In the Mistborn series, Mistwraiths are strange, semi-intelligent beasts who use the bones of those they ingest to add to their bodies. They are cousins to the kandra, and they have the most utterly bizarre appearance.
Appearance
Mistwraiths have smoky, translucent skin as well as translucent muscles, through which you can see their bones.
One of the Mistwraiths in The Final Empire is described as having dozens upon dozens of limbs, each one looking as if it had come from a different animal.
“There were human hands, bovine hooves, canine haunches, and others she couldn’t identify” (1.152).
Furthermore, this particular Mistwraith’s arms and legs hang at unnerving angles, and its limbs are not functional. It shambles more than it walks, moving like an awkward centipede. On top of this, its body is bulbous and elongated. It’s not just a blob, however—there is a strange logic to its form, and it has a distinct skeletal structure, despite having nearly a dozen different rib cages.
Other Mistwraiths in the Mistborn world are just as strange and bizarre-looking.
Attributes
Mistwraiths might be disturbing to look at, but they’re relatively harmless. They are scavengers, mostly, and they only come out at night. Their hearing isn’t good, but their sense of smell—or rather, taste—is quite acute. They are not entirely conscious beings, as they have no sense of self.
History
Mistwraiths were created by the Lord Ruler after he took power at the Well of Ascension. He turned his good friends, who were powerful Ferechumists, into the kandra, while he turned the rest of the Feruchemists of the world into Mistwraiths.
In fact, a Mistwraith is closely related to the kandra because it can gain sentience through a “Blessing” to become a kandra.
A “Blessing” occurs when a Mistwraith is given a pair of hemalurgic spikes, bestowing upon it consciousness. It can be given one of four Blessings – Presence, Potency, Stability, or Awareness. Although it only starts with one Blessing, it can gain more of them by stealing Blessings from other kandra. At this point, however, the being is no longer a Mistwraith, but a fully conscious kandra.
