A half-skaa street urchin from the slums of Luthadel. Shaped by a harsh life with her brother Reen and a constantly-moving series of thieving crews, she has learned to survive by staying distrustful and unnoticed. When Kelsier spots something unusual in her, she is pulled out of the underworld and into a far larger plan against the Lord Ruler's Final Empire - including a new identity as the young noblewoman Valette Renoux.

The primordial force of entropy and destruction

Elend's ruthless father, king of the Northern Dominance

The immortal god-emperor who has ruled the Final Empire for a thousand years. Believed to be the Hero of Ages who saved the world, he controls all Allomancy, Feruchemy, and the nobility through an iron grip of terror and religion. His true nature and origins are among the deepest mysteries of the series.

Ashweather Cett's daughter, a Rioter who fled her father's camp to seek refuge with Elend's crew. Flirtatious and seemingly shallow, she is considerably more perceptive and capable than she allows others to see. Her relationship with Breeze develops across the siege of Luthadel.

The crude, politically ruthless king of the Western Dominance who besieges Luthadel with one of the three armies converging on the city. A pragmatist with no patience for pretension, he is one of the book's most darkly comic characters despite being a genuine threat.

A Soother in Kelsier's crew who manipulates emotions with Allomancy. Cultured and self-important, he uses his abilities to soothe skaa crowds into joining the rebellion. Secretly of noble birth.

A Smoker (coppercloud Misting) whose shop serves as the crew's base of operations in Luthadel. Grim, pessimistic, and pragmatic. Uncle to Spook.

A soldier in the skaa rebellion army who becomes one of Ham's most trusted men. One of the earliest members of the Church of the Survivor. His faith in Kelsier and the crew is unwavering and becomes a recurring thread through all three books.

Kelsier's oldest friend and the crew's organiser. Not an Allomancer, but indispensable - he manages logistics, finances, and keeps the operation running. Shares Kelsier's hatred of the nobility.

Heir to House Venture, the most powerful noble house in Luthadel. A bookish idealist who reads political theory at balls and quietly advocates for skaa rights. Falls in love with Vin while she is disguised as Valette Renoux.

A senior nobleman in Luthadel who manoeuvres against Elend in the Assembly, ultimately winning the kingship through legal means. Not a villain but a genuine political rival whose success forces Elend to reckon with the limits of his idealism.

A soldier originally assigned to kill Vin in The Final Empire who instead helped her escape. Elend later makes him a captain in his army, and Goradel's quiet loyalty becomes one of the book's small but persistent examples of people choosing to be better than they were trained to be.

A Pewterarm (Thug) in Kelsier's crew who serves as the rebellion's military commander. Physically powerful but philosophically inclined - he loves debating ethics and morality.

A former friend of Elend's who leads the third army besieging Luthadel, having gained control of a koloss army through counterfeit atium beads. His deteriorating mental state as he loses control of the koloss is one of the book's warnings about power sought without the wisdom to wield it.

A half-skaa Mistborn and charismatic rebel leader who plans to overthrow the thousand-year reign of the Lord Ruler. Scarred from a year of brutal labour in the Pits of Hathsin, he channels grief and ambition into revolution, assembling a crew of Allomantic thieves for the most audacious heist in history - stealing an empire.

Kelsier's older brother and a Seeker (bronze Misting). A former leader of the skaa rebellion who has grown disillusioned. He infiltrates the Steel Ministry as a spy for the crew, at great personal risk.

The primordial force of stasis and protection

The revolutionary leader of Urteau who has abolished the nobility and set up a brutal egalitarian regime in its place. A grim illustration of what happens when idealism curdles into paranoia and control. Spook's storyline in Hero of Ages is largely a reckoning with Quellion's regime.

A Terrisman Keeper and Feruchemist who serves as steward to Lord Renoux. He preserves forbidden knowledge of pre-Ascension religions in his copperminds and acts as Vin's protector and tutor in noble etiquette. Quiet, scholarly, and deeply principled.