Straff Venture is the father of Elend Venture in the Mistborn series, and is one of the most powerful nobles in Luthadel. He is notably cruel and proud.
See below for a table of contents on Straff’s character analysis:
Allomantic Abilities
Straff Venture is a tineye, meaning he is a misting who can burn tin, giving him enhanced senses. He doesn’t miss much, according to Elend:
“His sense were so keen that he’d probably heard Elend’s carriage approaching outside” (1.474)k
House Venture
In the first Mistborn novel, we learn that House Venture is a powerful house in Luthadel, and that it relies on no specific industry or enterprise to fuel its wealth. This is a very difficult position to achieve in the final empire, considering the Lord Ruler’s taxes and atium costs (1.319).
However, we later learn in The Well of Ascension that House Venture holds an exclusive contract to oversee the Lord Ruler’s atium mine, which gives them an incredible amount of wealth and power, albeit at a great risk.
Personality
Cruelty
Straff Venture is a notoriously cruel man. He is emotionally abusive with his son, Elend Venture, and he shows the same cruelty toward the lowly skaa who serve him.
For example, when Kelsier pretends to be an informant for him, he slaps Kelsier for being late, and warns him that he will get the cane next time he makes him wait (1.318). He is also cruel with his personal staff:
“Lord Straff Venture stood in his study, speaking with a group of guard officers. Elend could tell from the pale faces that they had received a firm scolding, perhaps been threatened with beatings. They were noblemen, so Venture couldn’t execute them, but he was quite fond of the more brutal disciplinary forms” (1.529)
Later, in The Well of Ascension, OreSeur notes that Straff is deceitful and harsh, even for a human (2.302). Having studied all the major noblemen in the city when he was preparing to become Lord Renoux, OreSeur has a good barometer for measurement here.
Power and Posturing
Straff Venture is all about power and posturing, a skill he has learned from his many years at court in Luthadel.
When he meets Elend for a parlay in The Well of Ascension, for example, his son notes how Straff had commanded them to come in the evening for their meeting, and that they would have to leave the meeting when the mists were out. Elend seems to think this is his father’s crafty way of pointing out how much power he has over them. Specifically, he thinks,
“It was his father’s way—a move that was similar to the attack on the walls a day before. To Straff, everything was about posturing. Elend had watched his father at court, and had seen him manipulate even obligators. By holding the contract to oversee the Lord Ruler’s atium mine, Straff Venture had played a game even more dangerous than his fellow noblemen. And he had played that game very well. He hadn’t factored in Kelsier throwing chaos into the mix, but who had?” (2.308).
Even how he decorates his war tent is a matter of posturing:
“The tent chamber was what Elend would have expected of his father: stuffed with pillows and rich furniture, very little of which Straff would actually use. Straff furnished to suggest his power. Like the massive keeps of Luthadel, a nobleman’s surroundings were an expression of how important he was” (2.313).
When he comments on Vin’s clothing at this meeting, Elend notes that his words are only about posturing and that despite being cruel, his cruelty was only a tool insofar as it serves his aims. He had wanted to make Vin uncomfortable in this particular moment as a power play. However, from the reader’s perspective, it does seem that Straff is excessively cruel, and that much of his cruelty is needless.
He continues on with his power, posturing, and mind games, when he brings in a serving girl that looks just like Vin. He wants to unsettle them with this.
“It was a statement. I can get one exactly like yours—only younger and prettier. More posturing” (2.317).
Even with his allies, the same dynamic plays out—everything is about power, posturing, and dominance:
“One didn’t ally with House Venture—one agreed to be dominated by House Venture. If you weren’t willing to be our slave, then you didn’t get to contract with us” (2.310).
Tactics
Straff Venture is a tactful man, always playing mind games with his enemies and posturing himself in order to win. He is crafty, careful, and Machiavellian-like.
“Since the Collapse, Straff had secured the most stable and most powerful kingdom in the Final Empire. He was a crafty, careful man who knew how to plan for years to get what he wanted. And this was the man Elend had to manipulate. (2.308).
To protect himself, Straff likes to keep powerful tools:
“He also likes powerful tools. He always keeps a kandra, and he has a history of associating with dangerous Allomancers. He believes that he can control them—and he probably believes the same thing about the obligators” (2.312)
Like the kandra, his Mistborn son Zane is another one of the powerful tools he keeps close to the chest. Zane is aware that he is one of these powerful tools, and he keenly notes his father’s limitations when it comes to the subtle danger he presents to his father:
“Straff was fine at large-scale planning, but the details—the subtleties—often got away from him. He could organize an army and crush his enemies. But he liked to play with dangerous tools. Like the atium mines at the Pits of Hathsin. Like Zane” (2.593).
