Zane Venture is the illigitemate son of Straff Venture and Elend’s half-brother. He is an incredibly talented Mistborn allomancer, partly in thanks to a hemalurgic spike lodged in his heart. Because of this spike, he constantly hears the voice of Ruin in his head, telling him to kill everyone around him.
See below for a table of contents on Zane’s character analysis:s
Appearance
Zane looks similar to his half-brother, Elend Venture, in that they have the same wavy dark hair and muscular builds. Vin notes their similarities in The Well of Ascension:
“It was so easy to see the similarities between him and Elend, now that she knew what to look for. They had the same jaw, the same wavy dark hair. They even had similar builds, now that Elend had been exercising” (495)
Other than this, we don’t get much of a description of his appearance, other than the fact that he never wears a cloak (2.197).
Allomantic Abilities
Zane is an incredibly gifted Mistborn allomancer, even more so than Kelsier. We get a glimpse of his skill as he begins to spend time with Vin out on the streets of Luthadel at night.
For example, Vin notes how incredibly difficult it is to Push slightly against a coin and regulate the amount of force with which you throw yourself backward. Control, rather than raw power, is the challenge with Pushing.
Vin notices this is something Zane is able to do with incredible skill, and it’s something that even Kelsier struggled with. She remarks that he does this with grace and beauty (2.203).
However, his great abilities are likely due to the steel Hemalurgic spike lodged in his heart. This spike is also why he never wears a cloak:
“He didn’t like the way cloaks rubbed against the small point of the spike that stuck out of his back between his shoulder blades. The head was against his sternum, and he couldn’t see beneath clothing” (2.595).
Personality
Insanity
Zane hears voices from God in his head that tell him to do terrible things, constantly commanding him to kill people. At first, it almost seems like this is his subconscious talking to him.
For example, the voice in his head not only tells him to kill Straff, but also that he “should be in his place” – i.e., that he is stronger than Straff is, that he is more competent.
It almost sounds like his own ego is talking here, or perhaps his Id. But we later learn that because of the steel hemalurgic spike implanted in his heart, the voice of Ruin is talking directly to him.
Self-Awareness
Unlike most insane people, Zane is self-aware of his insanity. He does not think his insanity is an excuse to act irrational, however:
“He found insanity no excuse for irrational behavior. Some men were blind, others had poor tempers. Still others heard voices. It was all the same in the end. A man was defined not by his flaws, but by how he overcame them” (2.207).
This is an oddly wise statement coming from Zane, considering the depths of his insanity. Still, he tries to poison his father mere pages later after making this statement, which is arguably an irrational act. We can see pretty easily that Zane is an unreliable narrator.
Agency
Zane also takes great stock in his own agency, in spite of his insanity.
“And so Zane ignored the voice. He killed when he wanted to, not when it commanded. In his estimation, he was actually quite lucky. Other madmen saw visions, or couldn’t distinguish their delusions from reality. At least Zane could control himself” (2.207).
He seems to use this agency as a reason to distinguish himself from other insane people; perhaps he feels it gives him a leg up and makes him better than them.
Ultimately, he has to cut himself in order to resist the voice (2.209).
Later, we learn that Ruin was the voice speaking to him all along, so it’s all the more impressive that he was able to resist Ruin’s wishes for so long.
Respect for Action & Authority
Zane respects action and authority above all else, and he has a strong fondness for Kelsier because of this.
For example, he admires Kelsier’s independence and ruthlessness and the way he takes what he wants. He thinks that all Mistborn should have this sort of attitude:
“I would like to have known him…He was a man who understood the power of being Mistborn. A man who didn’t let others control him. A man who did what had to be done, no matter how ruthless it seemed” (2.205).
He respects his father, too. Despite having had to execute people in his camp to put himself in charge, he notes that Straff “did what needed to be done” and “that was one attribute in a man that Zane respected above all others” (2.209). This shows how Zane respects strength in a man above all else.
