Most Powerful Characters Native to Roshar

[KalSpear he/him]

Dalinar Kholin would be my choice for the most powerful in the series. He is a bondsmith(most powerful of the Radiants). He is an extraordinary warrior without stormlight. Finally, he is the King of Urithiru, making him the leader of the world. I'd love to debate this. 

Edited April 3 by KalSpear

[Trusk'our he/him]

1 hour ago, KalSpear said:

Dalinar Kholin would be my choice for the most powerful in the series. He is a bondsmith(most powerful of the Radiants). He is an extraordinary warrior without stormlight. Finally, he is the King of Urithiru, making him the leader of the world. I'd love to debate this. 

Oh boy, here we go again . . .

Define "powerful" for me.

 

[KalSpear he/him]

42 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

Oh boy, here we go again . . .

Define "powerful" for me.

 

In this sense I would define power as the ability to shape events while also being a dangerous person by yourself. 

[Trusk'our he/him]

23 minutes ago, KalSpear said:

In this sense I would define power as the ability to shape events while also being a dangerous person by yourself. 

Got it. Good definition, by the way.

Yes, Dalinar is going to be hard to beat in terms of sheer potential, though there are a decent few who I would count as being more powerful based on the specific circumstances; 

Wit is highly intelligent and has certain powers and resources within his possession that make him difficult to deal with, to say the very least.

Jasnah is also smart and is adept with her Surgebinding, which includes Soulcasting. Not to mention the fact that she is the Queen of Alethkar and as such has also has considerable resources. 

Odium and Cultivation are both incredibly ancient, highly intelligent deity-level beings, so I'd count them as being pretty powerful even with some limitations Shards seem to have along with godhood.

Taravangian (especially after RoW) is, again, a highly intelligent and ruthless individual. He too has a sizable nation under his control. 

Ishar is ancient, has a nation under his power, and is a very experienced Unchained Bondsmith, giving him a great advantage over Dalinar in terms of Surgebinding. 

Taln has the best fighting skills of anyone in the Cosmere, but he's also utterly insane.

high ranking Ghostblood agents have access to special resources, powerful Worldhopping secrets, and a powerful organization. 

plus, if you're looking to be powerful in direct 1 to 1 combat, Dalinar has no Shardblade or Plate, making him functionally more limited than many others, such as Ishar.

And, while I don't want to throw the Blackthorn under the bus too much, in terms of political genius or scheming potential he's simply not going to be the most adept compared to many of those on this list; By his own words, he's a soldier and a general first, not a politician. 

Edited April 3 by Trusk'our

[KalSpear he/him]

Wow, I had not expected such a detailed answer. Way to go!

I had forgotten about Ishar. Of all those you mentioned, he scares me the most. He seems to do impossible things and can destroy Roshar. 

I would not consider Wit, Shards, or Worldhoppers native to Roshar(aside from Taravangian).

 

 

[Trusk'our he/him]

34 minutes ago, KalSpear said:

Wow, I had not expected such a detailed answer. Way to go!

Thanks 

35 minutes ago, KalSpear said:

I would not consider Wit, Shards, or Worldhoppers native to Roshar(aside from Taravangian).

Ah, that's right. I forgot about the title name and assumed any character in SA was fair game.

[KalSpear he/him]

All good bro

[Lego Mistborn he/him]

Are Ashynites allowed, because that would be Ishar?

[ConfusedCow]

Rysn, Change.

[Trusk'our he/him]

6 hours ago, ConfusedCow said:

Rysn, Change.

Ah, but can she use it?

Furthermore, she does have the Sleepless protecting her, but they do not serve her, unlike with Jasnah's, Taravangian's, and Ishar's kingdoms.

[alder24]

32 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

Ah, but can she use it?

Furthermore, she does have the Sleepless protecting her, but they do not serve her, unlike with Jasnah's, Taravangian's, and Ishar's kingdoms.

Well, there is a certain assassin in white who showed rulers that they can't rely on the protection of their guards and soldiers. Rysn on the other hand is now basically unkillable - Dawnshard self-protects - even if she doesn't have any usable powers from her Dawnshard. Sure, there might be ways to extract her Dawnshard, but that's not something people on Roshar would know.

 

17 hours ago, KalSpear said:

Dalinar Kholin would be my choice for the most powerful in the series. He is a bondsmith(most powerful of the Radiants). He is an extraordinary warrior without stormlight. Finally, he is the King of Urithiru, making him the leader of the world. I'd love to debate this. 

Dalinar is not the leader of the world, in fact most of Roshar follow Odium, not Dalinar. Only the Azish Empire and Thaylenah, plus all Alethi people that are on the Shattered Plains or in the Tower are now a part of the Coalition. Alethkar, Jah Keved, Herdaz and Iri with its conquered territories are now all part of Odium's side. Dalinar is constantly losing more land as the Desolation progresses. Not to mention that Dalinar is not an absolute leader of the Coalition - it's a coalition, all members decide on what is the next action they have to take, they all have to agree, Dalinar can't force them to act against their interest. His power is severely limited.

