Gamma? (The soldier)

[Usseewa ✾ She♡Her ✾]

The wiki has only one line:

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Gamma is an Azish soldier on Roshar.^[1]

I believe he is only in one paragraph (in WaT ch. 63, pp. 625-6 in the hardcover book):

(Quote modified for context)

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"That was close," one of [Adolin's] Azish companions--a man named Gamma--said. He was shorter, with a skin tone that bespoke some Reshi or Herdazian heritage. "I worry that battlefields are changing on us, Brightlord. Pike blocks aren't working like they used to  --they break too easily before these new kinds of troops. The old ways are dying. That worries me. All our training is in those methods."

There wasn't time to reminisce about the changing world with Gamma, as Adolin was immediately needed to shore up another position.

...

What stands out to me is the name. It could simply not mean anything, but (gamma radiation and stuff like that). Also, they are talking about "the changing world," and if Gamma is from, say, Scadrial, they would've had change already.

Do you think his name has any significance?

Edited December 30, 2025 by Theory
SPAG.

[alder24]

22 hours ago, Theory said:

Do you think his name has any significance?

I don't think there is any significance. If Gamma is meant to mean the third letter of the Greek alphabet, then this is probably because the books are translated to English and his real name is a third letter of some Rosharan alphabet and it was just translated to English. Or Brandon might have accidentally named him Gamma before realizing it is a Greek letter (less likely).

But there is still a possibility that he's a worldhopper just based on his appearance. However, he didn't really say anything that would be out of place on Roshar and indicate that he possesses knowledge from other words.

Spoiler

Questioner

One of the characters in this book replied with "I've got this," or "I got this." It seemed really modern, like colloquially modern.

Brandon Sanderson

I've got an answer for this. So here's the thing. I use Tolkien's philosophy on this, which is that you are reading the books in translation, and the person translating the English tries to use the closest English approximation to the same sentiment that would happen in the books.

And we try to move away from being too modern colloquial, and things like that, but the actual answer is they said something that's a similar saying in this, and people did talk colloquially even if they didn't have modern slang. Like, the name Tiffany is a medieval name, people don't know that. There's all these sorts of things that people did even back then. But we try to find something that is not going to kick people out. We are less worried about historical accuracy, and more about what's going to convey the right idea. So just kind of pretend that. Pretend that it's being translated by someone like me, Brandon Sanderson, who can read the original Alethi and be like, "Oh, they said something that means this. What's the modern equivalent?"

Emerald City Comic Con 2018 (March 1, 2018)

 

[Usseewa ✾ She♡Her ✾]

39 minutes ago, alder24 said:

If Gamma is meant to mean the third letter of the Greek alphabet, then this is probably because the books are translated to English and his real name is a third letter of some Rosharan alphabet and it was just translated to English.

Ah, like I read/heard that December's name in the upcoming book was translated to "December" because in her language, her name was the last month of the year, or something along those lines.

[Returned he/him]

One pretty consistent detail from the SA books is that identifying someone's heritage by looking at them is usually accurate, especially if we restrict the timeframe we're looking at-- Herdazians have their rock-like nails which seem to be a universal trait in that nation and rare (or absent) in all other groups, Iriali have their metallic golden hair, Thaylens have their eyebrows, the pallor and eye shape among the Shin, Alethi dark hair breeding true and with stripy locks when mixed with non-Alethi, etc. It seems rare, among the characters that we observe in the book, for there to be much mixing between groups in these sorts of details.

So when Gamma is described as seeming to be somewhat Reshi or Herdazian, along with presumably his primarily Azish physical traits, I tend to believe the narrator's assessment. Contrast with Felt, who is specifically foreign in ways that Dalinar can't place during Oathbringer. Maybe Sanderson is moving away from the nationality-as-conspicuous-ethnic-group formula on Roshar (we see plenty of worldhoppers in RoW that aren't described as hard to place or obviously different), but to date Rosharans have been really accurate at identifying other Rosharans' nationalities and lineages this way.

