Kaladin

[KalSpear he/him]

Kaladin is the best fantasy character of all time. His character arc is incredible. HE IS ALSO A GOD AT FIGHTING. 

[Quantus he/him]

Welcome to the Shard!

 

Kaladin is phenomenal but I'd be hard pressed to choose a Best even just among the Cosmere or even just in Stormlight, I like too many of them.  Im very much enjoying Zahel's story, personally.  Jasnah's too, and I think she'd eat Kaladin for breakfast if it came to violence (just because he'd foolishly expect a fair fight from her).  

[KalSpear he/him]

I'm curious why you think Jasnah would win. We have seen that she is a capable fighter, but not that she is exceptional. 

 

29 minutes ago, Quantus said:

Welcome to the Shard!

 

Kaladin is phenomenal but I'd be hard pressed to choose a Best even just among the Cosmere or even just in Stormlight, I like too many of them.  Im very much enjoying Zahel's story, personally.  Jasnah's too, and I think she'd eat Kaladin for breakfast if it came to violence (just because he'd foolishly expect a fair fight from her).  

 

Edited April 3 by KalSpear

[Quantus he/him]

In a fair fight he's probably win, but if she find herself in a fair fight she's already lost the battle she prefers and he barely know is being played.  If she wanted him dead she'd soulcast his food (or blood) into poison or something, it wouldnt be a contest of Blades and Plate.  

[KalSpear he/him]

1 minute ago, Quantus said:

In a fair fight he's probably win, but if she find herself in a fair fight she's already lost the battle she prefers and he barely know is being played.  If she wanted him dead she'd soulcast his food (or blood) into poison or something, it wouldnt be a contest of Blades and Plate.  

I definitely agree that in those circumstances he would lose. However, my comment on his fighting was just about blade, plate, and stormlight. 

[Quantus he/him]

2 minutes ago, KalSpear said:

I definitely agree that in those circumstances he would lose. However, my comment on his fighting was just about blade, plate, and stormlight. 

Oh, yes in that case he'd dance circles around her.  He's probably middle of the pack for the actual fighters, with WOB placing Adolin as roughly the top rung of the mortal swordfighters, and the immortals like the heralds generally a tier above what can be reached by anyone in one lifetime.  

[One Eyed Fool]

I mean in fighting discounting heralds/immortals in Stormlight I would rank Kaladin first with Dalinar a close second, even though on the series he does not exactly fight anymore, mind you I love Adolin and as a swordmaster he is probably the best but in a fight against Kaladin (with a spear) or the Blackthorn (sheer brutality) my money would be on the other two.

[KalSpear he/him]

agreed

[KaladinLightsong]

Kaladin is my favorite character in the entire cosmere.

[The cheeseman Sola Scriptora]

He wouldn't stand a chance against al'Lan Mandragoran, Last Lord of the Seven Towers, Diamed Battle-lord of the Borderlands, Uncrowned King of the Malkieri, Blademaster, Aan'allein.

Anyway! What qualities does his arc have that make him the best fantasy character of all time? Because while that is a valid opinion (Kal is like number 8 in my top ten), I disagree. I would say that it's Rand al'Thor from The Wheel of Time or Turin Turambar from The Children of Hurin. The glorious, beautiful tragedy of both their arcs is amazing, and they tie for best fantasy character of all time (BFCoaT, for short).

[Jofwu he/him]

Since this topic was double-posted, I'm merging the one from General into this topic in the Stormlight forum.

[Master Silver]

11 hours ago, The cheeseman said:

He wouldn't stand a chance against al'Lan Mandragoran, Last Lord of the Seven Towers, Diamed Battle-lord of the Borderlands, Uncrowned King of the Malkieri, Blademaster, Aan'allein.

Anyway! What qualities does his arc have that make him the best fantasy character of all time? Because while that is a valid opinion (Kal is like number 8 in my top ten), I disagree. I would say that it's Rand al'Thor from The Wheel of Time or Turin Turambar from The Children of Hurin. The glorious, beautiful tragedy of both their arcs is amazing, and they tie for best fantasy character of all time (BFCoaT, for short).

