Hammond (Ham) is a misting and a thug in Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series. He serves on Kelsier’s crew and as a commander in Elend’s army. He has a strong penchant for philosophy and an honest nature.
See below for a table of contents on Ham’s character analysis:
Appearance
According to Elend, Ham has the “firm muscles and powerful build of a warrior” (2.61). In his customary style, he wears simple clothing, opting only to wear vests with no shirt underneath, and trousers.s
At one point, he is asked if he gets tired of his vests, to which he replies that they’re easy and simple. Only when it’s cold out, does he finally take to wearing a shirt beneath his vest. Still, he wears no cloak or coat.
When we are introduced to him in the final novel, Vin notes how the pewter he burns makes him resistant to heat and cold, and so this is why he dresses the that way he does.
“The pewter he burned made him resistant to heat and cold, so he’d cheerfully walk around sleeveless on a day that would send most men running for shelter” (3.116).
Background
Childhood
Ham grew up in Luthadel, but not on the streets like Vin. He had skaa parents, but his grandfather was a nobleman. He was involved with the underground life in the city, but he still had his parents for a good portion of his childhood. He was a rather large boy growing up.
In The Well of Ascension, when he helps sneak Elend out of the Luthadel, he says a woman named Granny Hilde used to help him sneak out of the city as a kid. As an adult, he uses the same tunnels to sneak his wife, Mardra, and his kids in and out of the city when they come to visit.
Family
Ham’s family lives in a smaller city outside of Luthadel. His wife is a seamstress there, and she tells people that Ham is in the Luthdael garrison as a cover story. In general, his family lives a decent life because he is a Thug. Thugs, being so powerful, are highly sought-after Mistings, and can easily earn a lot of money. Therefore, his family lives a decent life for a skaa family, and his wife only works to keep up appearances.
Ham misses his family dearly and he only gets to spend a few months at a time with them. However, he knows it’s better this way. If the Inquisitors were to find out who he was — i.e., that he was a Misting — they would go through the trouble of tracking down his family and wiping out his children because of the blood he carries.
Therefore, the only way to keep them safe is to stay away from them. This way, if he were to get killed on a job, the Inquisitors would have a tough time tracking them down. In fact, in the first novel, Kelsier doesn’t even know which city his family lives in.
Once he has enough money, he wants to move away from the Central Dominance, to one of the places in the Final Empire that a lot of people don’t know about. Places “where a man with enough money can live the life of a nobleman,” and “where you can stop worrying and simply live.” (1.403)
Allomantic Abilities
Ham is a Thug, which means he is a Misting who can burn pewter. When someone burns pewter, it enhances their physical strength, and makes them more resistant to fatigue and pain. Pewterarms, like Ham, fight with brute strength.
“There was a reason Pewterarms were also called Thugs: there was no subtlety to their fighting, no clever Ironpulls or Steelpushes. Ham simply attacked with raw strength and speed, throwing enemy soldiers out of his way, laying waste to their ranks” (1.564).
Normally, Thugs tend to be crude people, but Ham, notably, is the exception to this rule.
Personality
Philosophy
When we are introduced to Ham in the first Mistborn novel, it’s pointed out that he will “try to bore you with random philosophy” (1.69).
We see this displayed very early on, as he is having a conversation with Vin and Breeze. He asks the pointed question: “By overthrowing the Final Empire are we doing something good, or are we doing something bad?” (1.190).
He then rambles in a long monologue, where he claims that by overthrowing the Lord Ruler, they are essentially overthrowing god, and isn’t that inherently wrong? He goes on to say that God is the creator of all things, that he is the force that dictates the laws of the universe and is, therefore, the ultimate source of ethics, the ultimate source of morality. So if the Lord Ruler as God defines what is good, by opposing him, the crew is actually evil. However, since the Lord Ruler is doing the wrong thing, does evil actually count as good in this case?