He mistakenly seems to think his strength allows him to control Zane:
“As long as he appeared strong before Zane, the Mistborn would continue to do as commanded. Probably.” (2.214)
However, the leash he keeps upon Zane ultimately gets away from him, and Zane meets his demise at Vin’s hands. This leaves Straff vulnerable, as one of his most powerful tools is now gone. It’s one of many stepping stones in his ultimate downfall.
Fear of Betrayal
On top of playing mind games and keeping powerful tools close to the chest, Straff is so concerned about protecting himself that he also has an acute fear of betrayal.
When he claims to Elend in their parlay that he’s allied with Cett, Elend thinks he’s bluffing. Of this, he notes:
“That wasn’t Straff’s way; he wouldn’t make an alliance with someone so near to him in strength. Straff feared betrayal too much” (2.320).
Elend is right about this, because after he leaves the parlay, Straff contemplates allying with his son to attack Cett together, but decides against it out of fear of betrayal.
“If they did attack together, Straff had no illusions as to how quickly he’d be betrayed” (2.330)
Straff’s fear of betrayal leaves him with no true friends or allies, and it only serves to hurt his chances of ruling over Luthadel in the end.
Misogyny
Straff Venture is notably misogynistic and cruel to women, and he likes his girls young.
He keeps at least 10-15 women with him, as basically part of a harem, and notes that only some of them are useful outside of their beauty. When thinking of Amaranta, the woman who helps him stave off being poisoned with her concoctions, he notes the following:
“She had been quite attractive a decade before, but now she was creeping up into her late twenties. Her breasts had begun to sage from childbirth, and every time Straff looked at her, he noticed the wrinkles that were appearing on her forehead and around her eyes. He got rid of most women long before they reached that age” (2.213).
His misogny and shallow nature is almost comical when he attacks Amaranta towards the end of the second novel:
“He reached down and ripped off the side of her dress, exposing her skin Her left breast—disgusting to him, for it sagged a slight bit—was scarred and cut, as if by a knife” (2.639).
He is basically the fantasy version of Leonardo Dicaprio; he discards women before they get too old. Not only that, he seems to relish in violence against them. Elend notes how he is very fond of skaa brothels, and that he liked how strong he felt by taking a girl while knowing that she would be killed for his passion, showing just how boundless his cruelty truly is.
“If they don’t please him, they get removed” (2.310).
Despite this sheer cruelty to women, Straff does have a practical reason to keep so many women around him. Zane thinks that the reason he likes mistresses so much is so that he can birth more allomancers with them, allowing him more chances at having a Mistborn as an assassin.
“It had taken Straff decades of work with his mistresses to gather so many hidden allomancers. It had been pleasurable work, but work all the same” (2.484)
So, to a man like Straff Venture, a woman’s only usefulness was in her beauty or in her ability to birth allomancers. Or, in the case of Amaranta, to brew poison antidotes. Either way, his cruelty towards women is starkly displayed throughout the novel. Like everyone else, women are only tools to serve Straff’s needs; they are not people deserving of his love, care, or affection.
Relationship with Elend
Straff Venture is quite the opposite from his son Elend. Where Elend is kind and caring, Straff is cruel and capricious. While Elend is someone who reads a lot, Straff is someone who had “several shelves of books—not a single one of which, Elend was confident, his father had ever read” (1.474).
We learn in the first Mistborn novel that has always been emotionally abusive with his son.
For example, he brings up the fact that Elend couldn’t bed a woman properly, and had to be the one to take him to the brothel when he was thirteen, simply because he knows how much it bothers Elend (1.475).
He is also cruel enough to attempt to assassinate his own son so that his nephew can rule instead; at least, this was his plan until Vin foiled it by killing Shan Elariel (1.504).
We can see through their interactions in the first novel that Straff doesn’t truly care for Elend.
“Elend looked into those eyes—eyes that were angry not because his father cared for Elend’s safety, but because Elend dared defy him” (1.595)
When his house is threatened with its demise, he even plans to have Elend take the fall in his place. When he leaves the city after the rebellion and after their atium is gone, he doesn’t care that Elend isn’t going with him. He knows his son can take the fall in his place—either that, or die in the rebellion. Either way, he’s going to be rid of Elend (1.595).
Later, in The Well of Ascension, he marches on Luthadel to take it from his very son.
We can see in the letter that he writes to Elend in the beginning of the novel that he expects him to be obedient. That their relationship is one of him dominating his son, just like he tries to dominate his political allies and enemies alike. In the letter, he says:
“Son, I trust you’ve enjoyed seeing after Venture interests in Luthadel. I have secured the Northern Dominance, and will shortly be returning to our keep in Luthadel. You may turn over control of the city to me at that time” (2.27)
Here, it’s clear that he simply expects his son to obey and hand the city over. He cannot fathom that Elend would keep the city for himself instead.
