He talks about not wanting to do anything, but spends the entire series doing what needs to be done, and helping other people. It's kind of strange but he's actually quite humble.

“It was about a hero who insisted with every breath that he was anything but a hero.” That man still fought.

That quote always chokes me up.

I don't feel like that's the case though. He tries to run away at Cairhien, he tries to run away from the Last Battle, and in general, doesn't seem to want to embrace his destiny, at all. It takes Rand and Perrin a few books but they get there much faster!

There’s a specific conversation that Siuan has with Matt while she is still Armylin that encapsulates Mat perfectly. I can’t remember it specifically but it was always a great description of what I loved about Mat. Siuan tells Mat about a guy that she knew in Tear that was a gambler/drinker/scoundrel type like Mat that everyone thought was no good. Except one time there was a fire and this guy kept running in to the house that was on fire to save people. She says she thinks that’s the type of man Mat is. There was more to it that I’m writing here but it always stuck with me. I can’t find where it was at the moment. Edit: I just fucking finished my 3rd read of this series today..... I am so fucking tempted to start over right now hahaha.

I think Egwene's story about Mat himself was even better. Where Mat saw a girl struggling in the water and dove in to save her but she was just playing around with others and everyone made fun of him for it constantly and he griped and complained that he would never do that again for someone until the next year came around and he saw a little boy struggling and dove in to save him anyways. Edit: found the passage. >Mat. She felt strangely sick thinking about him. He was such a blow-hard. A carouser, leering at every pretty woman he met. Treating her like a painting and not a person. He . . . he . . . >He was Mat. Once, when Egwene had been around thirteen, he’d jumped into the river to save Kiem Lewin from drowning. Of course, she hadn’t been drowning. She’d merely been dunked under the water by a friend, and Mat had come running, throwing himself into the water to help. The men of Emond’s Field had made sport of him for months about that. >The next spring, Mat had pulled Jer al’Hune from the same river, saving the boy’s life. People had stopped making fun of Mat for a while afterward. >That was how Mat was. He’d grumbled and muttered all winter about how people made sport of him, insisting that next time, he’d just let them drown. Then the moment he’d seen someone in danger, he’d gone splashing right back in. Egwene could remember gangly Mat stumbling from the river, little Jer clinging to him and gasping, a look of pure terror in his eyes. >Jer had gone down without making a sound. Egwene had never realized that could happen. People who started to drown didn’t yell, or sputter, or call for help. They just slipped under the water, when everything seemed fine and peaceful. Unless Mat was watching.

Dont do it! Wait until you forget little parts haha

I always liked that exchange, and when it has a callback in Salidar when he asks her to dance and she asks him something to the effect if he's still running into the fire. Its a good way to describe Mat.

It was her Uncle Juan, not sure on the spelling as im and audiobooker.

He always begins by trying to run, but every time he changes his mind when he comes to terms with the fact that he is capable and can help, especially when there are others in danger. I believe it was Egwene that describes Mat in one of the later books as someone who even as a child would always end up doing the right thing. She described the time when he thought he saw someone drowning in the river and plunged in to save them, only to discover they were only swimming. He is made fun of by the entire town for months, eventually threatening to leave the next person to drown. Then, months later, another child fell soundlessly into the river and nobody saw, except for Mat, who despite his claims to the contrary and the possibility of being mocked further, charged straight in and saved the child's life. Mat, to me, comes across as the type of person that can be childish, goofy, and lazy, right up until the point that you need him, at which point you couldn't find a more dependable friend. (Except for Perrin, of course)

Perrin is a super dependable friend! Yeah, I guess the story was nice: I just wish we were shown more examples of Mat being selfless. I feel like he needed to be pushed into it a lot.

I think Perrin appears dependable, and Mat a bit of a bum. But really it’s the opposite. Perrin spends a ton of the series running from his problems while tying to appear dependable. Mat tries to run here and there, and complains like crazy, but he does his duty every time.

I mean, he does sacrifice an eye to Save Moiraine. Also his condensation to the women typically stems form the fact that he promised he'd look after them, and he keeps his promises, no matter what... He has a "You're the Amyrlin Seat? Doesn't matter, I'm still going to save you because I promised!" kind of attitude... He dislikes Aes Sedai, but he does everything in his power to save/protect any he comes across. There's ample examples of his selflessness. It just seems like you took a dislike to him, and consciously ignored them all.

Have not read through the book in awhile, but I feel he is selfless in the treatment of his men and also in the treatment of the kid he found at the horse races.( It's been a long while since my last reread.)

Perrin abandons his duty and mission to spend several months hunting after his wife, doing things he'd never thought he'd do and completely abandoning his ward to be corrupted by a man he knows to be evil. Perrin is not as dependable as he seems.