Edited December 30, 2025 by Returned

[Usseewa ✾ She♡Her ✾]

1 hour ago, Returned said:

Maybe Sanderson is moving away from the nationality-as-conspicuous-ethnic-group formula on Roshar (we see plenty of worldhoppers in RoW that aren't described as hard to place or obviously different), but to date Rosharans have been really accurate at identifying other Rosharans' nationalities and lineages this way.

I don't quite follow what you are saying here.

1 hour ago, Returned said:

I tend to believe the narrator's assessment.

How do you mean? Do you think that Gamma is not Rosharen? Or that he has mixed Reshi-Herdazian(-Azish?) lineage?

[Returned he/him]

3 hours ago, Theory said:

I don't quite follow what you are saying here.

I'm saying that the nationalities and ancestry on Roshar have, so far, been presented as having obviously identifiable physical traits, such as the Herdazian rock-like fingernails or Adolin's hair. Characters in the books have been able to immediately identify what country another character is from, or their ancestry, based on seeing those traits and have always been correct (as far as we know). It's possible that Sanderson is moving away from that situation, where a person's physical appearance reliably and instantly gives an observer this information. Gamma could be an example of this, as he is described as having "some" mixed heritage-- otherwise most characters are all Alethi, all Veden, all Horneater, all Herdazian, all Azish, all Shin, and so on, and characters immediately know.

The other situation is Felt in Oathbringer. Dalinar can't tell where he's from, nor his ancestry, just by looking at him. He's just sort of generically foreign, which is a good sign that he's not from Roshar at all because otherwise Rosharans would be able to identify his original nationality/heritage just by looking at him, as they do with all the other characters.

3 hours ago, Theory said:

How do you mean? Do you think that Gamma is not Rosharen? Or that he has mixed Reshi-Herdazian(-Azish?) lineage?

I believe the narrator's conclusion that Gamma is from Reshi and/or Herdazian lineage because, so far, every time a character has guessed another's lineage based on appearance they've been correct (again, as far as we know). If they did not immediately identify the lineage/original nationality, as with Felt, I would be more willing to believe Gamma might be a worldhopper.

Edited December 30, 2025 by Returned

[Usseewa ✾ She♡Her ✾]

59 minutes ago, Returned said:

The other situation is Felt in Oathbringer.

Do you have a page/chapter/quote for this?

59 minutes ago, Returned said:

I believe the narrator's conclusion that Gamma is from Reshi and/or Herdazian lineage because, so far, every time a character has guessed another's lineage based on appearance they've been correct (again, as far as we know). If they did not immediately identify the lineage/original nationality, as with Felt, I would be more willing to believe Gamma might be a worldhopper.

Unless I'm mistaken, I recall characters describing some worldhoppers as Shin. I have an example from Wind and Truth, when Demoux, Galladon, and Baon visit Dyel before the Iriali went on their Long Trail. While Galladon and Baon are described uncertainly, the first description of Demoux is that of a "Shin man."

(Wind and Truth, Interlude 11, p. 765 in the hardcover)

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The third of them sat quietly. A Shin man of middling height, also balding--with a scar on his head--light skin, and more normal clothing, for an outlander. Shirt and trousers.

 

Baon (he is "the tall one," correct?) is also described as being similar to the Azish, though it seems like Dyel isn't sure:

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[The tall one] had skin like he was from Azir, with short black hair and muscles like a soldier.

 

Dyel clearly doesn't believe that they are from the East--as they claim to be--but that doesn't necessarily mean she doesn't think they could be from the West, right?

Edit: I believe the first description of Riino was also that of a Shin man (see Oathbringer ch. 97)

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Inside [the lighthouse], [Kaladin] saw an old Shin man...

 

Edited December 30, 2025 by Theory
SPAG.

[Treamayne]

13 minutes ago, Theory said:

Do you have a page/chapter/quote for this?

OB Ch 114:

Spoiler

“I think they’re, um, eager to be rid of us, sir.”

Dalinar pushed open the door. Felt stood outside, a lithe man with long, drooping mustaches and pale skin. Had to have some Shin blood in him, judging by those eyes.

<snip>

“When you came before,” Dalinar said. “What … what did you see?”