As the conflict between him and Elend over the control of Luthadel develops, we see him taunt Elend. When he sends his men to attack the walls of Luthadel before they are to meet, Elend notes that he was sending a very specific message:
“I can take this city any time, the attack seemed to say. It’s mine, no matter what you do. Remember that” (2.301).
Elend, despite being aware of his father’s cruelty, seems to think his cruel nature has limitations when it comes to him; that he enjoys hurting others, but not him. That “propriety” had always been there to stop him (2.323).
Perhaps Elend’s view of his father is flawed here, that he doesn’t see him as being needlessly cruel, even though he clearly is. Sadly enough, Elend is aware that his father is perhaps only less cruel to him because of “propriety,” and not out of any kind of love or affection for his son.
Relationship with Zane
Like his relationship with Elend, Straff’s relationship with Zane—like any other relationship in his life—is all about power and dominance. He sees Zane simply as a powerful tool that can be used to serve his benefit. He does not see this bastard son as anything else. He is aware of the danger Zane presents to him, and Zane is, in fact, constantly trying to kill his father with poison. Straff is able to thwart these attempts with the powerful antidotes his servant Amaranta prepares for him, however.
His appetite for power and dominance seems to blind him to the fact that someone like Zane might have different motives than him. He cannot seem to fathom that someone like Zane might have feelings for someone like Vin. When Zane sends the assassins out to kill Elend, and Vin kills them instead, he wonders at the reasons Zane would’ve set them up for failure:
“Why send those men to die? Straff thought. He must have intended them to fail—otherwise he would have helped them fight the girl…Had he sent those men to die out of jealously, out of lust for violence, or had he simply been bored?” (2.484).
This shows Straff’s fundamentally flawed view of human nature; he thinks that everyone else thinks like him—that they view other people only tools to serve their ends.
Later, when Zane has disappeared and Straff hasn’t realized he is dead yet, Staff thinks to himself, “I beat you…you’re gone, and I’m alive” (2.651).
We can see that to a man like Straff, his relationships are all about beating people. Even with his bastard son—who he doesn’t know is dead yet—it’s all about winning. There is no love or affection involved.
Character Arc
Straff Venture, as a villain, is a notably flat character, and therefore doesn’t truly have a character arc. However, a character like him is capable of change.
His powerful, domineering facade is cracked by Vin, and this marks the beginning of his downfall.
When Elend and Vin show up at his tent for a parlay, Vin uses her allomancy expertly to Soothe and Riot his emotions, and this shakes Straff to his core. Even with all of his troops around him, he still feels exposed (2.483).
Later, after Vin takes out Zane’s assassins and is on bedrest, recovering, he thinks about attacking her, but quickly remembers her touch on his emotions:
“Perhaps she really is incapacitated, Straff thought. If we moved in…The chill of her touch on his emotions returned. Numbness. Nothingness” (2.487).
It has such a strong effect on him, in fact, that it causes him to delay moving troops into the city.
“No matter what Penrod said, Straff wasn’t going to take the city until that horrible creature was dealt with.” (488)
Normally, Straff would’ve never hesitated to attack if he knew his enemy was weak. Vin, however, breaks his powerful facade and we see him gradually weaken throughout the course of the novel.
Later on, this powerful facade cracks even more deeply when we learn that Amranta has been drugging him this whole time, and that her “antidotes” were simply concoctions made to keep his withdrawals at bay. Straff is then forced to take the drugs himself to stave off his fits of sickness from withdrawal.
Before long, he has to worry about his men turning on him and his ability to win the conflict over Luthadel.
Sadly, however, we see that his weakened state has done nothing to change who he is at his core – a proud and vainful man.
For example, when he sees Luthadel burning at the end of The Well of Ascension, he thinks it is burning as a justice to him, for what the skaa had done:
“Straff sat quietly, watching Luthadel burn. It seemed…a symbol to him. A symbol of justice. He’d fled this city once, elaving it to the skaa vermin inside, and when he’d come back to demand it be returned to him, the people had resisted.” (2.702)
We see that Straff is one of those people that always seems to think the world owes him something. In the end, he is bested by Vin and Elend, and his cruel and domineering nature is never truly redeemed; his weakened position only serves to bring out his worst characteristics. In a word, Straff Venture is truly an irredeemable villain. He ends up dying in battle at Vin’s hand, and we can assume that he had never once evaluated himself and reflected on whether or not he was a problem or ever needed to change.
“The city had rejected him, and so it would die. He’d build a better one in its place. One dedicated to Straff, not the Lord Ruler” (2.703).