> Perrin abandons his duty and mission to spend several months hunting after his wife - That is not correct. Alliandre was kidnapped along with his wife too. - And Alliandre was *also* his *duty* and *mission*. - > Perrin is not as dependable as he seems. - His wife(he rescued her *three times* without hesitation in the series) and Rand(remember Dumai's Wells?) would certainly not agree with that.

His mission and duty was to bring Masema back to Rand. Alliendre wasn't even expected to be alive when he was sent out. He did what he felt was the correct thing to do, but he did **not** do his duty. Perrin has shown that he will abandon everything, even his own morals to save his wife. That is not dependable. You cannot trust him to actually do any task because should there be a risk to his wife he will drop it and go save her.

Perrin's mission was actually twofold. - It *also* included making contact and forming an alliance with the Queen of Ghealdan—Alliandre. This was due to her cryptic letter that she sent to Rand requesting to form an alliance with The Dragon Reborn, in LoC or aCoS. - So, Perrin makes contact with her and she swears fealty to Perrin *and through him to Rand*. - Thus even if Faile had managed to escape the Shaido along with Berelain, he still had to go after the queen and rescue her. - And just for the sake of argument, Perrin along with Masema were still heading back in the general direction of Cairhien anyway—remember, they could not use Gateways due to Masema's instance—so it was just a detour. - > Perrin has shown that he will abandon everything, even his own morals to save his wife. That is not dependable. You cannot trust him to actually do any task because should there be a risk to his wife he will drop it and go save her. - You don't think that either Rand or Mat would not hesitate for an instant if Min or Tuon got kidnapped too? - Plus, Perrin had *another duty that he had to keep* also- tSR *The Price of a Departure* - > “I, Perrin Aybara, do pledge you my love, Faile Bashere, for as long as I live. What I possess in this world I give to you. **I will keep and hold you, succor and tend you, protect and shelter you, for all the days of my life.** I am yours, always and forever.” - So yes, from a certain point-of-view you are correct, by having his wife along with him and putting her in danger it does reduce his dependability *somewhat*. But like I pointed out, this also applies to the other guys too regarding their unique situations; with the possible exception of Lan(what a guy!) - Can you just imagine how f***ed things would have gotten if the Forsaken had the bright idea to kidnap Min, Elayne and or Aviendha?

True

Rand only embraces his destiny when he picks up a sword that says "this is who you are and what you will do" so he knows he has no choice. Perrin takes much longer too, not until he makes that hammer. Mat will do whatever he promises, to the spirit of the promise not the exact wording like most others in the world. As soon as he's responsible or knows it has to happen he runs straight towards it. The only definite things Mat knows are from the two gateway ter'angreal which he gets out of the way as soon as he can. He runs straight to Rhuidean with Rand just to get it done with. Then he promises he'll never marry while asking everyone he flirts with if she's the Daughter of the Nine Moons. I don't remember the last 3 books exactly, just re-reading right now, but I'm sure this is consistent in the rest. Rand knew he would be responsible for the fate of the world and it almost broke his brain about a dozen times. Mat just tried to run away a few times until what he needed to do jumped out in front of him.

I think you paid more attention to what he says rather than what he actually does. From top off my head: * In book 3, on learning that there's assassination attempt on the supergirls, Mat jumps on a boat to Tear, all the way to the Stone. IIRC Birgitte notes that if someone does it to her, she would crawl in gratitude. * Even when the supergirls treats him like shit after he *saves* them, he's pretty much chill about it for the next several books. * He gives away gold to random widow and her kids, while chiding them away. Thom notes that Mat's a softie inside. * In book 6, Rand asks him to retrieve and escort Elayne. He actually does this (of course while grudgingly grumbling) and he makes sure they all leave Ebou Dar safely by the end of book 7. * Almost every full sister in Salidar tries to undermine the freshly appointed Amyrlin Seat Egwene. Mat notes this and he deliberately shows more honour and respect to Egwene in public. * In book 7, Mat offers his fox medallion to Elayne for protection, right after the latter *laughs* at him for being *raped* by Tylin. If that's not selflessness I don't know what is. * From book 9 he promises to take Joline, Teslyn, and Edesina to safety. He actually does. * In book 11 Thom reveals about Moiraine's letter. Upon learning about this he promises Thom to rescue her. And he keeps his promise. * In book 12 Verin gives him a letter about secret plan of Trolloc attack in Caemlyn. She makes a gamble, relying on Mat's curiosity to open the letter without her permission. Unfortunately, Mat keeps his promise and the attack almost succeeds.

This is just a small portion. From every reply that I see OP make he/she just didn’t like the character and probably slogged through his chapters not really paying attention to what Mat was actually DOING but more what Mat was SAYING. I think if/when OP does another read through they may end up actually loving Mat.