But in terms of being powerful, Dalinar is certainly close to the top. Excluding Shards (and Splinters), Ishar is even more powerful. Taln has proven to be an exceptionally skilled fighter, even in his current state of mind he still was capable of acting and protecting Amaram from darts. I don't really have anything more to add, as @Trusk'our listed all, except for Szeth. He's extremely skilled fighter, not as good as Taln or Kaladin, but still very good, he is highly knowledgeable about all Surges, their applications and how to counteract them, on top of that he has Nightblood - the only object known to us that can easily kill Hoid, the only man-made object capable of killing a full Vessel. Szeth is very dangerous, especially in combination with his mental instability. He deserves to be on the list. 

[Highprince10 he/him]

15 hours ago, KalSpear said:

I had forgotten about Ishar. Of all those you mentioned, he scares me the most. He seems to do impossible things and can destroy Roshar. 

 

I mean we have already heard that Ishar destroyed one planet and he doesn't exactly seem stable when we meet him. Ishar is by far the person on Roshar I think we should be most worried about because we don't know what his plan is. Ishar has the most unpredictable amount of power but I think in terms of power Dalinar/stormfather and Odium have the most because every country expect one is under one of their control. 

Edited April 4 by Highprince10

[Trusk'our he/him]

59 minutes ago, alder24 said:

 Rysn on the other hand is now basically unkillable - Dawnshard self-protects - even if she doesn't have any usable powers from her Dawnshard. Sure, there might be ways to extract her Dawnshard, but that's not something people on Roshar would know.

I don't know, the WoB that says a Dawnshard protects itself seems to be kind of flimsy as to whether it's the Sleepless guards or some Invested effect that makes the Dawnshard "self-protect".

Spoiler

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/509-youtube-spoiler-stream-5/#e15937

learhpa

If someone (with the appropriate knowledge of where to place the spikes to be successful) were to spike Rysn and try to steal the power of the Dawnshard, what would happen?

Brandon Sanderson

A very bad time, for the person attempting it. Dawnshards self-protect.

Bennet Alterman

If Dawnshards self-protect, what's the need for larkins and Sleepless?

Brandon Sanderson

They do self-protect. The larkins and Sleepless are there! You're assuming the larkins and Sleepless aren't there because of Dawnshard influence. Which is a false assumption.

TSM spoilers:

Spoiler

I also know that Nomad was able to "skip" with the aid of a Dawnshard to protect it, but he also had access to Surgebinding and used his Spren's Investiture to do so. 

As such, I'm not sure Rysn has a lot of protection from the Dawnshard except from the Sleepless (though that is probably quite potent itself, as they're nearly unkillable and can drain Investiture from opponents).

1 hour ago, alder24 said:

I don't really have anything more to add, as @Trusk'our listed all, except for Szeth. He's extremely skilled fighter, not as good as Taln or Kaladin, but still very good, he is highly knowledgeable about all Surges, their applications and how to counteract them, on top of that he has Nightblood - the only object known to us that can easily kill Hoid, the only man-made object capable of killing a full Vessel. Szeth is very dangerous, especially in combination with his mental instability. He deserves to be on the list. 

True, I totally blew past him somehow. 

Nightblood plus his fighting skill, his knowledge of the Surges, and his own Surgebinding makes him very powerful, though he's obviously more limited in large scale endeavors due to him being a loner instead of a ruler/civil leader.

He's also somewhat mentally unstable, which is going to further his "power".

1 hour ago, alder24 said:

Well, there is a certain assassin in white who showed rulers that they can't rely on the protection of their guards and soldiers.

I mean, yes, you can't rely on them to defeat every Surgebinding opponent in battle, but they can grow your crops, build buildings, craft goods/tools/weapons, and help spread your influence through teamwork.

Power doesn't just mean direct combat potency, but being able to reliably influence the world in any way that you desire. 

[KalSpear he/him]

Regarding Ishar, do we know that he is directly a threat? He could have accidentally destroyed the planet through experimenting. We know he likes experiments because of the dead spren. At this point, if he wanted to, he could have destroyed  Roshar. It is possible that if he is left alone he will cause less harm than actually confronting him. 

[CtrlAltDepressed]

1 hour ago, KalSpear said:

At this point, if he wanted to, he could have destroyed  Roshar.

I disagree. It is told to us that a Dawnshard was involved in the destruction of Ashyn. Ishar on his own is not powerful enough to destroy Roshar.

[alder24]

6 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

I don't know, the WoB that says a Dawnshard protects itself seems to be kind of flimsy as to whether it's the Sleepless guards or some Invested effect that makes the Dawnshard "self-protect".

  Reveal hidden contents

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/509-youtube-spoiler-stream-5/#e15937

learhpa

If someone (with the appropriate knowledge of where to place the spikes to be successful) were to spike Rysn and try to steal the power of the Dawnshard, what would happen?

Brandon Sanderson

A very bad time, for the person attempting it. Dawnshards self-protect.

Bennet Alterman

If Dawnshards self-protect, what's the need for larkins and Sleepless?

