The Compendium of Wheel of Time Characters

By Karl Hammond

James Rigney, alias Robert Jordan, died Sunday, September 16, 2007, at 2:45 pm eastern daylight time. His passing is mourned by all who read his books and love the characters created by his imagination. The world of literature has lost one of its best, and one who I am proud to have known, even if it was only through his work.

As you may have guessed, I am a fan of the series of books called The Wheel of Time written by Robert Jordan (a pseudonym for a certain James Rigney). While reading the series, I noted that the number of characters that appear in each book is extremely high, and that just about every character that is given a name says or does something that is of significance later in the series. It is for this reason that I decided to make a list of every named character (yes, every named character) that appears in each book, where he first appears, and what that person does or did that identified him when he appeared in the book (for some characters, they have done quite a bit by the time they are mentioned in, say, Winter's Heart). Note: the information contained herein is intended to be information known at the time the character was mentioned for the first time in each book with no “spoilers.”

If you have any comments about my site or any mistakes that I have made (misspellings, omissions, bad color contrast, anything), please let me know. Also, if you have any suggestions to make this site better (e.g., I've chosen a really ugly background or something and you have a better one), send them by.

Please note that the page numbers listed may not be all that useful except as an ordering device; they often correspond to different editions or printings of the books. Also note that if a list is not a link, it is not finished yet; it will appear as soon as possible, which may be a while. Enjoy!

There are currently over 2200 distinct characters in the books.

The Strike at Shayol Ghul

• Chronological listing of characters (i.e. in the exact order they appear)
• Alphabetical listing by last name (if known)
• Alphabetical listing by first name

In the Beginning, New Spring (170 Characters)

• Chronological listing of characters
• Alphabetical listing by last name
• Alphabetical listing by first name
• Condensed version, published in the fantasy anthology Legends, edited by Robert Silverberg (66 Characters).
  • Chronological listing of characters
  • Alphabetical listing by last name
  • Alphabetical listing by first name

Book One, The Eye of the World (228 Characters)

• Chronological listing of characters
• Alphabetical listing by last name
• Alphabetical listing by first name

Book Two, The Great Hunt (244 Characters)

• Chronological listing of characters
• Alphabetical listing by last name
• Alphabetical listing by first name

Book Three, The Dragon Reborn (227 Characters)

• Chronological listing of characters
• Alphabetical listing by last name
• Alphabetical listing by first name

Book Four, The Shadow Rising (413 Characters)

• Chronological listing of characters
• Alphabetical listing by last name
• Alphabetical listing by first name

Book Five, The Fires of Heaven (375 Characters)

• Chronological listing of characters
• Alphabetical listing by last name
• Alphabetical listing by first name

Book Six, Lord of Chaos (584 Characters)

• Chronological listing of characters
• Alphabetical listing by last name
• Alphabetical listing by first name

Book Seven, A Crown of Swords (454 Characters)

• Chronological listing of characters
• Alphabetical listing by last name
• Alphabetical listing by first name

Book Eight, The Path of Daggers (450 Characters)

• Chronological listing of characters
• Alphabetical listing by last name
• Alphabetical listing by first name

Book Nine, Winter's Heart (435 Characters)

• Chronological listing of characters
• Alphabetical listing by last name
• Alphabetical listing by first name

Book Ten, Crossroads of Twilight (501 Characters)

• Chronological listing of characters
• Alphabetical listing by last name
• Alphabetical listing by first name

Book Eleven, Knife of Dreams (667 Characters)

• Chronological listing of characters
• Alphabetical listing by last name
• Alphabetical listing by first name

Eventually I hope to make a complete list of every character in the series, which would just be an amalgamation of the individual book lists, with the characters who appeared in previous books listed the first time they appear in the series, not in individual books. I have to finish the individual lists first, though and wait for the series to be done....