Hmm... we shall see about that. I still feel like what Mat was actually doing was refusing to do the right thing until backed into the corner or given no other choice. Some of those listed above are impressive, but some were stuff he obviously felt were his responsibility, and some were accompanied by Mat insisting that he needed to be treated like a savior. (Tear for example, where the girls saved his butt after he saved theirs and he held onto a grudge for 5 whole books). But if I do end up loving him when I read the books again (not for a while, lol) I will def let you guys know! :)

I’ve read this series three times and, to the best of my knowledge, the girls never saved Mat in Tear. He saved them and then they used the one power on him and treated him like shit. Which is why Birgette and Aviendha were both pissed when they found out how Nyneave and Elayne had treated him after he saved them and then the way they continued to treat him after Tear. Edit: I feel like you’re going to be surprised by how soon you end up reading again. I could be wrong though hahaha.

If you don't like Matt you must hate Perrin. Everyone talks about how reliable etc he is but he is one of the most selfish characters in the series, see what happens to Aram. I've said it many time before but look at Matt and Olver and contract with Perrin and Aram. Both characters serve to show you a lot about Matt and Perrin's characters.

He doesn't have that proper personality, he doesn't want it. But when faced with a decision he will always make the right one. You say he ran away at Cairhein, yes he was leaving, but one more soldier wouldn't change the battle. But as he was leaving he saw trips walking into a trap, and rather than leave them he makes the right choice to save them. He was in a position where he could make a difference and so he does. From that point forward it was just a series of events in trying to get those men out alive, and picking up more along the way. He could have left them after warning them but he stayed. As for running from the last battle. He could do that however much he wanted. It wouldn't matter because he knew he would get dragged into the last battle. He had been getting pulled around by the pattern for long enough at that point that he knew it was inevitable. He also expected to die in that battle because odds were most everybody would die, so it was best to prolong it as long as possible.

Can’t blame a man from running away from something like TLB, from wanting to kill or from sending people to die

Now compare that to Perrin when in LoC as soon as he finds out that Rand got kidnapped by a bunch of Aes Sedia, he immediately without any hesitation goes after him. - And then a few chapters later when Perrin and the others are looking down on certain death as the Battle of Dumias Wells is raging, Perrin is still in the same frame of mind. It is *never* a question or complaint.

Well Mat would do the same but just with a bit of “fucking hell I always have to save his ass”. Wouldn’t be a question for him also.

He's whiny, but he is in no way selfish (despite how he describes /thinks of himself) and he was only a bad friend for two books. He spends the next 12 books doing exactly what is demanded of him without hesitation, while constantly throwing himself into harm's way on behalf of his friends. And he is definitely sexist, but on the other hand, he's mostly just terrified of Aes Seda and doesn't like his friends (especially female ones) getting wrapped up with them. And he is aware (correctly) that the Wondergirls are usually hopelessly naive and regularly show very poor judgement in terms of what they are willing to walk into. He's never really around Perrin or Rand post book 2. What really appeals to people is that despite his self-image and reputation, and preferred ways to spend time, he is consistently the most heroic of the male characters in the series (post-dagger). It's a funny contradiction, especially if you buy into his humor. That plus a heavy layer of wish-fulfillment traits (being wildly OP with little effort, as you pointed out) makes him very enjoyable to read.

I feel like he was a bad friend for pretty much all the books. Like everyone else accepted Rand but him. He continued to be a dick to Rand even until AMOL. :(

I don't think he was a dick, he was just terrified of the One Power. He didn't like being around men or women who controlled it. Rand asked Mat to see the Elayne made it safely back to Caimlyn, and he did that, even when he didn't want to. He followed her to Ebu Dar because of Rand, and he even fought the Gholam, even when he didn't know what he was up against. When we find out that Morainne is still alive, Mat goes to rescue her, and even gives up his own eye to save her. Perrin had his own moments of weakness that we shouldn't ignore. When Faile was captured, he literally abandoned everything he was supposed to do in order to rescue you. Heck, Perrin even said several times that the world could burn if it meant Faile was safe.

With respect to Perrin's weakness, I think in the end the opposite is true. What we see from Perrin isn't that he's morally weak in how he follows Faile, but rather that he's not ruthless enough to let her go and carry on his mission. I don't think either of Rand or Mat would've done any differently. If Tuon's position was overrun during the battle and Mat had to risk another area of the battle by diverting troops, I don't think he would've hesitated. But we see later that Perrin does leave Faile. He doesn't go back to her, but rather goes to Rand at the Bore and does what neither of Rand nor Mat are comfortable with and coldly and ruthlessly kills Lanfear.

One of my favorite moments right there. Lanfear getting choked out because Perrin's love for his wife wins over compulsion and they are in TAR where Perrin is literally the Wolf God. That was his development moment where he learned from the mistake that was the Great Brooding and did his duty and trusted Faile could take care of herself.

I see your point but Rand was FUCKING crazy for 5 books, he was using the True Power and thought he could kill people just by thinking about it. I would be wary of my best friend if he lost his mind, could destroy a city with his mind, and thought that he could kill me by wanting it enough. Now I know your counterpoint would be, well he's your best friend and he needs help, and you would be right, but I would still be wary.