I greatly prefer Tuor of Gondolin to Turin. al'Lan Mandragoran, is very good and I love his last duel, but Kaladin has the winds on his side, he essentially moves like Obi'won or maybe Yoda would be a better example. Yoda is essentially, lashing himself when he fights  

 

In terms of Kaladin's best traits, his dogged determination and loyalty remind me of Samwise the brave. 

[JohnnyKaizen he/him]

Im just going to say, all of this is moot until 

Talenelat’Elin, Herald of the Almighty, Stonesinew, Patron of the Order of Stonewards, Herald of Soldiers and War has fought for real “on screen.”

Because he'll smoke everyone mentioned in this thread. I look forward to his awakening.

 

[Argenti he/him]

10 minutes ago, JohnnyKaizen said:

Im just going to say, all of this is moot until 

Talenelat’Elin, Herald of the Almighty, Stonesinew, Patron of the Order of Stonewards, Herald of Soldiers and War has fought for real “on screen.”

Because he'll smoke everyone mentioned in this thread. I look forward to his awakening.

 

 

Rand would absolutely obliterate him. But he is a wizard, so it's not fair.

[JohnnyKaizen he/him]

Rand (who has finally gotten his crap together at the very end of TWoT series) probably could poof Taln out of existence. The Rand of...Oooo the first 9-10 books...Nah. My money would still be on Taln. But yeah, a balanced Rand that we see in MoL would be most closely compared to a Shard Vessel in the Cosmere...especially if he has access to angreals or sa'angreals. That Rand would give Shards a run for their money I would assume. And if not, basically every other character in the Cosmere.

The OP was about Kaladin, a superhuman level fighter. As far as they go, minus Godlike power, Taln is gonna crush all competitors. 

Edit: @Argenti Umm I quoted you and somehow made that go away before I hit the button. So, oops.

Edited April 9 by JohnnyKaizen

[Quantus he/him]

On 4/4/2024 at 12:44 PM, One Eyed Fool said:

I mean in fighting discounting heralds/immortals in Stormlight I would rank Kaladin first with Dalinar a close second, even though on the series he does not exactly fight anymore, mind you I love Adolin and as a swordmaster he is probably the best but in a fight against Kaladin (with a spear) or the Blackthorn (sheer brutality) my money would be on the other two.

On 4/8/2024 at 10:59 PM, The cheeseman said:

He wouldn't stand a chance against al'Lan Mandragoran, Last Lord of the Seven Towers, Diamed Battle-lord of the Borderlands, Uncrowned King of the Malkieri, Blademaster, Aan'allein.

The official answer is that nobody would stand a chance against Lan in a fair fight (and being immortal makes it unfair) but that Adolin is the closest.  Kaladin is a soldier, a surgeon, and a Leader; Dalinar is likewise a general and tactician as well as a fighter.  Adolin is a dedicated Duelist, it's literally his religion. In a fair fight like a formal duel of Swords and Plate and No Surges, Adolin will beat any mortal we've met; but by definition a lot of folks would have to be holding back for those circumstances.  Kaladin would win as soon as he took to the sky and left Adolin swinging and swearing from below.  But on his home turf the odds will always be in Adolin's favor; strange things happen and anyone can lose to lesser skills plus luck, but he'll be the most likely victor most of the time.

 

Quote

 

Sapoy

Is there anyone in the cosmere capable of winning a fight against Lan Mandragoran without Investiture?

Brandon Sanderson

No. I would not say that there is. Lan is the best swordsman I have ever written. Adolin, of the people I have written about, would be the closest, but Lan would win.

YouTube Livestream 2 (Jan. 20, 2020)

 

 

 

[QuantumAce]

On 4/8/2024 at 9:59 PM, The cheeseman said:

He wouldn't stand a chance against al'Lan Mandragoran, Last Lord of the Seven Towers, Diamed Battle-lord of the Borderlands, Uncrowned King of the Malkieri, Blademaster, Aan'allein.

Anyway! What qualities does his arc have that make him the best fantasy character of all time? Because while that is a valid opinion (Kal is like number 8 in my top ten), I disagree. I would say that it's Rand al'Thor from The Wheel of Time or Turin Turambar from The Children of Hurin. The glorious, beautiful tragedy of both their arcs is amazing, and they tie for best fantasy character of all time (BFCoaT, for short).

