This article is about the characters, groups of characters and races in Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time fantasy fiction series.

The Light

Ta'veren

Rand al'Thor

Rand al'Thor is the main character. He is the Dragon Reborn, the one that will save the world from the Dark One. Born on the side of the Dragonmount, within sight of Tar Valon, he left his village after it was attacked, and admitted to being Dragon Reborn about a year later. He also cleansed the male half of the True Source, and has killed several Forsaken, at least two of them permanently. Rand was branded in a series of accidents and religious experiences, in accordance with prophecy. He has three lovers (listed below) who also hold his warder bond.

Matrim Cauthon

Matrim Cauthon, also known as Mat, a childhood friend to Rand al'Thor and one of the more mysterious characters in the series, is Ta'veren in such a way that he is granted extraordinary luck. Nearly dying after acquiring a tainted dagger from Shadar Logoth, Mat recovers to find holes in his memory. Later in the series, his memory is restored, but he finds that he has memories from other individuals who lived thousands of years before his birth. As a quirk from this, he occasionally speaks in the Old Tongue. He gets a black spear with an long blade on its end from the 'SnakePeople' as he calls them. I would call it a Yari, it is inscribed:

Thus is our treaty written; thus is agreement made. Thought is the arrow of time; memory never fades. What was asked is given. The price is paid.

Matrim Cauthon is also the sounder of the Horn of Valere.

Perrin Aybara

Perrin Aybara, a blacksmith's apprentice and another of Rand al'Thor's childhood friends, is another Ta'veren. Perrin begins to change after meeting a mysterious man, named Elyas Machera, who is able to communicate with wolves. Elyas informs Perrin that he too possesses this ability. Furthermore, Perrin begins to adopt some wolflike traits, such as yellow eyes and superior night vision. However, after seeing a man lose all traces of manhood and become a wolf in all but the physical sense, he becomes terrified that the same fate awaits him if he is not careful. He is called Lord Perrin GoldenEyes in book IV and he marries Zarine "Faile" (meaning Falcon in the Old Tongue) Bashere, Daughter of Davram Bashere and Cousin of Queen Tenobia of Saldaea. He is followed around in this book by The Companions, a lot of young Two Rivers man and has a Banner, a Red Wolfshead on White bordered by Red. This was Verin Sedai's doing. He leads the Two Rivers people to Victory against the Trollocs that have invaded the Two Rivers, from the Manetheren Waygate. The Trollocs were send by 'Isam', but Ordeith (aka Mordeth and Padan Fain) had some part in this.

Aes Sedai

Aes Sedai are the female channelers (Basically magic users). They are more numerous than their male counterparts, usually just referred to as male channelers, because their side of the one power (saidar) is not tainted like the male half (saidin). Of the different parts of the one power Aes Sedai more commonly use water and wind, while male channelers generally use fire and earth, and spirit is used equally between the two. Aes Sedai study and generally live in the White Tower, which is in the city Tar Valon. However, there are a network of "eyes-and-ears" all over the world of the Wheel of Time.

Aes Sedai go through a rigorous training, beginning as a Novice, then testing to become Accepted, and finally Aes Sedai. The Aes Sedai wear the ring of the serpent, usually on the ring finger, to symbolize no beginning or end to the Wheel.

The Tower is the highest builing on the entire planet, and a remainder of the Age of Legends. In the Old Tongue, the ancient language of the Wheel of Time world, Aes Sedai means servent. Aes Sedai, upon their ascention to their rank, swear three oaths that are magically sealed to them through a set of rods (ter'angreal; the Oath Rods) and that they can never break: To never speak a word that is not true, never to create a weapon for one man to kill another, and never to use her powers to kill, unless in the last defense of her life or her warder's, or in the exception of killing shadowspawn.

The Aes Sedai consist of seven groups, called Ajahs, ecah represented by a different color (Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, White, Grey, and Brown). Each Ajah performs, in general, a specific duty. For example, the Brown Ajah are the historians of the Aes Sedai, tracking and keeping loads of information at the Tower's disposal.

There is also the rumored "Black" Ajah, a group of Aes Sedai Darkfriends, which does not discriminate between Ajahs.