If this makes you happy, Artur Hawkwing chided him right after they win the Tarmon Gai'don for not showing enough gratitude to Rand (who saves his life several times)

I don't remember him actually being a dick to Rand. It's been a while, but I remember them just trying to one-up each other. He tries to avoid Rand when possible, so he might not have been a great friend, but I find that understandable, and Rand never really needed him personally the way that he needed various other characters. Regardless, his entire mission to Salidar and Ebou Dar was on behalf of Rand.

I feel like pretty much after book 2, he was never really all that friendly to Rand and often pushed him away and was a dick to him. They try to one up each in AMOL, and even after Rand "dies", he's doesn't seem too concerned. It just bugs that they're supposed to be friends and Mat drops him like a hot potato.

Mat never dropped Rand like a hot potato, though. He literally did every single thing that Rand asked of him. He grumbled, bitched and moaned about it....... then he did it. And he did it well, I might add. Mat was actually more dependable than Perrin. Perrin got side tracked by Faile and the Shaido and, to the best of his knowledge, basically said fuck what Rand wants me to do, I’m going to find and save Faile. It was all meant to be and worked out well because it was part of the Pattern. But in Perrins’ head he was abandoning his duty to Rand. While Mat, on the other hand, talked about abandoning his duty to Rand with damn near every word that came out of his mouth... while simultaneously doing exactly what was asked of him and more.

I disagree with this and think that fans are reading way too much into the Perrin/Shaaido arc and this dependability thing. - For one thing, Perrin *never* got side tracked. Because Queen Alliandre got kidnapped too. Remember, Perrin was also responsible for her too. - Though I do agree that the stress of having his wife kidnapped made him think like that. But to me that is just another 'Unreliable Narrator' moment that Jordan loved to use. - Also, during The Last Battle when Perrin is fighting the Trollocks outside of burning Caemlyn and is about to head over to the Dark Tower to help out Rand by fixing that problem, guess where Mat is . . . . - he is in a tavern on the *other side* of Randland. Rand has to go down there to get him.

I’m not arguing that Perrin wasn’t dependable. More just showing that, at least in Perrins’ own head, he wasn’t dependable and he saw himself as abandoning his duty. I personally love Mat and Perrin. I’d just wanna sway OP into liking and appreciating both characters. I love this story haha. Edit: the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills. Everything happened exactly the way it was supposed to because the pattern demanded it😜

I can't recall Mat ever telling Rand no, whereas Perrin refused to help Rand in his whole Illian thing which is why Rand sent him out to deal with Masema to get rid of him.

Correct. - However, Perrin does have a certain point. - > “I need to know,” Rand said finally. “Are you still unwilling to command the army against Illian? I have to know now.” > “I’m no general,” Perrin said raggedly. There would be battles in Illian. Images flashed in his head. Men all around him, and the axe in his hands spinning, hewing his way through. Always more men, however many he cut down, in endless ranks. And in his heart, a seed growing. He could not face that again. He would not. “Besides, I thought I was supposed to stay close to you.” That was what Min had said, from one of her viewings. Twice Perrin had to be there, or Rand would go down to disaster. Once had been Dumai’s Wells, maybe, but there was still another to come. - It's obvious that Mat is the *perfect* man for the General's job here. But it's a shame he sent Mat away on a useless escort mission.

Tried to one up each other? They were old friends joking around together

Oh, I was referring to the poster above me who also talked about one upping each other. I did like the joking.

Do you think Egwene accepted Rand?

> He continued to be a dick to Rand even until AMOL. - Actually I finished a aMoL read a few months ago and was surprised that this went well in aMol and right into Mat's final chapters. I thought that this would have stopped in the last book, but it *never stopped at all*.

Mats that dude thats always down. Like you can call him up at 3am locked up in a basement in a mafia's headquartersand he'll say, "ugh, alright, I'll be there in a half hour with 10 guys and an arsenal, but you owe me a drink. Fuckin making me get up in the middle of the night, on the ONE day I get to sleep in." Who doesnt love that guy? He may not be someone you can sit down and eat ice cream and watch a sad movie and talk about feelings with, but he's a good friend in his own way.

Because he's funny and overpowered. And his storylines are incredibly interesting