“To be frank, sir, nothing. She didn’t come to me. Doesn’t visit everyone, you see.” He clapped his hands, then breathed on them. It had been winter, lately. “You’ll want to go in right after dark. Alone, sir. She avoids groups.”

“Any idea why she didn’t visit you?”

“Well, best I could figure, she doesn’t like foreigners.”

“I might have trouble too.”

“You’re a little less foreign, sir.”

 

The other common situation is comparing a person to an ethnic group, and pointing out the differences. WoK Interlude 1:

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“I’m a fisher, Maib,” he said, taking a slurp of his soup—the bowl was shaped for easy slurping. “Hard to catch a fisher. You know that.” He chuckled to himself, walking up to his foreigners as she plucked out the kolgril.

There were three of them. Two were dark-skinned Makabaki, though they were the strangest Makabaki he’d ever seen. One was thick limbed where most of his kind were small and fine-boned, and he had a completely bald head. The other was taller, with short dark hair, lean muscles, and broad shoulders. In his head, Ishikk called them Grump and Blunt, on account of their personalities.

There is, of course, no way a Purelaker would be familiar with a Dula from Sel or a Darksider from Taldain - so comparing to a Makabaki (the only ethnically black race Ishikk knew of) and noting the differences is one of Brandon's "tells" for worldhoppers. 

Hope that helps

[Returned he/him]

@Treamayne beat me to it, as usual, even as I was typing out the quotes and citations! I read the comments Treamayne noted as being a comparison that is Ishikk's best guess, but that specifically doesn't quite match properly because some of the traits (their physiques) are wrong for that guess. I can see another perspective on it, but for me the emphasis on the particular traits that don't fit is further support for what I said above. Traits being specifically wrong for the guess are just as indicative as every other case I can think of in the books, where the guesses are exactly right because the traits are exactly right

There is one more item, regarding the third man (called Thinker here, but is Demoux) that I can still contribute:

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The third man had light tan skin, like an Alethi. He didn't seem quite right either, though. The eyes were the wrong shape, and his accent was certainly not Alethi. (The Way of Kings, page 178, emphasis added by me)

 

As with the other two, the Alethi guess is a comparison-- he looks like an Alethi, which is different from concluding that he is Alethi. That's immediately followed by a qualification that Ishikk thinks Demoux is not Alethi, with the eye shape not matching the rest of an Alethi's features as the key reason.

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But Dyel knew accents, and these men were not from the East. [...]

He [the tall man, not Demoux] had skin like he was from Azir, with short black hair and muscles like a soldier. She could almost believe he was from the far East, where terrible men were said to be the fiercest of warriors. [...]

A Shin man of middling height, also balding--with a scar on his head--light skin, and more normal clothing, for an outlander. (Wind and Truth, page 765, bolded emphasis added by me)

 

I concede that Dyel's identification of Demoux as Shin could count as a Rosharan making an error, though I will note a couple of oddities:

Dyel describes Demoux as having light skin while Ishikk specifically notes that Demoux has the same tan skin color as an Alethi, and the Shin are described (universally, always?) as being notably pale, more so than other groups (importantly, more pale than Vedens), including by Alethi observers (so the Shin skin tones may not overlap with others' much, if at all). We have some evidence of this:

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Unlike her companion, she had light skin--not pale like someone from Shinovar, but a natural light tan, like an Alethi. (The Way of Kings, page 330, Dalinar's perspective)

___________________________

The Shardbearer removed his helm, exposing a handsome head with blond hair and pale skin, light as that of a man from Shinovar. (The Way of Kings, page 810, Dalinar's perspective)

___________________________

A silken blue dress, simple yet elegant. Pale skin--it almost had a Shin look to it--matched by light blue eyes. (Words of Radiance, page 435, Adolin's perspective, describing Shallan)

 

Dyel seems not to be very worldly, describing the man she thinks might be Azish as potentially being from "the far East" where the fiercest of warriors live. The "fiercest of warriors" part almost certainly would refer to Alethkar, and definitely not Azir. Azir is not known for the fiercest warriors and is nowhere near the Eastern edge of Roshar, though possibly Dyel imagines he is Azish and lives in the East. Guessing "the far East" suggests that she doesn't know the difference between Jah Keved and Alethkar, or maybe even know the names of either country. Though in fairness the travelers say that they are from "the East" with no other apparent detail given, so maybe Dyel is thinking in terms of what they said. Even then she rules out Demoux being from the East because of his accent.

