10 Mysterious Characters In Fantasy Books That Nobody Really Understands

Fantasy books, as a genre, have an effectively unlimited potential for what kinds of characters they can portray. While on-screen adaptations often have to resort to explosive and showy visual effects to demonstrate how powerful their characters are, books aren’t nearly so limited, and can often include far more fantastical concepts without having to worry about things like budgets.

The flip side of that more free-form approach is that many characters in fantasy books seem inscrutable or even downright incomprehensible to readers. Fantasy books with the most complex magic systems demand a lot from readers because of them, but even more entertaining is a singular character who defies all logic, even within straightforward world-building. Sometimes it’s because the book protagonist is actually the villain, and sometimes it’s because there are deeper things at work than the surface of the narrative.

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Tom Bombadil (The Lord of the Rings)

First Appearance: The Fellowship Of The Ring (1954)

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Tom Bombadil’s contribution to the narrative of The Lord of the Rings is a curious one, as is Tom himself. Scholars of Tolkien’s work have analyzed Tom for decades, and yet the only thing anyone can reach a consensus on is that he is indeed a merry fellow, with a bright blue jacket and yellow boots. Tolkien’s own words make it clear that Tom is meant to be enigmatic, as he has a very different relationship with the idea of power than any of the other mighty forces of Middle-Earth:

“But if you have, as it were taken ‘a vow of poverty’, renounced control, and take your delight in things for themselves without reference to yourself, watching, observing, and to some extent knowing, then the question of the rights and wrongs of power and control might become utterly meaningless to you, and the means of power quite valueless” (J. R. R. Tolkien, Letter 144).

In The Fellowship of the Ring, Tom saves Frodo and the other Hobbits from the undead Barrow-wights, and after freeing them from the Barrows, he gives them daggers from the treasure horde inside. These blades prove integral to the ending of the War of the Ring, as it was the one wielded by Merry Brandybuck that injures the Witch-King of Angmar and allows Éowyn to kill the chief of the Nazgûl. Perhaps this was Tom’s way of contributing to the war against the Shadow, even though Gandalf believed he cared nothing for the conflict.

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Tom’s uncertain place in the cosmology of Middle-Earth, and his tonal misfit with the rest of the narrative, have resulted in him being cut from all major film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings. It wasn’t until the second season of The Rings of Power that Tom Bombadil appeared on-screen; yet how this depiction of Tom differs from Tolkien’s writings makes it clear that whatever Tom’s true purpose in Middle-Earth was, all knowledge of it left our world when Tolkien passed away in 1973.

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Nakomi (The Wheel of Time)

First Appearance: Towers Of Midnight (2010)

The Wheel of Time has avatars of good who work to balance the evil done by the Dark One’s Chosen. The Aielwoman Nakomi is just such an avatar of the Creator, and her short appearance in Towers of Midnight has a disproportionately significant impact. While traveling the Wastes, Nakomi asks to share water with Aviendha, who is on her way to the holy city of Rhuidean for the next phase of her training as a Wise One. The conversation Nakomi and Aviendha have is short, mostly composed of Nakomi’s musings about what the future holds for the Aiel.

In Rhuidean, when approaching the glass column ter’angreal used in her training as a Wise One, Aviendha considers Nakomi’s question, and the ter’angreal responds accordingly; instead of giving her another vision of the Aiel’s past, it gives her a vision of a future where the Aiel are annihilated by the warlike Seanchan, one that Aviendha then takes steps to try and avoid. Nakomi’s intervention on behalf of the Creator is small and subtle, but it gives the Aiel the one thing they lacked: hope for their future.

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Dallben (The Chronicles of Prydain)

First Appearance: The Book Of Three (1964)

Heavily inspired by the language and mythology of Wales, where American author Lloyd Alexander had spent time during his army training in World War II, the land of Prydain is a pastoral, mystical realm, home to the young hero Taran, who begins the saga as an assistant pig-keeper and ends it as Prydain’s High King. At the outset of the series, Taran lives with his mentor, the aged Dallben, possibly the greatest enchanter in all of Prydain.

In Disney’s 1984 film The Black Cauldron, which adapts the first two Prydain novels, Dallben is voiced by Freddie Jones.

Remiscent of Merlin and various Irish myths, Dallben is Taran’s mentor throughout the Prydain novels, having raised the boy since finding him as an abandoned infant on a battlefield. While Dallben rarely uses his magic to do more than guide or scry, he knows all its secrets, thanks to his possession of the Book of Three, a gift from a trio of witches he encountered in his youth. At the end of the series, he and all the other enchanters leave Prydain for the Summer Country, leaving Taran as High King to rebuild.