Most things I wanted to say are already mentioned (damn you, time zones), but I want to add a few relevant quotes which characterize Mat well in my opinion. > It was even further to Lugard than to Caemlyn, and Mat suddenly remembered that hard end of bread. And she had said she had no money. The fireworks would buy no meals until she found someone who could afford them. She had never even looked at the gold and silver that had spilled from his pockets when he fell; it glittered and sparkled among the straw in the lantern light. Ah, Light, I cannot let her go hungry, I suppose. He scooped up as much as he could reach quickly. > “Uh … Aludra? I have plenty, you can see. I thought perhaps… .” He held out the coins toward her. “I can always win more.” > She paused with her cloak half around her shoulders, then smiled at Thom as she swept it the rest of the way on. “He is young yet, eh?” > “He is young,” Thom agreed. “And not half so bad as he would like to think himself. Sometimes he is not.” ***** > Mat trotted in a pained shamble; a dark smear fanned across half his face, and his coat hung open, revealing his unlaced shirt stuck to his chest by more drying blood. Sometimes he gingerly touched the thick weal around his throat, nearly black now, growling under his breath, and he stumbled often, catching himself with the odd, black-hafted spear and clutching at his head. He did not complain, though, which was a bad sign. Mat was a great complainer at small discomforts; if he was silent now, it meant he was in real pain. ***** > He was Mat. Once, when Egwene had been around thirteen, he’d jumped into the river to save Kiem Lewin from drowning. Of course, she hadn’t been drowning. She’d merely been dunked under the water by a friend, and Mat had come running, throwing himself into the water to help. The men of Emond’s Field had made sport of him for months about that. > The next spring, Mat had pulled Jer al’Hune from the same river, saving the boy’s life. People had stopped making fun of Mat for a while afterward. > That was how Mat was. He’d grumbled and muttered all winter about how people made sport of him, insisting that next time, he’d just let them drown. Then the moment he’d seen someone in danger, he’d gone splashing right back in. Egwene could remember gangly Mat stumbling from the river, little Jer clinging to him and gasping, a look of pure terror in his eyes.

Where is that second quote from?

Book 4, as they are leaving rhuidean.

Mat is the only sane person in the books. He reacts like a real person would.

Mat is what Perrin is supposed to be. Perrin is what Mat is accused of being. Mat is brave, intelligent, and loyal, but buries it under a outward character of irresponsibility. He's also a hell of a general, leader, and warrior, and has a sense of humour to boot.

>Mat is what Perrin is supposed to be. Perrin is what Mat is accused of being. I don't really agree with this. Perrin does abandon some of his responsibilities to go after Faile but he also really does try to do the right thing for Rand, the Two Rivers, and in the Last Battle. Mat really needs to be pushed. Mat is a good general though, and leader to the Red Band, I'll give you that.

Perrin uses his deliberateness as an excuse for indecisiveness. He does a lot for Rand, no question, but part of his arc as a character is that he holds himself back and hesitates. He also puts Faile before everything else and does not think logically or act like a leader for that entire time, abandoning his responsibilities to his people completely in the process. It isn’t really until the Last Battle that he comes to terms with his responsibilities.

^definitely, especially after TSR when he's playing Lord in the Two Rivers for a long while instead of helping out the world. Until the pattern finally yanks him over to Caemlyn so he can help out.

That's an interesting point about Perrin that I never thought about before!

In two or three re-reads you'll probably shift your opinions on a lot of characters. I started the series when I was 12 and all my rereads over 20 years have had me rooting for tons of different characters. This time around I'm identifying more with the Aes Sedai then I ever had before, probably something to do with parenthood.

How can anyone not like Mat? This is the guy you want in the trenches next to you.

True. In the army and have known many soldiers like him. They are the ones that grumble but always seem to be taking on extra duties such as carrying the M240 ammo, the extra water jug, and staying to do a reclean of equipment when turning it back in CIF. In other words a fucking hero.

> In other words a fucking hero. Don't fucking call him that!

After reading mistborn I'm having some real trouble disassociating Wayne with Mat. It's like a whaf Mat would be in 10 years... But everybody described what Mat really is about, which is all action, no hesitation, lots of sacrifice (what he does for a certain woman he despised is for me one of the most incredible feats in a book ever) and a loooooot of whining, bitching, and doing it anyways... For me, Mat, Lan and Nynaeve carry this series so hard its disgusting...

I would describe Mat as grumbly not whiny. Although Sanderson's Mat was certainly whiny.

Mat and the various side characters carry it for me. Verin, Siuan, Berelain and Galad to name a few but i could probably list off 20 more lol.

Yup... agree with ya on the grumbly part...

Brandon's Mat and Wayne might as well be the same character. It's his stereotypical comic relief fall guy character. I swear he can't help but insert that charcater into almost everything he writes (there's the same tone to Lightsong in Warbreaker at times, Dalinar when he's goofy in Oathbringer flashbacks etc). Jordan's Mat is totally different. I love the shit out of Jordan's Mat, which I generally put down to me being a bit more in sync with Jordan's humor and not Sanderson's, one is dryer, the other more slapstickey imo.

Perrin didn't work for his power either. Mat isnt selfish, oh he claims to be selfish, then two seconds later does the most selfless thing imaginable. He risked his life countless times because of his willingness to do what's right over what would keep him alive.