That Ishikk immediately thought "Alethi" based on Demoux's skin, while Dyel thought him pale, can imply a few things:

Maybe there is a broader range of skin colors in Rosharan nations than I'm suggesting (though this clashes with every other Rosharan's accurate guesses in every other situation, and is problematic in light of the three quoted sections above), maybe Demoux's skin was tanned at the Purelake but the tan had faded by the time Dyel met him, or perhaps Dyel doesn't know anything about any far Easterners and has never seen one identified as Alethi, Veden, or anything else (lumping them in as "far Easterners" with Vedens, who are pale-skinned but not so much as the Shin, supports this, though the Siln, Bav, and Unkalaki people are also from Jah Keved and have tan skin, so that's not definitive).

I think that it is reasonable to conclude that Dyel doesn't know enough to identify an Alethi, Veden, or any other Easterner by sight under any circumstances because she is particularly unknowledgeable about the world, and so she could not note the same details as Ishikk. But it is also reasonable to conclude that she knows enough to note those details and made an error in identifying Demoux. Even in this case, though, she would be the only character in all of SA (as far as I am aware) to make such an error.

Edited December 30, 2025 by Returned

[Treamayne]

Skin color is not a Shin trait (unlike the eyes, and a shorter average height) - WaT Ch 36:

Spoiler

He had pale skin, like Szeth’s family. Not uncommon in this region, though those with darker skin were more prevalent. “Ah,” he said, seeing Szeth. “Son-Neturo. I had hoped to find your father at the fire.”

Alethi often call them pale/light-skinned, but say the same about Vedens. Notably, in WoK I4, Vstim does not say that Thresh-son-Esan is pale or light skinned (though that could be he was focused on the clothes). 

Also, WoBs:

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Kogiopsis

Kind of along the same lines, I just want to confirm something. If someone from Earth saw an Alethi, what ethnicity would they assume they were?

Brandon Sanderson

It would-- The model I use are actually for the half-Hawaiian, half-Asians that are kind of common in Hawaii. That's the model I've used; I actually have one of their faces for Kaladin. So it would depend on what your perspective is, you might say-- some people might say Arab, but the model I'm using is kind of more Hawaiian/Asian mix is what you'd get. The only ones that would look Caucasian to you straight-up would probably be the Shin, though if you get someone who has Horneater blood-- The Horneaters might look-- they just-- they're gonna look like bizarre… redhead… things, but they might look Caucasian to you.

swamp-spirit

So would Shallan also be more towards that?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, Shallan has lighter skin. But she still has the epicanthic fold, and so she maybe would look to you like a Caucasian/Asian mix? With red hair? So… Anyway, she would look fairly Caucasian.

swamp-spirit

I will attempt to send you excited fanart.

Kogiopsis

I've been picturing the Alethi as Indian, myself.

Brandon Sanderson

Okay, yeah. Yeah, yeah, like East India? That’s a pretty good picture on them. That would work very well.

Steelheart Portland signing (Oct. 8, 2013)

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reddidaccount1

In Sanderson's most recent lecture (50:25 in) to his BYU Writing Class, he mentions that Alethkar natives resemble Asians. This came as a bit of a surprise to me, especially since I always imagined the Shin as the "Asians" of that world.

Brandon Sanderson

It's a little more complicated than I might have made it seem. Alethkar natives other than the Shin have the epicanthic fold, but the Alethi wouldn't look strictly Asian to you--they'd look like a race that you can't define, as we don't have them on earth. I use half-Asian/half-arab or half-asian/half-Polynesian models as my guide some of the time, but Alethi are going to have a tanner skin than some of those.

