and dark hair hanging in ringlets, and she's just barely comes up to Rand's chest. She's considered short even in Cairhien.

Tuon/Fortuona is dark-skinned, a shaved head and is very petite(even more so then Moiraine I'm guessing) with a heart-shaped face, large brown eyes, and full lips. She has boy-slender hips.

 

(I'm not sure on any others like Siuan, Caddy, Elaida, Garth Bryne)

 

 

 

Dark-side

(not too sure on some of these)

 

Rahvin is Rand's height or more and larger. He is dark and very handsome (2nd, place behind Galad). He is youthful except for the white streaks at his temples. He has nearly black eyes.

Ishamael / Moridin is not as tall as Lews Therin and handsome / is a tall, broad shouldered young( a little older then Rand) man the same size (build and height) as Rand with bright blue eyes and a too strong chin.

Demandred is hawk-nosed and handsome

Semihage is taller than most men, with a smooth dark face and dark eyes. She has long, slender fingers, is slender, beautiful and she has full lips. She has short, wavy hair.

Asmodean has dark hair, is handsome, and tall with dark, deep-set eyes.

Be'lal is tall with close-cropped white hair.

Taim is tall, slender with black hair and dark slightly slanted eyes(? couldn't find/remember much for his decription)

Sammael is muscular, solid and compact. He's slightly taller than average, with blue eyes, golden hair and a square cut beard. He has a livid scar from hairline to beard.

Aginor / Osan'gar was a dried up old prune but briefly was as tall and strong as Rand, harder than Lan, with the face of a strong man in his prime / has a plain, creased face, and has lank, untrimmed hair.

Balthamel / Aran'gar is physically so old that he covers every inch of his skin / has green eyes, ivory skin, an oval face and glossy black hair. She's beautiful and voluptuous, and wears blue-slashed green silk that leaves half her bosom on display.

Lanfear / Cyndane is incredibly beautiful(#1 of the ladies) and graceful, has pale, smooth skin, long, black hair and eyes dark as night. She dresses in white with silver jewelry. She is tall and slender with dark eyes and shoulder-length black hair.

 

As Sylvie, she is an ugly old crone with a sharp chin, sharp nose and lots of hairy warts.

 

As Keille Shaogi, she is short and immensely fat with black eyes and coarse black hair, but she still has her husky, melodious voice. / is a short young woman with long silver hair, vivid blue eyes and an impressive bosom. She holds herself very straight striving for height.

Moghedien is sturdily handsome with shoulder-length hair worn loose. She has large, dark eyes and smooth cheeks.

 

As Gyldin she is sturdily handsome and dark-braided.

 

As Marigan, she looks as if she was once plump. She has a weary, blunt face.

Graendal is beautiful but somewhat fleshy with elaborately curled red-gold hair.

Mesaana appears just short of her middle years and has blue eyes.

 

Paden Fain is a pale, skinny fellow with gangly arms, wide ears, and a massive beak of a nose.

 

Edit: I can't believe I forgot Loial.

Edited January 26, 2011 by White_star

[Guest RedMenace]

I hate to necromance a couple week-old post, but there's been something bothering me with the character descriptions since I started looking up fan art and possible actors for movie roles: Character height. I did a cursory search here that didn't turn up any useful information, and I didn't feel like starting a new topic for this... so yeah. First post, yay.

 

So here's my issue: Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, I've ever "heard" describe characters in this universe have used Imperial measurements (12 inches = 1 foot) -- however, according to the books, this is not the case. The glossary, starting with The Great Hunt, lists units of measurement... lo and behold, 1 foot equals 10 inches in the Jordanverse (10 inches = 3 hands = 1 foot, etc). That leads to the conclusion that the races in these books are actually shorter than average, modern-day humans.

 

So if Rand is 6'4 or 6'5, TECHNICALLY he's only 65 inches tall, right? Rolan, the massive, 7' Aiel from Crossroads of Twilight, would only be 70 inches. Loial, who's half-again as tall as an average man, would only be ("only," he says) somewhere around 9' to 10' tall.

 

There's not really a point to my wondering about this, just idle curiosity; however, please tell me I'm not the only person who's noticed this discrepancy, or if I am and nobody else cares, to just get over it. :)

[randsc]

That's an interesting point, and exactly right, but to me, height is a relative measure. What matters is how tall a character is in relation to other people of his place and time.

[Aliriel]

I can certainly see where RedMenace is coming from in regards to the difference in RL/JV (real life/Jorden verse) messurements as I myself have found it hard to actually imagine the characters at their correct heights after reading the glossery, but as randsc stated, it's all relative, and to be realistic, whats a couple inches here or there in ones imagination? As long as everythings getting the same treatment, ie- no making your favourites bigger/taller than everyone else just because you can .

 

A.

[David Selig]

The Randland inches could be different in length from the inches in our world.

 

Not that I care much, as randsc said, it's all relative.

[10g1k]

Looks like my post was deleted by someone.  Why is that?

[Elder_Haman]

Because you resurrected a 10 year old thread. Feel free to re-post as a new one.