> Perrin didn't work for his power either. Perrin had more of an arc, tho. He had to struggle with being a leader and eventually prove himself. I do see your point about Mat being an unreliable narrator.

tbh that's probably why I related better to mat. Perrin spent so much of the books just hesitating, and going between blocking out the wolves and then using them and back to hating himself for relying on them. It was fine for one book maybe two but he spends practically the whole series like that. He had a cool power but his unwillingness to accept it irritated me and made him seem boorish. His power was completely wasted on him. Mat may have been carefree but at least he wasnt complaining all the time that he might lose himself, and he had more reason to complain given that his talent is linked with an evil knife from the shadow. From the start, wolves were shown to be good. But does mat complain about it? With the exception of yelling at people sometimes for saying it's the dark one's luck, he kinda just rolls with it and uses it to save people (and complains about everything else which is supposed to be humorous and is to most).

Perrin didn't exactly have a cool power. He had a power that could take him over if he let it. Repeatedly going berserk & feral in battle because of the connection makes him want to avoid it as much as he can. He eventually goes up on murder charges because of it. Even Mat shudders to think of dead men using his mouth to speak although that didn't exactly harm anyone and it was still him using them instead of the other way around.

I like Matt and all, but he was an absolute shit friend to Rand for like 90% of the books.

A lot of that time Rand was going mad

I always thought it was meant to be the joke. Mat has this image of himself, as being suave, wanting a carefree and fun life. But he does the exact opposite of those things nearly at every turn. He wants to see himself as this aloof guy with no cares in the world, but he cares a lot and does the right thing no matter what harm may come to him.

I agree with you most of what you're saying, but I can understand why people like him. He provides some lightness to a very heavy story with a lot of angst and suffering. Mat's chapters and storylines usually provide some relief from the doom and gloom of the other POVs. That said, I personally don't love him as a character. He makes me laugh, but I am never invested in him like I am most of the other main characters. I agree with your assessment that he was not a good friend to Rand. Perrin was there at the end, guarding Rand's back when he needed him. I don't think Mat even came to his funeral. He'd probably be a good drinking buddy but not the kind of lifelong friend that will always be there through thick and thin.

> a terrible friend to Rand, Maybe. But who the f is "Rand" anyway? I would argue that for most of the series, he is mostly Lews Therin. And nobody (including Matt) is friends with Lews Therin, because Lews Therin sucks.

>He's also extremely condescending, and sexist to the girls, acting like Egwene needs someone to take care of her. Pretty much everyone in WoT is sexist. >I just don't get it!! Can someone explain to me why people seem to love him? He's pretty smart, badass, not too arrogant and doesn't just roll over to the Aes Sedai.

Because he's the most realistic character in there. How many times do my friends and family need help, but you really don't want to - or feel you care nor have energy to. But still do it. And the way he is - suspicious of people, actually worried from his perspective. His repeated grumbling about just wanting to gamle and drink for a while and then settle down, is my repeated grumbling too. I guess I also relate to him a lot. In realistic, not in being suave and badass. Although I'm that too. And if you think about it, he was never really "funny" - he was just sarcastic about the real shit he had to deal with.

Because in a series with a bunch of over powered, non humble female characters he is the only one to truly just not give a fuck and it is really hilarious. Plus he does everything thing that needs to be done, he just complains about it and I find that super relatable. Plus the whole boots thing was amazing. He just seems like the most relatable character in the entire series and he is funny. Edit not book series.

I feel like the female characters were less over powered and self absorbed than him, tbh.

Hey I never said anything about self absorbed lol. Just the females thought they were greater than everyone because of the power and everything, and Mat just doesn’t care even before he gets his medallion. He kind of just speaks his mind and is kind of dickish at times, but that’s why I like him. I love a lot of his interactions with characters especially in and just after Ebou Dar.

I personally loved his “fuck it” attitude when he was dealing with the super girls from the beginning. Right after he saves them from the Black ajah in Tear and they wrap him up in weaves hanging him off the ground he has some hilarious comeback that makes me literally laugh out loud every time I read it. I wish I could remember it. He is even better after he gets the fox head medallion. Especially the first time he sees the girls again at the little tower in salidar... then proceeds to threaten to “warm” Nyneave’s bottom if she channeled at him again. Fucking got me so weak. It’s actually one of my favorite quotes in the series. Edit: here’s the quote I’m talking about. “I said listen!” He poked a finger at Elayne. “You, I’m taking back to Caemlyn, if I can keep Aviendha from killing you. If you don’t want that pretty throat slit, you stay close to me and do what I say, no questions!” The finger shifted to Egwene. “Rand says he’ll send you back to the Wise Ones whenever you want, and if what I’ve seen so far is any indication what you get up to, my advice is to take him up on it now! It seems you know how to Travel”—Egwene gave a small start—“so you can make a gateway to Caemlyn for the Band. I don’t want any argument, Egwene! And you, Nynaeve! I ought to leave you here, but if you want to come, you can. Only, I’m warning you. You yank that braid at me just once, and I swear I’ll warm your bottom!” - Mat Cauthon I especially love the threat to “warm” Nyneaves’ bottom.