One can see how his philosophical diatribes can naturally derail a conversation.At one point, he actually derails a planning session in the first novel by asking what money truly is.
“Everything costs money,” Ham said. “But what is money? A physical representation of the abstract concept of effort. Well, wearing that uniform for so long was a pretty mean effort. I’d say that this vest and I are even, now.” (1.397)
Later on in the Mistborn series, however, Ham touches on some deeper topics with his philosophy, and his insights and questions start to drive at key themes throughout the novels.
For example, in the first novel, he begins to question if there truly is some physical difference between the skaa and noblemen, and if noblemen have a right to rule over them. He notes the way that skaa never become Mistings unless they have aristocratic blood somewhere in their last five generations (1.354). But does this physical difference allow for one class to ethically rule over the other? This theme of class warfare, of the skaa pitted against the nobilty, continues to play itself out over the course of the Mistborn series.
Later on, in the second novel, he touches on the theme of ruling and governance. When Elend is planning to manipulate both Cett and Straff’s attacking armies to fight each other, he notes:
“That’s the way of most rulership. What is a government but an institutionalized method of making sure somebody else does all the work?” (153)
In the final novel, he touches on the themes of what being a king and being a true ruler actually means. When Elend’s forces arrive in Fadrex, Cett is arguing with them about how a king doesn’t need to please anyone, and Ham says:
“Actually…that theory can’t be true. A king has to please somebody—after all, even if he intended to force everyone to do what he said, he’d still have to please his army. But then, I guess if the army is pleased merely by being allowed to push people around, you might have an argument…” (269)
However, despite having a highly philosophical mind, Ham is not a scholar, nor does he come to any conclusions about anything.
In the Well of Ascension, Elend notes that although he likes to consider himself a philosopher, and he has a good mind for abstract thinking, he is not a scholar like he or Sazed. He liked to think up questions and answers, but he doesn’t have any experience studying a text in detail, searching out its meaning and implications.
“Ham never delved deeply into topics—he enjoyed philosophical questions, but not scholarly debates” (3.409)
In this way, he serves as a foil to Elend and Sazed, who are both quite scholarly, and who focus most of their time and energy trying to come up with answers and solutions to complex questions.
This philosophical quirk of Ham’s serves as a way to make his character more interesting. Instead of falling in line with the stereotype of the brute, forceful, simple-minded warrior that might fit in with being a “thug,” Ham is characterized as a deeply curious, honest, and kind person; one who, as we find throughout the course of the novels, does not gravitate naturally towards leadership. This surprising characterization prevents him from becoming a flat side character.
Family Man
In The Well of Ascension, Elend notes how much of a family man Hammond is:
“It was sometimes hard to remember that the free-spirited Thug was a family man. Ham tended not to talk much about Mardra or his two children. Elend suspected it was habit; Ham had spent much of his marriage living apart from his family in order to keep them safe.” (2.525)
Later on, in The Hero of Ages, he seems to look at Vin as being one of his own children. As she gets ready in her stunning outfit for King Yomen’s ball, he says to her:
“Ah, Vin..when did you go and grow up on me? It seems like only last week you were scrambling about, hiding in corners, wearing the haircut of a boy and the attitude of a mouse.” (3.270)
They recount the first time they met, and Ham says that sometimes he still can’t believe that she was that same frightened girl that Kelsier brought into the crew all those years ago. Vin responds by saying that she is nearly twenty now, to which Ham says, “I know…you’re like my own children, grown up before I had time to know them as kids. In fact, I probably know you and El better than I know either of them” (3.270)
Despite being a strong, pewter-burning thug, Ham has a soft, sentimental side that most wouldn’t expect a person like him to have.
General & Leader
In Mistborn, Ham is uncomfortable with being the leader of Kelsier’s skaa army gathering in the caves, saying that he is “a bodyguard, not a general” (1.351).
