Clubs (aka Cladent) is a skaa-born Smoker, carpenter, and member of Kelsier’s crew in the Mistborn series. He is also Spook’s uncle.
See below for a table of contents on Clubs’s character analysis:
Appearance
In the Mistborn series, Clubs is described as an old, stout, grumpy, no-nonsense sort of man. In the beginning of The Well of Ascension, Elend describes him as a “stocky man that had a face of a gnarled toadstool, and he always seemed to be squinting in displeasure—an expression usually matched by his tone of voice” (2.62)s
Background
Spook’s Uncle
We know in Mistborn that Clubs is Spook’s uncle. However, it isn’t until The Hero of Ages that we learn that Spook had had an abusive father. When Spook’s father finds out he’s been working as a servant in the Lord Ruler’s army, he pushes his foot down hard on Spook’s neck and calls him a traitor.
In this scene, Clubs shows up, possibly sent for by his mother, and takes Spook away. This is how he ends up coming under Clubs’s care (3.210)
According to Spook, Clubs had gone through a lot of trouble to save him, having “spent a fortune traveling a long distance in an empire where skaa were forbidden to leave their home cities,” and he had risked betrayal by Spook’s father in the process.
Despite his grumpy, no-nonsense nature, it seems that Clubs genuinely cared for Spook. He was always a father-figure to the boy, and he had sent him away with Elend and Vin before the Battle of Luthadel, seemingly in an effort to save his life.
Military History
Clubs used to be a leader in the Lord Ruler’s army, and he has a big scar on his leg to show for it. He gets his nickname from the hobble with which he walks, which likely came from this same scar. (2.62)
In Mistborn, Breeze asks why Kelsier had wanted Clubs to be an army leader, to which Clubs snorts, then lifts up his trouser leg, “showing the long, twisting scar that ran up the side of his calf and thigh—obviously the source of his limp.” (1.586)
He doesn’t speak of his past fighting in the Lord Ruler’s army, and the crew doesn’t often ask him about it (2.150).
We finally get some insight into his past military experience when Breeze asks him how often he’s been in combat, just before the battle of Luthadel. He says:
“Off and on for the better part of twenty years, when I was younger…Fighting rebellions in the distant dominances, warring against the nomads out in the barrens. The Lord Ruler was pretty good at keeping those conflicts quiet” (2.680).
Abilities
He is a gifted Smoker, which means he is a copper Misting, otherwise known as a Coppercloud. He has the ability to burn copper, the pulses of which cannot be detected from nearby Allomancers. This helps disguise one’s use of allomancy, essentially “smoking out” their allomantic pulses. This serves the crew well throughout the first novel, as his copper burning helps them avoid being discovered by Inquisitors.
Outside of Allomancy, he is a master carpenter, and the lair that Kelser’s crew uses in Mistborn is Clubs’s tool shop.
Personality
Heroism
Clubs has this “I’m too old for this shit,” type of attitude, following the trope of a former badass being pulled back into his old lifestyle.
“Because,” Clubs said, standing. “The Lord’s going to get me sooner or later. At least this way, I’ll be able to spit in his face as I go. Overthrowing the empire…it’s got style” (1.87)
He has a truly heroic mindset as well. During Sazed’s secret conference in The Well of Ascension, as they are discussing making a last stand in Luthadel, and Clubs has this to say:
“You wonder if we should give up. Well, we’re not going to do that. Kell wouldn’t let us, and so we won’t let ourselves. We’ll fight, and we’ll die with dignity. Then the city will burn—but we’ll have made our statement. The Lord Ruler pushed us around for a thousand years, but now we skaa have pride. We fight. We resist. And we die.” (2.585)
He dies fighting bravely, fully taking on a koloss by himself in the battle of Luthadel.