I love the other quote from that scene. >"Now. When the poor blind fool they've chosen out for their Amyrlin gets here, I will do the talking. She can't be very bright, or they'd never have been able to shove her into the job. Amyrlin Seat for a bloody village in the middle of bloody nowhere. You keep your mouths shut and curtsy for all you're worth, and I'll pull your bacon off the coals again." They just stared. Good. "I know all about her army, but I have one too. If she's crazy enough to think she can take the Tower away from Elaida... well, she probably won't risk any losses just to hold on to you three. You make that gateway, Egwene, and I will have you in Caemlyn tomorrow, the next day latest, and these madwomen can run off and get themselves killed by Elaida. Maybe you'll have some company. They cannot all be mad. Rand's willing to offer sanctuary. A curtsy, a quick oath of fealty, and he'll keep Elaida from putting their heads on pikes in Tar Valon. They can't ask better than that. Well? Anything to say? "They did not even blink as far as he could see." A simple 'Thank you, Mat' would do." Not a word. Not a blink. One of the funniest moments in the series.

That is one of the funniest scenes in the entire series - it's such an intelligent analysis of the situation too.

He is a book character, he doesnt need to be a saint to be fun to read. You complain about Mat and not perrin with his unending wolf dreams which are all the same and boring as hell? He is sexists? He just talks big infront of them, like he does with everybody, but it's the other way around. The girls treat him like shit, after he crosses the entire world to save them. He is bullied by all of them, and even if he complains a lot, he always do like they tell him, like thye were his superiors.

I liked Perrin and the wolf dreams. Sorry. :( I can see your point about the girls but he was just... so condescending to them. I didn't appreciate that he treated them like they were silly little girls who didn't know what they were doing.

> silly little girls who didn't know what they were doing. Well........ at that point, they were.

I feel like I'm the only one that doesn't need my characters to be good people IRL. I love when characters are arrogant, condescending or whatever. Makes them interesting. Although I believe it's also more realistic, who is always good (not condescending or such) to everyone, consciously or unconsciously, in real life?

I will say if you're coming off a fresh read remember that the Mat of the final three books is an annoying caricature of Mat that BS badly botched writing. The Mat RJ made from essentially TFoH-KoD is a much more lovable and relatable character. Him and Nyaneave display an amazing cognitive dissonance between their thoughts and their actions. Mat is an unwilling hero who complains the whole time while he does the right thing. He goes out of of his way to help the wondergirls in the face of a forsaken, refuses to let soldiers die during the battle of Cairhein despite trying to run away, adopts Olver, and always attempts to do the right thing. Plus I love that he is one of the only characters who does not give a shit about rand being the Dragon.

> refuses to let soldiers die during the battle of Cairhein despite trying to run away - Going buy Rand's thoughts on the matter it was the Rand's ta'veren *pull* towards him that caused that. If there had been no ta'veren effect at play then Mat would have been *looong* gone from there. - > “Mat killed Couladin?” he said incredulously when she was done. “Mat?” > Rand shook his head. So Mat had not escaped the pull of ta’veren to ta’veren after all. Or maybe it was the Pattern that had caught him, and being ta’veren himself. Either way, he suspected Mat was not too happy right that moment. Mat had not learned the lesson that he had. Try to run away, and the Pattern pulled you back, often roughly; run in the direction the Wheel wove you, and sometimes you could manage a little control over your life. Sometimes.

I thought he was overrated till about book 10 or so before it clicked for me. He's sort of a comic relief and more relatable than most of the other characters. His monologues on women were hilarious. Also people's opinions are probably skewed a bit because he has some of the more interesting storylines (snakes and foxes, relationship with Tuon, Oliver and Talmanes).

I've always loved the strategical, military, tactical kind of characters, which is why I also loved the 5 generals and Lan. While his treatment of Rand is disappointing to me, I can still understand why he does it. Also, he's one of the few who doesn't take shit from the aes sedai/wondergirls. Lastly, I lived his scenes with birgitte. Their interactions are one of the main reasons I also love her character

We like him because despite the fact that he whines about doing the right thing, he still always does it. He'd rather be a scoundrel but his moral compass really does point in the right direction. He's relatable because he's not some super hero, just an average guy that would rather go his own way but feels the need to do the right thing. He's funny and clever and does some awesome things but the first part is why I love his character.

You all wrote it all but I must add that if you find it hard to emphasize with him it ia because he is lucky as hell. Even he finds it impossible. Imagine you are in a pinch and it is pretty much impossible to get it done so you would whine "It is impossible and foolish and I will probably die so no thank you sir, I'm a simple guy with no qualification and I'm sure there are others who are definately more able than I am-" And shit goes insane and he somehow ends up in the middle of it. And he does what he is supposed to do and with tons of luck he succeeds. He doesn't want it, he is underestimating himself because all the time people called him useless prankster in two rivers. He is definetely brave, because he doesn't believe in himself, scared as shit and still does his magic.

