Mistborn: The Final Empire Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Vin

A sixteen-year-old street thief trained by betrayal to trust no one, who turns out to be a Mistborn—one of the rare Allomancers who can burn every metal. She learns to love, to spy in ballgowns, and finally to kill a god with a spear.

Appears in:: Part 1: Ash, Mist, and a Girl Who Knows Too Much; Part 2: The Crew, the Balls, and the Plan to Kill a God; Part 3: Hope, Slaughter, and a Death on Purpose; Part 4: The Eleventh Metal and the God Who Wasn't
Themes:: The cost of trust; Gods are made, not born

Kelsier

The half-skaa Survivor of Hathsin, the only person ever to escape the Lord Ruler's prison camps, whose scarred arms become a symbol of hope. He plans a revolution knowing he must die in it—and does, smiling at the god who kills him.

Appears in:: Part 1: Ash, Mist, and a Girl Who Knows Too Much; Part 2: The Crew, the Balls, and the Plan to Kill a God; Part 3: Hope, Slaughter, and a Death on Purpose; Part 4: The Eleventh Metal and the God Who Wasn't
Themes:: Hope as a weapon; The cost of trust; Systems are stronger than tyrants—and weaker

Elend Venture

Heir to Luthadel's most powerful house who'd rather read banned books than play court politics. He dreams of a better society, and after the empire falls, he gets elected king of its first democracy.

Appears in:: Part 2: The Crew, the Balls, and the Plan to Kill a God; Part 4: The Eleventh Metal and the God Who Wasn't
Themes:: The cost of trust; Systems are stronger than tyrants—and weaker

Sazed

A Terrisman eunuch steward, secretly a Feruchemist who stores strength and speed in metalminds. He serves as Vin's tutor and rescues her twice, breaking prison bars with borrowed strength.

Appears in:: Part 2: The Crew, the Balls, and the Plan to Kill a God; Part 4: The Eleventh Metal and the God Who Wasn't
Themes:: Gods are made, not born

Marsh

Kelsier's brother, a spy who infiltrates the Lord Ruler's church and is reported dead—then reappears as a Steel Inquisitor who turns on his own kind in the throne room.

Appears in:: Part 1: Ash, Mist, and a Girl Who Knows Too Much; Part 3: Hope, Slaughter, and a Death on Purpose; Part 4: The Eleventh Metal and the God Who Wasn't

The Lord Ruler

The immortal tyrant of the Final Empire, worshipped as a god for a thousand years. Vin unmasks him as Rashek, the Terrisman who murdered the true Hero of Ages and stole his ascension.

Appears in:: Part 1: Ash, Mist, and a Girl Who Knows Too Much; Part 2: The Crew, the Balls, and the Plan to Kill a God; Part 3: Hope, Slaughter, and a Death on Purpose; Part 4: The Eleventh Metal and the God Who Wasn't
Themes:: Gods are made, not born; Systems are stronger than tyrants—and weaker

OreSeur / Lord Renoux

A kandra wearing a dead nobleman's bones, posing as Vin's uncle so she can infiltrate Luthadel's balls as his niece Valette. His arrest and staged execution become the crew's most dangerous gambit.

Appears in:: Part 2: The Crew, the Balls, and the Plan to Kill a God; Part 3: Hope, Slaughter, and a Death on Purpose
Themes:: The cost of trust

How they are connected

Key relationships

Kelsier The Lord Ruler
The half-skaa Survivor of Hathsin, the only person ever to escape the Lord Ruler's prison camps, whose scarred arms become a symbol of hope.
Sazed Vin
He serves as Vin's tutor and rescues her twice, breaking prison bars with borrowed strength.
Marsh Kelsier
Kelsier's brother, a spy who infiltrates the Lord Ruler's church and is reported dead—then reappears as a Steel Inquisitor who turns on his own kind in the throne room.
Marsh The Lord Ruler
Kelsier's brother, a spy who infiltrates the Lord Ruler's church and is reported dead—then reappears as a Steel Inquisitor who turns on his own kind in the throne room.
The Lord Ruler Vin
Vin unmasks him as Rashek, the Terrisman who murdered the true Hero of Ages and stole his ascension.
OreSeur / Lord Renoux Vin
A kandra wearing a dead nobleman's bones, posing as Vin's uncle so she can infiltrate Luthadel's balls as his niece Valette.

Go deeper

Mistborn: The Final Empire themes & symbols

Hope as a weapon · The cost of trust · Gods are made, not born · Systems are stronger than tyrants—and weaker

Themes explained

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