Some Horneaters might look Caucasian to you--but then, most will not. They'll seem like something alien, and not all of them have light skin; they tend to walk a spectrum between pale and coppery. Reshi and Herdazians will look closest to something like an indigenous Bolivian.

Shin would look the closest to Caucasian to you, but again, they're not an Earth ethnicity. So you might not be able to place them either.

A lot of the fanart has done a good job with this, and if you search through it, it might help you get an idea.

General Reddit 2016 (July 13, 2016)

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zotsandscrambles

Here is an example of a Mongolian girl with red hair. Would she make a good example of a Vedan darkeyes, [Brandon]?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, that's a good example. Though do remember, Vedens aren't all redheads--that's going to depend on region, and even have a lot of variance within regions. (Alethi skin tone will be similar in its variety, depending. Vedens in general tend to be lighter.)

Here's another image I noticed a while back that feels very like what I'd imagined.

https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/55dba2321400002e002e3dd1.jpeg?ops=scalefit_970_noupscale

General Reddit 2018 (April 17, 2018)

 

Hope that helps

[Usseewa ✾ She♡Her ✾]

33 minutes ago, Returned said:

But it is also reasonable to conclude that she knows enough to note those details and made an error in identifying Demoux. Even in this case, though, she would be the only character in all of SA (as far as I am aware) to make such an error.

Did you see my edit to include the Riino example where Kaladin misidentifies him as Shin?

33 minutes ago, Returned said:

Dyel seems not to be very worldly

Yes, this is reasonable. She is fairly young also.

What about Ishikk? Is it possible that he is also not very worldly?

Perhaps the two different characters are basing the colors/shades on what they have seen.

7 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

though those with darker skin were more prevalent.

33 minutes ago, Returned said:

The third man had light tan skin, like an Alethi. He didn't seem quite right either, though. The eyes were the wrong shape

So, perhaps Ishikk was only familiar with pale-skinned Shin? Or had never seen a Shin, and based it off of what he'd heard? The "eye shape being wrong" is usually what people say to describe Shin, no?

I'll admit I'm not following everything in this thread.

Edited December 30, 2025 by Theory

[Returned he/him]

19 hours ago, Theory said:

Did you see my edit to include the Riino example where Kaladin misidentifies him as Shin?

I had not, but it's a good find. It also occurs to me (so late!) that Shinovar is famously reclusive and so most Rosharans probably don't have much actual experience with it or with Shin people. If you've only seen five or six Shin people in your entire life I can imagine drawing the wrong conclusion, that the traits you noticed in them are shared by all Shin.

20 hours ago, Treamayne said:

Skin color is not a Shin trait (unlike the eyes, and a shorter average height) - WaT Ch 36:

Another good note, and one that I had completely forgotten (I need to reread WaT a time or two more, clearly). I'm curious about some of the relative descriptions now-- are the darker-skinned Shin still more pale than Vedens, for example? It's also interesting that the Shin are the only nation presented so specifically as not being homogenous in this way, though others, like Kharbranth or Tashikk, don't seem to have even a hint of this pattern.

19 hours ago, Theory said:

What about Ishikk? Is it possible that he is also not very worldly?

Perhaps the two different characters are basing the colors/shades on what they have seen.

Possibly Ishikk is not very knowledgeable about the world. I think that he is presented as being relatively savvy and wise, but that isn't the same thing as having the experience my earlier comments assume. It's a really good point to note that all of the characters are basing their observations on their own experience, and even the most worldly (like the Alethi high court, such as Adolin and Dalinar) are also going to be limited this way even if their experience is expansive. I also recall Rysn being utterly mystified by her first trade experience in Shinovar, and that section also emphasized how little interaction most of Roshar has with the entire country. I feel like I remember (but can't find) a comment somewhere in one of the books about it being rare for Shin to leave Shinovar to live elsewhere (I think it was in the context of seeing a Shin soldier? It wasn't about Szeth, I'm sure of that).

In any case, I am convinced by you you two that the physical traits which definitely indicate nationality are overstated. I do think that the earlier books leaned into this, but maybe as a narrative device or to hint at other things that have been revealed (like mingling with Singers) more than as a description of something fundamental to Rosharan people. Some traits do still seem to be indicative and reliable (rocklike fingernails and Iriali hair), but the everyone-is-easily-identifiable-at-a-glance idea now seems too weak and under-supported to stand.