The Aes Sedai are led by one of the most powerful women in the world, the Amyrlin Seat. She is elected by the Tower's Hall. Her second-in-command is the Keeper of the Chronicles. Each of the two women wears a stole over her shoulders. The Keeper of the Chronicles wears a solid stole (as opposed to the shawl that most Aes Sedai wear) of the color from which Ajah she came from. The Amyrlin Seat and the Keeper are almost always from the same Ajah. The Amyrlin, however, wears a stole striped with each Ajah's colors, to represent that she comes from all Ajahs, but at the same time is part of none of them.

Elayne Trakand

As Daughter-Heir to the Lion Throne of Andor, Elayne is sent to study in the White Tower as a matter of royal tradition. Shortly before leaving for the Tower, she witnesses the parading of the false Dragon, Logain Ablar, and accidentally encounters Rand al'Thor when he falls into the palace gardens by mistake. She becomes a strong Aes Sedai, especially in the field of Ter'Angreal. She and Rand become lovers, and at the end of the tenth book she is pregnant with his child.

Egwene al'Vere

Childhood sweetheart to Rand al'Thor, Egwene discovers that she has the ability to wield the One Power and begs to leave with Moiraine, Lan, and the Ta'veren after the Trolloc attack on Winternight. Egwene learns that she is a Dreamer, with the inborn ability to navigate in the world of dreams, and she goes to the Aiel to apprentice as a Dream Walker. She is Amyrlin Seat of the White Tower in Exile, and as such has no Ajah. She may be the only Amyrlin in history raised directly from accepted status.

Moiraine Damodred

A member of the Blue Ajah, stronger than average in the Power, and childhood friend of Siuan, Moiraine meets Rand and his friends during the attack on their village and escorts them to Tar Valon. Disappears while battling Lanfear; passes Lan's bond to a minor Aes Sedai, after which he marries Nynaeve.

Nynaeve al'Meara

Wisdom of Emond's Field, Nynaeve follows the departed party in an effort to bring the villagers home. After coming to accept that she can wield the One Power, and that she has more potential than any woman in hundreds of years, she agrees to follow Moiraine and Egwene to the White Tower where she can learn to control her abilities and seek revenge on the woman for taking them away from their homes.

Nynaeve, as a wilder, has significant trouble learning to control her channelling. She is declared an (unBound) Aes Sedai by Egwene, and joins the Yellow Ajah.

Eventually marries Lan in a seafolk ceremony, and helps him deal with his psychological problems.

Verin Mathwin

Verin is a member of the Brown Ajah who helps Rand and his friends. She knows a technique verging on mind control, which leads many readers to suspect that she is in fact a member of the Black Ajah.

Kindred members

These need to be listed, especially those who helped fix the weather

Lews Therin Telamon

Also known as "The Dragon", he is a man who could channel the One Power. He won the War of the Shadow by sealing the Dark One in Shayol Ghul. However, the Dark One, in his last moments of access to the world, struck back and caused a taint to be placed upon Saidin, the male half of the One Power. This taint caused Lews Therin and every other male Aes Sedai (besides a few who escaped for a time in the Stedding) to go mad, resulting in the Breaking of the World and the end of the Age of Legends; Lews Therin also killed his wife, and many others, and committed suicide after Ishmael cured the madness and lead him to realize what he had done.

al'Lan Mandragoran

al'Lan Mandragoran is the full name of Lan, originally the warder of the Aes Sedai Moiraine Damodred.

He is the uncrowned King of Malkier, Dai Shan, a Diademed Battle Lord of the Malkieri and the last surviving Malkieri lord. One of his titles is Lord of the Seven Towers, called Aan'allein ("One Man") by the Aiel Marries Nynaeve.

Aiel

Aviendha

Full Name: Aviendha of the Nine Valleys Sept of the Tardaad Aiel

In training to become a Wise One, Aviendha retired as a Maiden of the Spear. Friends with Egwene and Elayne, and first-sister to Elayne. Also Rand's first lover.

Her mentors, as well as some of the clan chiefs, should probably have entries here

Amys

Wife of Rhuarc, sister-wife to Lian, of the Taardad, was Far Dareis Mai, refused to give up the spear, her spearsisters forced her and brought her to Bair and Coedelin, "bound hand and foot and wearing only my skin". She can Channel, a DreamWalker.