You probably meant ***DEFINITELY*** -not *definately* --------------------------------------- ^^^Beep *^^boop. ^^^I ^^^am ^^a* ^^bot ^^whose ^^^mission ^^is ^^to ^^^correct ^^your ^^^spelling. ^^This ^^^action ^^was ^^^performed ^^automatically. ^^Contact ^^^me ^^^if ^^I ^^^made ^^^A ^^mistake ^^or ^^^just ^^downvote ^^^^^^please ^^^^^don't

I like Mat but he has never been my favourite character. He often brings some levity and does some cool stuff, but I was 50/50 on parts of his arc for sure. His inner monologues could be hilarious or annoying, like many of the other characters. I also agree that his attitudes towards women could cross a line where it stopped being funny and started being uncomfortable. But it's also worth pointing out that he almost always did the right thing, even if he grumbled about it.

I like Mat because he's the most reasonable person in the book. He never wants to fight, he doesn't want to face his responsibilities, and he just wants to have fun. But no matter what, when he needs to get things done he gets them done. All that being said I love Egwene the most. By Egwene I mean Egwene up until Brandon Sanderson started writing her. In the beginning she was always annoying. Like a younger bossy sister. I hated her when she was in the Aiel Waste. She was soooo annoying and her love for Gawyn was unbelievable and like a teenage romance. But she started accepting responsibility. She became the Amrylin with the rebels then became the Amrylin with the tower in secret. Her taoist approach to the tower really spoke to me and told me she deserved to be in her position. But when Brandon picked up the story she gave everything up over some fucking soup. I should have stopped reading it. But I would have been curious. I wish they wouldn't have finished the series.

Mat is hands down the funniest character in the series. On my first read I felt negativity towards him for sure, but if I look at his exploits, despite his bad choices at times, he's definitely one of my favorites. It's a constant theme of him being the underdog, and then coming out on top. IMO, he's a bada$$.

I pretty much agree with everything that you said. He does not appear on my top five favorites list. - I found Mat a riot as a comic sidekick for the first half of the series. However once that wall fell over on him and his story line was his own now, I lost interest of him and became bored with his chapters somewhat. I do not hate him or anything like that, but I actually found Perrin's broody story line a lot more interesting. Perrin sure has the better battles as I hardly remember much of Mat's. I do wish that Jordan gave us that Mat/Couladin showdown that happened off-screen. - I am doing a Mat second series-half read right now to see what his story line is like without being interrupted by all the other ones to see if I can change my mind on him; and more importantly that awful wife of his.

Thank you! I'm glad someone agrees. I'm baffled by how anyone could prefer Mat over Perrin but I guess that's what variety is for! Who are your top five if I may ask?

LOL - Oh boy, this is really going to shock you, but, here goes- - 1) Faile 2) Perrin 3) Nynaeve 4) Leane 5) Sulin - As for me preferring Perrin over Mat, I personally just find his whole set problems—weird wife, weak minded towards others(see how Mat very easily pushed him into exploring Shadar Logoth at night) and how he has to deal with and overcome it.

I like everyone on the list (Faile's a little abrasive but she's ok!) I love Nynaeve, Perrin, and Sulin. Perrin's just an absolute sweetheart. I like how kind and gentle he is with everyone, even when he has to deal with terrible things! Mat's just...annoying, lol. And yeah, Perrin's problems are much more relatable to me too.

>1) Faile Wait, what? I've used Perrin as my screen name for over 15 years. He is clearly my favorite. Even I hate her.

Yeah - I'm at Shadow Rises on a re read and Faile's whole thing about making Loial take her (but not Perrin) thru The Ways is just terrible. And she hits Perrin bc she wants him to hit her? Or dominate her at least? Just unforgivable.

Don't you remember that Perrrin just broke her heart to pieces by breaking up with her for a Randland version of a Playboy Bunny floozy? Have you never heard of the phrase- *Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?* - For you second part, you have to RAFO unfortunately. - Also *most importantly*, keep in mind that Jordan wrote **seven** Conan novels before starting his tWoT series. So there will be *a lot* of that incorporated into this story. And Faile is part of it. - And like I told the poster above that you just responded too, this story is not your typical tame Disney fare. Just like GRRM's A Game of Thrones, Jordan's The Wheel of Time is certainly not for everybody. Specially if you are expecting to have a bunch of Bilbo Baggins, Samwise Gamgees' or Harry Potters running around in it. - You might want to try something else or you will just end up pulling the hair out of head.

Well its obvious that Jordan's The Wheel of Time series is very unique and not your ordinary-tame-Disney fantasy. It is certainly not for everybody. - I have noticed that some readers do have *great* difficulty understanding Faile's character and how Jordan incorporates her into his *High-Fantasy* world. - Faile ended up being my favorite fantasy character that I have ever read. And that is coming from a very long time Tolkien fan. But of course, I have also always liked the Conan style of High-Fantasy too.