Edited December 31, 2025 by Returned

[Treamayne]

45 minutes ago, Returned said:

It's also interesting that the Shin are the only nation presented so specifically as not being homogenous in this way, though others, like Kharbranth or Tashiik, don't seem to have even a hint of this pattern.

Which I took as stereotyping - peoples of the East (especially East of the Horneater Peaks) so rarely see a Shin (if ever) and propegate the "Pale-Round-eye" Stereotype so heavily, that I doubt many would recognize the variety there actually is. If you look at the Fitzpatrick and Von Luschan Scales - based on current evidence, I would roughly place:

• Shin = Types 1-3 | Scale 1-18
• Horneater = Types 2-3 | Scale 9-18
• Veden = Types 2-4 | Scale 5-23
• Reshi/Purelakers = Types 3-4 | Scale 15-25
• Alethi = Types 3-5 | Scale 15-30
• Makabaki = Types 4-6 | Scale 25-35

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Edit:

  

45 minutes ago, Returned said:

I remember (but can't find) a comment somewhere in one of the books about it being rare for Shin to leave Shinovar to live elsewhere (I think it was in the context of seeing a Shin soldier? It wasn't about Szeth, I'm sure of that).

This? WoR Ch 41:

Spoiler

Kaladin stepped into the light of their spheres sprinkled about on the floor of the chasm, which had been cleared of debris since the last time Kaladin had been here. Sigzil, Rock, and Lopen sat on boulders, waiting for him.

“Are you implying that the Assassin in White never really worked for the Parshendi?” Kaladin asked. “Or are you implying that the Parshendi lied about being as isolated as they claimed?”

“I’m not implying anything,” Sigzil said, turning toward Kaladin. “My master trained me to ask questions, so I’m asking them. Something doesn’t make sense about this whole matter. The Shin are extremely xenophobic. They rarely leave their lands, and you never find them working as mercenaries. Now this one goes about assassinating kings? With a Shardblade? Is he still working for the Parshendi? If so, why did they wait so long to unleash him against us again?”

“Does it matter who he’s working for?” Kaladin asked, sucking in Stormlight.

“Of course it does,” Sigzil said.

“Why?”

“Because it’s a question,” he said, as if offended. “Besides, discovering his true employer might give us a clue to their goal, and knowing that might help us defeat him.”

 

Edited December 31, 2025 by Treamayne
SPAG, passage

[Returned he/him]

1 hour ago, Treamayne said:

This? WoR Ch 41:

That's not the one. My recollection is that it was a character seeing a group of people, soldiers or mercenaries or something similar, and noting the variety of nationalities/ethnicities. It was mentioned that there was "even a Shin man" among them, or something like that. I think that I misremembered some detail, or just imagined the reference entirely, as I've just looked through every appearance of "shin" in all five books and did not find what I remembered. I could have missed it because there are so many occurrences of those letters (did you know that the word "lashing" is used kind of often? Shocking!), but I think I'm probably just wrong.

Along the way I did manage to find a few more examples of variety among Rosharan groups, one of them from Dalinar's own perspective:

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"Humans can change colors?"

"Some more than others," Lunamor said, holding up his hand. "Some from other peaks are pale, like Shin, though my peak has always been more bronze." (Oathbringer, page 388)

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So many dead eyes, so many faces twisted in pain. Lighteyed and dark. Pale skin like the Shin and some Horneaters. Dark skin like the Makabaki. Many that could have been Alethi, Veden, or Herdazian. (Oathbringer, page 437)

And, damning enough to get its own quote box, a specific refutation from Szeth and Kaladin himself:

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"You're such a strange person," Kaladin said, then gestured toward the ramparts. "Some of those people aren't Shin."

"You can't tell that by looking," Szeth said. "They might have lived here for generations. Can you always tell an Alethi by looking?"

"Well, no," Kaladin said. (Wind and Truth, page 435, emphasis mine)