Besides Rand...is there any other character in WoT that we all can agree to "like?"

[MasterAblar]

all agree to dislike Lelaine? at the moment I'm not seeing any redeeming feature.

She sided with the rebels, not that she really had a choice.

 

Oh and she also accepted to work with the BT, even though she could have opposed Romanda on it. So she did what was in the best interest of the WT.

Edited December 17, 2012 by Master Ablar

[TNine]

all agree to dislike Lelaine? at the moment I'm not seeing any redeeming feature.

She didn't want to leave the fate of the most powerful institution of the world in the hands of a 19-year-old during the end times? That seems like a pretty fine motivation, if misguided.

[Ryan D]

Fain is without a doubt my all time fav villian. I like all the characters. Cadsuane is pretty high on my list. I even think the Dark One is pretty cool. Who doesn't like a giant voice in your head?

[Tsukibana]

... Who doesn't like a giant voice in your head?

 

those of us with voices of our own!!!

[Ha Ni]

On 11/24/2012 at 12:02 AM, TNine said:

I don't like Aveindha.

 

I think most people would say they liked the "good guy" Asha'man. Flinn, Narishma, Grady, etc.

I don't like Aveindha much. Especially during the period she was teaching Rand. She was so annoying

[Ha Ni]

On 11/23/2012 at 8:48 PM, Mr Hindley said:

I'm going to take a punt on Birgitte as being a character that most people can get behind.

Birgitte was fine a lot of the time, but there was a period when she was traveling with Nyn and Elayne that she was pretty obnoxious. Not any worse than the former two, but still. And also, when she became Captain...she complained often and was always in a bad mood. I missed the person she was when she was hanging out with Mat.

[Ha Ni]

On 11/24/2012 at 12:20 PM, Wool-headed lummox said:

I don't actually like Rand. He's a generic one-dimensional personality-free fantasy book protagonist which is entirely reliant on his previous incarnation's skills and reputation. Why is Rand famous? Because people foretold that Lews Therin would be reborn at the end of an Age. Why is Rand a brilliant strategist (despite having no education or experience outside of herding sheep)? Because he gets memories from Lews Therin, who was a general in a ten year war and a world leader for decades before that. Why is Rand the strongest channeller evah? Lews Therin. Why is Rand prophesied to end the Shadow? Lews Therin. How do the Forsaken refer to Rand, and what do they think of him? Lews Therin. Even Heroes of the Horn refer to him as Lews Therin.

 

In my opinion, this is the worst possible way to write a hero. Rand's role is completely passive, he's a receptacle for miracles and phantasms and prophecies of salvation/destruction, there's nothing about his activities in the series that is in any way connected to his background (of herding sheep in a backwater village), his moral convictions are never questioned or shaken by any temptation, real or otherwise. Rand doesn't care that he can topple mountains and make fire consume all who oppose him. He isn't seduced by beautiful women throwing themselves at him. He doesn't feel the power of controlling five kingdoms. He's just here to save the day, because that's what heroes do. Wonderful.

 

Granted, Rand's story arc in TGS was pretty fun to read, and seeing him calm and collected in ToM really paid off after the string of self-induced failures reached its logical conclusion. Aside from that... meh. He doesn't feel like a real person.

 

 

The characters that I do like are Egwene and Nynaeve. Unlike most everyone else, these two actually learn to be competent and mature from their mistakes, and their high positions feel well-deserved by the time they reach them. The only problem I have with Egwene is that it was completely implausible for the Salidar Aes Sedai to choose her as the Amyrlin Seat. A group of rebels would want to cling to any shred of plausibility and credibility they can have would not have selected an apprentice who spent a total of three months in the Tower and was raised to Accepted by the impeached Amyrlin's decree - shortly before leaving the Tower once again. It's like making an intern student chairman of the board of directors, completely ridiculous. Still, her story was one of the more interesting ones to read, so I'm willing to close my eyes on that obvious plot convenience.

I haven't finished the series yet....on the last book, but I have to agree about Rand. It's like he has very little merit on his own. All his useful skill/knowledge comes from Lews Therin. But I guess the point was to put all that brilliance into a more grounded/humble person so he could see new ways to solve problems (though I don't know how humble Mr I-AM-THE-DRAGON-REBORN ends up being). But the fact that the series is so heavily driven by prophesy makes it feel kinda....I dunno, like all the decisions they make have already been decided and they don't actually have as much agency as they think they do.

Edited August 6, 2020 by Ha Ni