However, despite being uncomfortable playing the role of the general, he comes to respect the men that he had led for a short time, and actually tells Breeze not to speak ill of them, because they are good men (1.492)
In The Well of Ascension, he has agreed to be the captain of Elend’s guard, but on the singular condition that he would never have to wear a uniform (2.33). It is ambiguous as to whether this has a deeper, symbolic meaning to Ham, or if it is just a part of his simple and honest personality.
Of his leadership, Vin notes that “he may have been a bit of an anarchist at heart, but he could be a very good leader if he was given a small team” (2.250). She also notes that despite his guards not being the most polished or disciplined soldiers, they are fiercely loyal to him.
However, deep down, he doesn’t truly want to be a commander, general, or a leader.
“I spend lots of time with the soldiers—I just can’t be intimidating enough to be their commander. Kelsier always wanted me to be a general—I think that deep down, he thought befriending people was inferior to leading them. Perhaps he was right; men need leaders. I simply don’t want to be one of them.” (2.458)
Dealing with armies and worrying about the fate of kingdoms is simply not in his element. Elend realizes this as Cett’s army withdraws from battle in the second novel and Straff’s army is getting ready to attack.
“He preferred to concern himself with smaller spheres” (2.555)
In The Hero of Ages, Elend seems to think that he gets too involved with his duty as commander and that Kelsier had made a mistake in making him a general.
“He gets too involved…he has to know each man he commands personally or it makes him uncomfortable. And when he knows them all that well, he grows attached.” (3.147)
Character Arc
In Mistborn, Ham’s motivation is simply to earn enough money with the thieving crew so that he can move away from the Central Dominance to a quiet, peaceful life with his family.
Over the course of the novels, he grows more solemn and focused. For example, in The Well of Ascension, Elend notes this change:
“Running this city, dealing with all of this, it’s even changed him. The Thug was more solemn now—more focused. Of course, he had even more stake in the city’s safety than the rest of the crew (2.524)
Later, in The Hero of Ages, Vin notes that he has changed as well.
“Ham hadn’t changed overnight, as Sazed had. But he had lost some of his joviality. He tended to sit around a lot with a look of consternation on his face, as if considering things very, very carefully—and not much liking the answers he came up with” (3.116)
However, he becomes more like his old self again when Elend’s forces arrive at Fadrex in the third novel. As Cett is arguing with them about how being a king means you don’t need to please anyone, Ham counters with his own philosophical point of view. Elend seems to notice he is like his old self again:
“Elend smiled, glancing at the cabin again. It was good to hear Ham acting like himself. Cett protested against Ham’s comments almost as much as Breeze did. In fact…Maybe that’s why Ham hasn’t been quite so prone to his little logic puzzles lately, Elend thought. There hasn’t been anyone around to complain about them” (3.269)
Finally, at the end of The Hero of Ages, as Elend waffles on the decision to use his koloss to attack Fadrex and save Vin, Ham debates the ethics of attacking the city to save her in his usual style. This time, however, he actually comes to a decision. He doesn’t think they should attack. Elend is astounded. “Did you actually come to a conclusion?” he asks him (3.603). Ham doesn’t offer any explanation or rationalization, however.
We, as the reader, are left wondering whether or not this is a turning point for Ham, or if it’s just odd behavior. Has the trauma and burden of sustained warfare forced him to become more decisive and practical, and caused him to lose his old playful, philosophical ways? Or is he simply having an out-of-character moment here?
In the end, he is reunited with his family after Sazed sets the world right again. He has served his role dutifully to defeating the Lord Ruler and Ruin, and his family is safe and with him again. So, perhaps, at the end of the day, it served him well to not be a leader – to continue to be himself, and to simply survive the events of the novels.
Either way, he is a memorable character for his philosophical nature, for his defiance of our expectations of him being a strong leader or a dull-minded man. He was ultimately one who liked to ask questions, but not find answers. One who brooded in solemnity, and never took the limelight of leadership.