While I enjoy Kaladin as a character, I have a hard time ranking him with the all time greats. I think my perception has him stuck (unfairly) in some sort of limbo between support character and main character. As a main character he is overshadowed by Dalinar in terms of epic scale. Kal bonds the oldest Honorspren, the type closest to Honor! Dalinar bonds the splinter of Honor that created her. Kal drags his crew halfway across Shadesmar and almost gets them killed to save Dalinar! Then Dalinar has to save them while defending a city and capturing an Unmade. Kal turns a bunch of misfits into the first new radiant order! Then leads them into stagnation because he can't progress in his oaths and gets demoted by Dalinar (who is now running the free world). Even Navani bigfoots him in the Tower. Kal fights a crazy one dimensional Fused (and his own mind), then gets his plate. Navani fights the cleverest, most dangerous Fused we have met so far, bonds the freaking tower itself, then tosses Moash out like a rag doll. Oh, then there was time time he tried to save Adolin's ditzy girlfriend, and she's like "do you need to borrow one of my shardblades while I lead us out of here?" My man cannot catch a break. On the other side, we get too much of his POV for him to be the mysterious badass who shows up to save the day when all hope is gone. 

[KalSpear he/him]

1 minute ago, QuantumAce said:

While I enjoy Kaladin as a character, I have a hard time ranking him with the all time greats. I think my perception has him stuck (unfairly) in some sort of limbo between support character and main character. As a main character he is overshadowed by Dalinar in terms of epic scale. Kal bonds the oldest Honorspren, the type closest to Honor! Dalinar bonds the splinter of Honor that created her. Kal drags his crew halfway across Shadesmar and almost gets them killed to save Dalinar! Then Dalinar has to save them while defending a city and capturing an Unmade. Kal turns a bunch of misfits into the first new radiant order! Then leads them into stagnation because he can't progress in his oaths and gets demoted by Dalinar (who is now running the free world). Even Navani bigfoots him in the Tower. Kal fights a crazy one dimensional Fused (and his own mind), then gets his plate. Navani fights the cleverest, most dangerous Fused we have met so far, bonds the freaking tower itself, then tosses Moash out like a rag doll. Oh, then there was time time he tried to save Adolin's ditzy girlfriend, and she's like "do you need to borrow one of my shardblades while I lead us out of here?" My man cannot catch a break. On the other side, we get too much of his POV for him to be the mysterious badass who shows up to save the day when all hope is gone. 

If I could thumbs down this, I would.

[JohnnyKaizen he/him]

17 hours ago, KalSpear said:

If I could thumbs down this, I would.

You gotta take the good with the bad. Kaladin has had some fantastic victories, both personal and communal, but he also has a lot of flaws. If there are themes present in the narrative (which there are, as @QuantumAce pretty succinctly points out), it's because Sanderson is taking Kaladin and Dalinar to similar places. Kaladin is who he is. Accept all of characters, not just the parts you like most. Or don't. It's your imaginary world, as is everyone's. No two people see the Cosmere, and its characters, in exactly the same way. However, it's a bit of a downer to read someone else's thoughts and respond with essentially,  "Boo for all of your thoughts and opinions!" 

[QuantumAce]

36 minutes ago, JohnnyKaizen said:

However, it's a bit of a downer to read someone else's thoughts and respond with essentially,  "Boo for all of your thoughts and opinions!" 

It was fair though. My post came out a little more "rain on your parade" than I intended. 

Kaladin's resilience is one of his greatest strengths. Seeing how he comes back each time adds tremendous depth to his character. Its more than the generic "get beat down, get stronger, rinse and repeat". It's just not what I enjoy as much as others, which makes it harder for me to rank him higher in my personal favorites. 

[JohnnyKaizen he/him]

10 minutes ago, QuantumAce said:

It was fair though. My post came out a little more "rain on your parade" than I intended. 

Kaladin's resilience is one of his greatest strengths. Seeing how he comes back each time adds tremendous depth to his character. Its more than the generic "get beat down, get stronger, rinse and repeat". It's just not what I enjoy as much as others, which makes it harder for me to rank him higher in my personal favorites. 

Fair.

My favorites list has shuffled and reshuffled so many times. Most of that is based on how difficult it is for me to read them at that point. Shallan used to be one of my most despised characters, and now she's way up there. Kaladin has been first and last and a lot in between.