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The Chandrian (The Kingkiller Chronicles)

First Appearance: The Name Of The Wind (2007)

The Chandrian of The Kingkiller Chronicles are a group of enigmatic antagonists, known mostly through myth, legend, and song. Yet despite often being considered the stuff of superstition and children’s rhymes, they clearly exist, as they are the ones responsible for the slaughter of protagonist Kvothe’s entire family and traveling troupe. In fact, Kvothe may be one of the few people to ever survive not just one, but two encounters with the Chandrian.

The Chandrian & Their Signs
Cyphus	Bears the blue flame
Stercus	In thrall of iron
Ferule/Cinder	Chill and dark of eye
Usnea	Lives in nothing but decay
Dalcenti	Never speaks
Alenta	Brings the blight
Alaxel/Haliax	Bears the shadow’s hame

Whatever the Chandrian are — and both in-universe and real-world theories are conflicted on that — they’re one of the most evil things in existence. Whatever their broader motivations may be, they make quick work of anyone who knows anything about them. Kvothe’s parents were targeted because his father wrote a song using the Chandrian’s names, something most cultures in their world consider taboo. Once Patrick Rothfuss finally releases The Doors of Stone, the next nugget of lore about these mysterious killers may help Kvothe find a way to avenge his parents.

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Quaithe (A Song of Ice and Fire)

First Appearance: A Clash Of Kings (1998)

Far to the east of Westeros, at the edge of the peninsula known as the Shadow Lands, lies the port city of Asshai, an ancient and ominous enclave populated with many practitioners of dark and mysterious arts. All who live in the city wear masks or veils, hiding their true faces from those around them. The most dangerous of these are the shadowbinders, sorcerers who use the stuff of darkness itself in their magic.

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Quaithe first appears in A Clash of Kings as one of three envoys from the city of Qarth, who bid Daenerys Targaryen to accompany them back to their city. Yet while the other two envoys attempt to sway Daenerys with honeyed words, Quaithe provides only cryptic warnings, urging the young khaleesi to flee the city while she still can. Quaithe appears to Daenerys several more times in both A Storm of Swords and A Dance with Dragons, using her sorcery to send Daenerys additional prophetic warnings.

All of Quaithe’s warnings and visions seem to come true, and her advice has yet to steer Daenerys wrong, and yet it’s still unclear what the shadowbinder’s overall goal is in advising the Targaryen heir. HBO’s Game of Thrones does little to help provide additional perspective: in the series, Quaithe only appears in a few episodes of the second season, mirroring the advice she gives in A Clash of Kings.

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Nobby Nobbs (Discworld)

First Appearance: Guards! Guards! (1989)

Many mysterious fantasy characters are described as such because of their ulterior motivations or secretive pasts, but some characters’ mystery just comes from them being a little off-putting. No fantasy character so embodies this concept quite like Cecil Wormsborough St. John “Nobby” Nobbs. Not that Nobby has ulterior motives, but he makes little to no sense, particularly to his fellow residents of the Disc. In fact, Nobby carries with him a writ from Ankh-Morpork’s Patrician that certifies him as human:

“I, after hearing evidence from a number of experts, including Mrs. Slipdry the midwife, certify that the balance of probability is that the bearer of this document, C.W.St John Nobbs, is a human being. Signed, Lord Vetinari” (Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay).

Despite his numerous flaws, Nobby is still a good person, or at least good enough for the Ankh-Morpork Watch. Determined to never rise above the rank of corporal due to his fear of responsibility, Nobby is a surprisingly intelligent and intuitive copper, often noticing details that his immediate superior, Sergeant Fred Colon, completely misses.

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Hoid (The Cosmere)

First Appearance: Elantris (2005)

Art by Ari Ibarra

One of the most memorable and intentionally enigmatic characters in all of Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere novels, Hoid is incredibly difficult to understand. Part of this comes from how he appears in the narratives: many of Hoid’s initial appearances, such as in Elantris or Mistborn: The Final Empire, portray him as a minor side character, and it’s only after noticing the pattern of his name showing up that a neophyte Cosmere reader begins to realize that there is much more to this man than meets the eyes.

Hoid’s Names & Alliases
Name	World
Hoid	Multiple
Roamer	Multiple
Dust	Nalthis
Whitehair	Roshar
The Trickster Aspect	Roshar
Mythwalker	Roshar
The King’s/Queen’s Wit	Roshar
Lunu’anaki	Roshar
Drifter	Scadrial
Wanderer	Scadrial
Imperial Fool of the Rose Empire	Sel
Hoed	Sel
Topaz	Unknown
Cephandrius Maxtori	Yolen
Midius	Yolen
Bearer of the First Gem	Yolen

In The Stormlight Archive, Hoid takes a far more central role, serving as the King’s Wit (essentially a jester) for the kingdom of Alethkar. The Alethi royalty take his sarcastic demeanor in stride, but more than once it seems quite obvious that Hoid is someone playing an extremely long game.

