Symbolic animals for Cosmere characters

[Trutharchivist]

This idea was inspired by this thread, which did that to only SA characters. I encountered it while searching for discussions on His Dark Materials, but that's a story for another day. The OP there is:

Quote

Hello everyone,

 

it‘s nice to meet you. You guys have such fascinating and friendly discussions going on, it draws out even lurkers like me.

 

I had fun thinking about the Stormlight Archive characters and what would be their symbolic animal, (A bit as in the style of the daemons of His Dark Materials or the patronus of Harry Potter. My apologies if there already is a post like this somewhere.)

 

Here goes:

 

• Kaladin would be a wolf. A strong and hardy creature, fierce to outsiders, loyal to its pack. The wild look of a wolf would also match how I imagine him.
• Shallan: A mink, I think. A shy yet bold creature, crafty, quick, delicate but vicious when threatened.
• Adolin: A noble war steed much like Sureblood. Beautiful and powerful but in a civilized manner, not exactly an independent creature, but loyal and brave.
• Navani: Easy, a great cat, maybe a leopard or a lioness. Elegant, demanding, independent but also tender.
• Renarin: A turtle, because he always hides in his shell. More benevolently: Something like a heron or crane. Amazing if it‘s left to fly, but withering in a cage or under constant stress.
• Jasnah is hard. I'm not sure what I'd say.
• Szeth....hehe, maybe a mongoose? He‘s small, with incredible grace and reflexes so....
• Elhokar is hard to tell, but then, I really don‘t like him so I don‘t want to compare him to some admirable creature. What kind of animal is known to be this moody?
• Dalinar is also very difficult, but not because he sucks. He‘s just not like any animal I can think of.

 

Hm, I think I‘ve got most of the best known characters so far. Do you agree? Do you have other ideas?

So there you have it. I agree with the Kaladin choice wholeheartedly, and the Nava I one. Not sure about Shallan. For Dalinar I'll go with something offered there in another post - a bear, probably a grizzly bear. Or a panserbjørne (sorry... Kind of had to). The others I less agree with, and there are many options offered in the original thread - do read it, it's not very long.

Anyway, my picks for other Cosmere characters:

- Vin: a little owl, maybe. Some kind of small, deadly nocturnal animal, I think. Though I might base it too much on her fighting skills.

- Kelsier: an equally deadly animal, but a diurnal one, I think. More direct and brutal than Vin's. A hawk or an eagle.

- Sazed: an owl, I should think. A barn owl, or something similar, for wisdome.

I'm not completely sure of my examples, I'd like to hear more from you. What do you think?

[Experience]

Breeze could be a panda. Generally thought of as lazy but strong and fierce when needed. 

[Primeival Chaos]

Ham could be an elephant- Big and strong but also kind

[+Invocation]

5 hours ago, Trutharchivist said:

- Kelsier: an equally deadly animal, but a diurnal one, I think. More direct and brutal than Vin's. A hawk or an eagle.

Golden eagle for my money.

[SwordNimiForPresident]

Kelsier is a cat. He's the type that can go out and enjoy killing something and then go back to its family and snuggle.

Kaladin is an ostrich, because he like to bury his head in the sand.

 

[Trutharchivist]

20 hours ago, Primeval Chaos said:

Ham could be an elephant- Big and strong but also kind

Interesting... I thought at first to give Sazed elephant for memory, but elephants are renown for their memory, IIRC, because they hold grudges for a long time.

 

15 hours ago, SwordNimiForPresident said:

Kelsier is a cat. He's the type that can go out and enjoy killing something and then go back to its family and snuggle.

Kaladin is an ostrich, because he like to bury his head in the sand.

 

Kell makes sense, I guess. We have a confirmation that he's a cat person, too, I believe.

Kal, though... I disagree. He doesn't hide away from things that much, IMO.

[Anomander Rake]

I can't see Adolin as anything but a big happy Golden Retriever XD

fiercely loyal, excellent work ethic, surprisingly clever, and an amazing friend.  and of course a huge goofy ball of energy whether you're in the mood for it or not (looking at you, Kaladin!)

[Quantus]

38 minutes ago, Anomander Rake said:

I can't see Adolin as anything but a big happy Golden Retriever XD

fiercely loyal, excellent work ethic, surprisingly clever, and an amazing friend.  and of course a huge goofy ball of energy whether you're in the mood for it or not (looking at you, Kaladin!)

For all those reasons with a more impressive physical capability and surprising utility: Horse

 

[dbulick]

Hoid - The Jackal.

[Duxredux]

Hmm...

Breeze - honeyguide. It's a bird that leads humans to beehives so that it can get the humans to do the dirty work and eat the honey itself. It also lays its eggs in other bird nests so that the other bird has to do the work to incubate the eggs.

Spook during Mistborn 1 - meerkat.

Syl - hummingbird or an excitable puppy.

Ham - one of the great apes, possibly in "The Thinker" pose.

Kelsier - blobfish. According to Hoid.

Gaz - chull.

[Trutharchivist]

11 hours ago, dbulick said:

Hoid - The Jackal.

I must say that I don't really get that - care to elaborate?

3 hours ago, Duxredux said:

Hmm...

Breeze - honeyguide. It's a bird that leads humans to beehives so that it can get the humans to do the dirty work and eat the honey itself. It also lays its eggs in other bird nests so that the other bird has to do the work to incubate the eggs.

Spook during Mistborn 1 - meerkat.

Syl - hummingbird or an excitable puppy.

Ham - one of the great apes, possibly in "The Thinker" pose.

Kelsier - blobfish. According to Hoid.

Gaz - chull.

Great choices! Though I disagree with the last one. Gaze isn't, in any way, a big, slow person, and that's how chulls are seen in Roshar. He's not a whitespine or anything. Perhaps a skyeel.

Edited April 27, 2022 by Trutharchivist

[dbulick]

On 4/26/2022 at 10:41 PM, Trutharchivist said:

I must say that I don't really get that - care to elaborate?

Great choices! Though I disagree with the last one. Gaze isn't, in any way, a big, slow person, and that's how chulls are seen in Roshar. He's not a whitespine or anything. Perhaps a skyeel.

Jackal's are kind of the African/Egyptian version of a fox in mythology.  They are seen as tricksters.  The jackal seemed cooler than a fox?

Edited May 2, 2022 by dbulick