The nobility of the Final Empire are the ruling class of Scadrial, descendants of the Lord Ruler's original supporters who were granted Allomantic powers as a reward for their loyalty a thousand years before the events of Mistborn. Noble houses compete fiercely for wealth, political influence, and trade contracts under a rigid social hierarchy enforced by the Lord Ruler's laws. The nobility live in stark contrast to the skaa - enjoying lavish balls, fine estates, and the privileges of their Allomantic bloodlines while the skaa labour in crushing poverty. Houses rise and fall based on their commercial success, and political manoeuvrings between the Great Houses drive much of the intrigue in Luthadel. Despite their power, the nobility exist at the Lord Ruler's pleasure - he created them, and his Steel Inquisitors ensure they never forget it.

The Steel Inquisitors are the Lord Ruler's most feared enforcers - terrifying figures with steel spikes driven through their eyes who serve as the religious police of the Steel Ministry. Created through Hemalurgy, each Inquisitor carries numerous spikes that grant them a devastating array of stolen Allomantic and Feruchemical abilities, making them nearly impossible to kill and overwhelmingly powerful in combat. They answer directly to the Lord Ruler and operate with absolute authority, hunting down skaa Mistings, rooting out rebellion, and enforcing orthodoxy within the obligator bureaucracy. Their eyeless faces and relentless pursuit make them objects of terror across the Final Empire. Despite their apparent loyalty, the Inquisitors harbour their own internal politics and ambitions - and their true nature and origins are more complex than even most of the nobility understand.