““Breeze looked right in time to see a massive koloss sword shear through Club’s upraised arm, then continue on to hit the general in the ribs. Clubs grunted, thrown to the side, his sword arm—weapon and all—flying free. He stumbled on his bad leg, and the koloss brought his sword down in a two-handed blow. The dirty snow finally got some color. A splash of red.” (700)
Bluntness
Clubs is notoriously a grumpy old man, and many think of him as a pessimist. However, he is just very blunt and straightforward, and has no time for nonsense. He is very much like Vin in this way.
Towards the end of The Well of Ascension, he and Breeze spend some time together before the Battle of Luthadel. At one point, he says to Breeze, “We were dead the moment that first army got here, Breeze…we’re simply good at stalling” (2.554).
At this point, Breeze thinks, “Why in the name of the Lord Ruler do I spend my time with this man?…He’s nothing more than a pessimistic doomsayer “(2.554)
Later on, as they spend more time together, Breeze learns that Clubs simply says the things that others aren’t willing to acknowledge.
“Breeze felt his stomach turn. Clubs spoke so bluntly…so callously. But that was Clubs. He wasn’t even really a pessimist; he merely said the things that he didn’t think others wanted to acknowledge” (588).
Wisdom
Clubs is oddly wise, in his own way. At one point in The Well of Ascension, he tells Elend that he’s known both worse leaders and one’s “a hell of a lot better.” He says that the man is usually made by the situation. He gives Kelsier as an example of this, saying he was a “selfish dandy” until the Pits of Hathshin nearly broke him. He then asks Elend if the siege of Luthadel will be his Pits of Hathshin (2.183).
It’s an astute observation he makes here, to be aware that sometimes it’s our environment that molds us into who we are, rather than some intrinsic quality that exists in a vacuum.
Character Arc & Religion
If Clubs were to have any kind of character arc, it would be related to his stance on religion.
In The Well of Ascension, we see that Clubs is wary of religion. After Vin and Elend leave for the Well of Asension, Demoux says, “May the Survivor protect them, to which Sazed agrees, saying, “may he indeed.”
However, Clubs scoffs at this, telling Sazed not to encourage him. He seems upset that Demoux has been preaching to his soldiers. “I told him I didn’t want this nonsense cluttering their minds,” he says.
He asks Sazed if he honestly believes that Kelsier is going to protect the people. Sazed begins to reply that their belief on its own is enough, to which Clubs says, “no…that isn’t enough, Terrisman. These people fool themselves by believing in the Survivor.” (635)
When Sazed points out that Clubs had believed in him, that he had followed him, Clubs says that “our crew—Kelsier’s crew—fought to free this people because it was right” (635). Clubs puts more weight on something simply being right than any religious belief.
He then pushes Sazed on his belief in multiple religions, saying that his belief is only “situational.”
“Situational,” Clubs spat. “At least that fool Demoux had the sense to choose one thing to believe in” (636)
He tells Sazed that it must be easy to believe everything and never have to choose. Meanwhile, he is going to prepare his “boys” to die.
Later, Sazed introduces him to the Dadradah faith, one which values artists above all else. He gives him a wooden disc he made that symbolizes the Dadradah faith, telling him he preaches this religion to him not because he is a soldier, but because he is a woodworker (2.655).
Clubs seems to appreciate the gesture, being taken in by the wooden disc. As the reader, we are led to believe that perhaps he accepted this religion, or at least appreciated it, before his death at the Battle of Luthadel. Sazed had given him a reason to believe before he perishes.
Analysis
Clubs, being a no-nonsense sort of person, has no space for religion, no room for things that aren’t practical. As a leader of soldiers, his only concern is getting his men in and out of battle safely and effectively. His eventual demise in battle crosses with Sazed’s religious arc. Despite Sazed giving him a symbol of the Dadradah faith, Clubs meets his death anyways.
“The religion of Dadradah hadn’t helped Clubs” (2.722)
Clubs’ end serves as a launching point for Sazed’s arc. His beginning also serves as a launching point for Spook’s arc as well. As a side character, he serves his purpose for the crew, allowing them refuge to make plans to overthrow the Lord Ruler in Mistborn, and he serves his purpose for the more central characters of the novels, allowing them to have their own satisfying arcs.