Bair

a DreamWalker.

Seana

Killed by a Drag-Khar in Cold Rocks Hold, a DreamWalker.

Melaine

She can Channel, a DreamWalker.

Bayle Domon

To be written

Elmindreda (Min) Farshaw

Min is a miner's daughter, and has occasional (and uncontrollable) episodes of prophecy; she is one of the few main characters to completely lack the Power. Hides out in the White Tower for a time. Rand's second (and most frequent) lover, and travels with him through the end of book 10.

Loial the Ogier

to be written

Thomdril (Thom) Merrilin

Formerly involved with Elayne's mother, Morgase Trakand, Thom is friends with Moiraine Sedai, and aides Rand and his companions early in the series.

The Dark

The Dark One

The Dark One is a euphemism for his true name, Shai'tan (probably from Shaitan). He is the source of all evil. He is also thought to go by Ba'alzamon which means "Heart of the Dark" in the Trolloc language.

Speaking the true name of the Dark One is believed to bring misfortune on the speaker, so there are many alternative names for him:

Father of Lies
Sightblinder
Lord of the Grave
Shepherd of the Night
Heartsbane
Soulsbane
Heartfang
Old Grim
Grassburner
Leafblighter

The Forsaken

Aginor

AKA Osan'gar

To be written

Asmodean

A forsaken of no great significance, Asmodean is captured by Lanfear in Rhuidean (according to her) to train Rand to channel more effectively. His real name was Joar Addam Nesossin. He is killed several months later, though the identity of his assassin is unclear. He was known for his habit of oft-tratiorously throwing his lot in with whoever he thought would win; this is why none of the Forsaken attempted to rescue him after he was captured and shielded by Lanfear. As Rand's teacher, he worked under the alias Jasin Natael, a gleeman.

Balthamel

AKA Aran'gar

To be written

Be'lal

To be written

Demandred

Demandred was a powerful male Aes Sedai in the Age of Legends. His real name was Barid Bel Medar and he was given the name Demandred after he willingly turned to the Shadow early in the War of Power. He was always a rival of Lews Therin Telamon and was envious of Lew's widespread fame and notoriety. It was this jealousy that caused him to go over to the Shadow.

Demandred was a very successful general of the forces of the Shadow, winning many victories against his former allies. He, like all the other Forsaken, was sealed in the Bore by Lews Therin and the Hundred Companions when they made their strike at Shayol Ghul.

Since escaping he has served the Dark One in spreading chaos across the world. His current whereabouts are unknown although he is believed by some to be masquerading as the man Mazrim Taim.

Graendal

To be written

Ishamael

AKA Ba'alzamon, AKA Moridin Ishamael, who eventually becomes the head of the Forsaken, was a rival of Lews Therin Telamon who felt that he would be the premier man of the age if not for LTT. Attempted to kill Rand, and was killed by him; returned as Moridin. Now trying to stop squabbling between the other Forsaken, and holds Cyndane and Moghieden as prisoners.

Lanfear

AKA Cyndane

One of the first Forsaken encountered in person by Rand, she is apparently killed by Moiraine. Also the only Forsaken to apparently aid the side of good, she at least pretends to be in love with Rand for a time, but it is unclear whether that is acting. May have killed Asmodean.

Mesaana

To be written

Moghedien

One of Moridin's two mindtrapped slaves, Moghedien is captured by Elayne and Nynaeve while trying to kill them in the world of dreams and later is punished by Moridin. She is known for attempting to avoid personal danger by acting through complex webs of others.

Rahvin

To be written

Sammael

To be written

Semirhage

Became a Foresaken after she was threatened with stilling and expulsion due to sadism targeted at her patients. Semirhage is one of the greatest healers in history, but has a habit of turning her skills to torture.

Padan Fain

A peddler who visited the Two Rivers often. He is a Darkfriend and was 'distilled' in Shayol Ghul to find the Dragon Reborn. Doing this he got in contact with Mordeth. He now calls himself Ordeith and sees himself not as a mere darkfriend, but as something above this.