So... Returned can shapeshift?

[CoderDrag0n8 He/Him]

Returned can shapeshift? I just finished Warbreaker and what Vasher said is very confusing.

[Treamayne]

50 minutes ago, CoderDrag0n8 said:

Returned can shapeshift? I just finished Warbreaker and what Vasher said is very confusing.

If you mean (Mistborn Spoilers):

Spoiler

Like a Kandra

Then no. This is closer to (Stormlight Archive Spoilers):
 

Spoiler

Ral-Na the Reshi King who "healed" Trans so his body reflected his Cognitive and Spiritual male identity despite being born Female.

Basically, because they are Cognitive Shadows stapled to their original Body with a Splinter of Endownment (Divine Breath) that investiture allows them to "tweak" their body a bit to more closely fit their Spiritual and Cognitive Identity. For gods in the Hallandren Court of the Gods, because they have had their memories supressed their form chnges to match their perception of Ideal Beauty for who they are. WoBs and Warbreaker Annotations:

Spoiler

Quote

Jeremy_Carroll

How could Vasher become Drab, since he would have to give up his Big Breath to do so?

Brandon Sanderson

The Divine Breath can be hid. Essentially, you have to view yourself NOT as a god at all, using a very specific bit of mental gymnastics. As a Returned, your body changes based on how you see yourself. (This, by the way, is an indication that Lightsong was more pleased with himself than he ever let on.)

You don't lose your Divine Breath, but it does go into hiding, making you look like a normal person. But you're still Returned, and are consuming a Breath at one a week. If you give away your other Breaths, you retain this hidden one, but your body will still consume its own spirit if left to do so. So you still need a Breath a week to survive, and will die the week you don't get one.

I left this as an intentional place to explore the magic in the sequel, which I had planned to be writing (and posting on my website) by the time Warbreaker was out in stores. The WoT has diverted me, and so I feel bad, since this ends up being a confusing question that a number of readers have had. The hints toward how this is working are very difficult to find. (The biggest one is probably in the opening, where Vasher thinks about how he could reach the Fifth Heightening instantly, if he wanted to.)

Barnes and Noble Book Club Q&A (July 8, 2009)

 

Quote

Kurkistan

Are the changing beauty standards of Returned and the "plausibility" of Forgeries determined by the same kind of "cognitive ideals or concepts which have taken on literal personification over time" that some types of Spren represent?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. These things all work according to the same fundamental framework.

/r/fantasy AMA 2013 (April 18, 2013)

Annotation to Ch 22:

Quote

Yes, Denth is inhumanly fast. He’s a Returned, after all, and has all of the physical enhancements that come with that. Even when he’s chosen not to manifest most of them, he’s still got an edge, just like Vasher does.

How do they hide that they’re Returned? Well, it comes down to mastery of their ability to change their appearance. They can’t shape-shift entirely; they can just alter some things about their appearance. They can change their weight, their hair color, and things like that at will. Vasher doesn’t do this often, but Denth has been known to use it as a disguise. The problem, once you do this once and someone realizes it, your nature becomes very suspect.

Annotation to Ch 30:

Quote

Lightsong and Blushweaver
Visit Hopefinder

I wanted to show some Returned of different ages; I think it’s important for people to realize that you can be any age when you Return. There are children, babies, grandmothers, and people in their middle years who Return.

Hopefinder is the youngest person at court currently, though there are a couple of other gods who Returned when they were in their teens. It’s hard to tell them from the other gods now, however. (And often, when a god Returns in their middle years, their body transforms to be much more youthful. Not always; it depends on the god.)

Annotations to the Epilogue:

Quote

Can Vivenna change her appearance more? She can indeed. She could actually stoke that fragment of a divine Breath inside of her and start glowing like a Returned. She can’t change her physical features to look like someone else, but she can change her age, her height (within reason), and her body shape (to an extent). It takes practice.

And yes, the scraggly miscreant is how Vasher sees himself. Not noble and Returned, which is part of how he suppresses his divine Breath.

 

Hope that helps

Edited April 7, 2025 by Treamayne
SPAG

[CoderDrag0n8 He/Him]

14 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

If you mean (Mistborn Spoilers):

  Reveal hidden contents

Like a Kandra

Then no. This is closer to (Stormlight Archive Spoilers):
 

  Hide contents

Ral-Na the Reshi King who "healed" Trans so his body reflected his Cognitive and Spiritual male identity despite being born Female.

Basically, because they are Cognitive Shadows stapled to their original Body with a Splinter of Endownment (Divine Breath) that investiture allows them to "tweak" their body a bit to more closely fit their Spiritual and Cognitive Identity. For gods in the Hallandren Court of the Gods, because they have had their memories supressed their form chnges to match their perception of Ideal Beauty for who they are. WoBs and Warbreaker Annotations:

  Hide contents

 

Annotation to Ch 22:

Annotation to Ch 30:

Annotations to the Epilogue:

 

Hope that helps

Thank you! That clears a lot of things up!