Hoid’s Appearances In The Cosmere
Book	Series
The Way of Kings	The Stormlight Archive
Words of Radiance	The Stormlight Archive
Oathbringer	The Stormlight Archive
Rhythm of War	The Stormlight Archive
Wind and Truth	The Stormlight Archive
The Final Empire	Mistborn
The Well of Ascension	Mistborn
The Alloy of Law	Mistborn
Shadows of Self	Mistborn
The Bands of Mourning	Mistborn
Mistborn: Secret History	Mistborn
The Lost Metal	Mistborn
Warbreaker	Warbreaker
Elantris	Elantris
The Emperor’s Soul	Elantris
White Sand	Standalone graphic novel
Tress of the Emerald Sea	Standalone book
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter	Standalone book
The Sunlit Man	Standalone book

In actuality, Hoid is one of the oldest and most powerful figures in the Cosmere; he’s well over 10 thousand years old by the end of Wind and Truth, the most recent Stormlight book. The only other inhabitants of the Cosmere that might be considered Hoid’s peers are the Vessels, the ones who Hoid helped kill Adonalsium and took up the Shards of the dead god’s power; notably, Hoid alone declined to take a Shard.

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Rashid, The Gatekeeper (The Dresden Files)

First Appearance: Summer Knight (2002)

The Dresden Files, Jim Butcher’s urban fantasy epic, is packed with cryptic characters with arcane motivations, but few leave as much of an impression on protagonist Harry Dresden as Rashid the Gatekeeper, one of the senior members of the White Council of Wizards. First introduced along with the rest of the Senior Council in the novel Summer Knight, Rashid is a tall and imposing man, and one of his eyes is a magical prosthetic.

Rashid is far older than any other member of the Council; while wizards in The Dresden Files can live for centuries, Rashid is rumored to have been the wizard who took down the “Mad Arab” Abdul Alhazred (originally from the works of H. P. Lovecraft, but who, like many other figures in fantasy and mythology, is real in the world of The Dresden Files). Since Alhazred died in the year 738, that would make Rashid over 1300 years old by the time of the books, something that should be impossible.

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Allanon (Shannara)

First Appearance: The Sword Of Shannara (1977)

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Introduced as the last of the Druids in the first Shannara novel, Allanon guides three generations of the Ohmsford family as they work to save the Four Lands from various threats. Yet for all his power and wisdom, Allanon’s past and deeper thoughts are left a mystery. At least until 1996’s First King of Shannara, a prequel novel that reveals Allanon was never actually a Druid, but merely an apprentice taken on by Bremen, the last actual Druid who survived the order’s destruction by the dread Warlock Lord.

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Until the release of First King, Allanon often seemed like a copy of Gandalf the Grey, but the glimpse into his childhood and learning at the hands of Bremen put his character in a new light. Allanon only had three years to learn the Druid arts at Bremen’s hand before the older man died, leaving Allanon as the only Druid for five centuries until the events of The Sword of Shannara, making him much more like Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi than any incarnation of Gandalf.

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Randall Flagg (The Dark Tower)

First Appearance: The Stand (1978)

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Stephen King’s recurring antagonist Randall Flagg has uncountable names, but one thing’s for sure: whatever he’s calling himself, watch for the Walkin’ Dude. In The Stand, he leads a cult of pain and chaos through the viral apocalypse with the goal of rebuilding the United States with himself at the lead, but his ambitions are cut short by a nuclear fireball, which he somehow survives. In The Eye of the Dragon, he takes over the medieval kingdom of Delain and nearly destroys it. Wherever he goes, whatever name he uses, Randall Flagg is an agent of chaos.

Portrayals Of Randall Flagg
Actor	Project	Release Date
Jamey Sheridan	The Stand (miniseries)	1994
Matthew McConaughey	The Dark Tower	2017
Alexander Skarsgård	The Stand (CBS version)	2020

The depths of Flagg’s evil are most explored through King’s Dark Tower fantasy series, which also gives hints as to how he survives things like nuclear detonations or getting shot in the face. Born with the name Walter Padick, his abusive adolescence drove him to learn dark magic and achieve a unique kind of immortality. The chaos he left in his wake quickly attracted the attention of the Crimson King, the malevolent entity that seeks to unmake all reality by collapsing the Dark Tower that holds up the multiverse.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Arda, The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, The Name of the Wind, Feet of Clay

Source: https://dinhtienhoang.edu.vn
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