Brandon Sanderson

They do self-protect. The larkins and Sleepless are there! You're assuming the larkins and Sleepless aren't there because of Dawnshard influence. Which is a false assumption.

TSM spoilers:

  Reveal hidden contents

I also know that Nomad was able to "skip" with the aid of a Dawnshard to protect it, but he also had access to Surgebinding and used his Spren's Investiture to do so. 

As such, I'm not sure Rysn has a lot of protection from the Dawnshard except from the Sleepless (though that is probably quite potent itself, as they're nearly unkillable and can drain Investiture from opponents).

Sleepless are only one layer of protection. The question in the WoB is clear - if a person had an opportunity to spike a Dawnshard out, it wouldn't work because Dawnshard self-protects. Sleepless and Larkins would have denied that opportunity in the first place, but Dawnshard can protect itself even without them. Not just Rysn's Dawnshard, but any Dawnshard, and as far as we know only the Change Dawnshard is protected by Sleepless. TSM spoilers:

Spoiler

Dawnshard will reach for any available source of investiture to protect itself, ch 20:

Quote

They’d spent years together with the potential lurking there, unseen. Then, in a moment of need, he’d unconsciously reached out for any energy source he could access. The Dawnshard had found Auxiliary, a being of Investiture.
It had turned Aux’s very substance into power to fuel Nomad’s abilities.
The Dawnshard—the weapon—protected itself. No matter what. No matter who it killed. Nomad had barely been able to stop himself before burning the entirety of Auxiliary’s soul away in a moment of supercharged power.

 

[Master Silver]

I mean in terms of Power, a Shard namely Odium is the strongest followed by Cultivation (although all Shards are technically infinite in investiture), followed by Dalinar followed by Ishar, followed by Nahle, followed by other heralds. Although Seth has to be up there if instead of power we are saying most dangerous to fight. If that is the case Ishar and Dalinar flip, with Seth arguably being up there as long as he is wielding Nightblood. Following them, again if it is power Jasinah (Radiant of the 4th ideal) then Kaladin. If it is fighting, flip-flop those two. The fused are clearly hesitant to engage Radiants of the 4th ideal, they spent a good amount of time early in RoW discussing that. Radiants of the third ideal =Fused roughly. Followed by Full Shardbearers followed by Regals and Squires/Radiants of the second ideal. followed by those with either plate or blade, followed by Warform followed by mounted human in plate armor. Individuals will very, but generally, this is where I think they are. Obviously, I am mostly talking about fighting. 

[Aredor he/him]

Before I begin...

Cultivation doesn't count! She's not from Roshar! 

Anyways, the most powerful character native to Roshar is obviously TOdium. He's a Shard of Adonalsium who controls one of the most powerful armies in the Cosmere. Enough said. 

If we're talking non-shardic entities, then the most powerful of them all is Ishar. He is a Bondsmith unchained. He's also completely insane, so that adds to his power- He's unpredictable. Dalinar comes next, closely followed by Navani. Both are Bondsmiths who have to follow Oaths, while still having an unimaginable amount of power. My other two in the top five are Szeth and then Kaladin. Szeth has Nightblood, making him far more dangerous than any other Radiant. I put Kaladin instead of Jasnah because while Jasnah may be Queen of Alethkar and a fourth Ideal Radiant to boot, she doesn't have the hearts of the people she rules yet. Kaladin is the champion of Urithiru. He (almost) singlehandedly saved Urithiru from the Fused. I'd be willing to bet that 99.99% of people in that tower would do anything he'd ask them to do. Basically, for Kaladin, he's the greatest soldier and has enormous political power. 

Wildcards: Renarin. What does power mean? If it means the ability to influence events, then Renarin has the most power out of anyone in Roshar. Without him, Odium would be able to Future sight everything and win very quickly. But he can't see the Coalition's plans because of one (plus Rlain) person. However... he's pretty bad in combat and has next to no political power. So...

Joker: Taln. On a good day, Taln could probably beat everyone on Roshar. He's a figure from mythology, he's a great soldier, and he's also a complete wreck. If he gets healed in SA5 (I refuse to call it Wind and Truth until it comes out), then he would be tied with Ishar for first place. 

Question, though. Do Heralds count as "Native to Roshar?" If you're talking about Roshar the planet or Roshar the Continent, then no. (Unless maybe Ash was born on Roshar?) But if we're talking the Rosharan system, then they would count. 

Anyways, rankings.

1. Taravangian-Odium

2. Ishar/Taln

3. Dalinar

4. Navani

5. Szeth

6. Kaladin

[...]

999999. Taln

[ConfusedCow]

Rysn Ftori means rising force in Aramaic.  It's poetic, the person who looks weakest is secretly strongest.   What a sweet world that would be, where Gods bow before children.  

[Argenti he/him]

On 4/5/2024 at 1:06 AM, Aredor said:

If we're talking non-shardic entities, then the most powerful of them all is Ishar. He is a Bondsmith unchained. He's also completely insane, so that adds to his power- He's unpredictable. 

Ishar is not native to Roshar! He's from Ashyn!