We also see his respect for power in his interactions with Vin. When he asks her what she would do if she had no repercussions for her actions, she tells him that she would kill the leaders of the armies besieging them. That she would use her power to make certain that nobody could threaten Elend. To this, “Zane nodded quietly, and she saw respect in his eyes” (2.281). Here again, we see that Zane respects power above all else.
Finally, we can see that Zane’s view of power is almost childlike. He tells Vin that he finds a child’s instincts are often the most honest and natural, after all (2.280). He acts out these childlike instincts in his regular life, poisoning his father whenever he feels like it and goading Vin to take power without any thought of the repercussions of her actions.
Zane lacks maturity in this regard, but it is likely through no fault of his own. His upbringing was rough, after all, and he has Ruin’s voice constantly whispering in his ear. We are left to wonder if these childlike views of power are his own, or if they are perhaps Ruin’s instead.
Views of the Mistborn
Zane thinks that the Mistborn should be in power, and that they shouldn’t hide.
“It seemed to him that Mistborn spent too much of their existence hiding. True, anonymity offered some limited freedom. But his experience had been that it bound them more than it freed them. It let them be controlled, and it let society pretend that they didn’t exist” (2.205).
This is in direct contrast to who Vin is as a person, as she has spent so much of her life hiding and trying to overcome this natural instinct.
Moreover, Zane thinks that Allomancers are more valuable than normal men.
For example, as he is thinking of placing tineyes next to the normal men as watchguards for the camp, he lays out a borderline racist, eugenics-like argument for it:
“Normal men feared the mists, and that made them less valuable. That wasn’t arrogance; it was a simple fact. Allomancers were more useful, and therefore more valuable, than normal men” (2.206).
Finally, he doesn’t think Mistborn people should be subservient to anyone.
He asks Vin if she wished for power when she was younger, if she had ever dreamed of having the ability to free herself from those who had brutalized her on the streets. Vin responds that of course she did, and so, Zane questions why she doesn’t use that power, now that she has it:
“What would the child Vin say if she could see you? A Mistborn who is bent and bowed by the weight of another’s will? Powerful, yet somehow still subservient?” (2.280).
Here, he is referring to how she is subservient to Elend, how he is using her.
So, we can see that Zane doesn’t believe the Mistborn should be subservient to anyone. Everything in his mind relates back to power, and how the Mistborn should wield it and essentially do whatever they want, without any regard for the consequences of their actions.
Envy of Elend
Zane envies Elend for everything he has been given and for not being a bastard.
“Elend was everything that Zane should have been. Favored. Privileged. Pampered” (2.205).
We get another look into his envy as he explains it to Vin later on in The Well of Ascension:
“While the Lord Ruler lived, I could never inherit,” Zane said. “You know how strict the obligators were. I grew up in the shadows, ignored. You lived on the streets—I assume that was terrible. But think of what it would be like to be a scavenger in your own home, unacknowledged by your father, treated like a beggar. Think of watching your brother, a boy your same age, growing up privileged. Think of watching his disdain for the things you longed to have. Comfort, idleness, love…” (2.417).
Here, we can see how truly tragic a life Zane has lived in Elend’s shadow.
Relationship with His Father
Zane loves his father, despite his cruelty, his weakness, and the overall situation of Zane being his bastard.
When Straff asks why he is letting him live towards the end of The Well of Ascension when he could easily kill him, Zane responds by saying “because you’re my father.” He then bids a final farewell to “the man who had created him. A man whom Zane—despite his insanity, despite the abuse he’d known over the years—loved” (2.595).
Straff is not a sentimental man, nor does he see people as anything more than tools to help him achieve his aims. However, we learn that Straff had given Zane a mistcloak years before Zane had ever snapped.
We are left wondering if this an act of affection, or merely utility? Does he give Zane the mistcloak because he cares for him, or does he do it because it will make him more effective as one of his tools/weapons?
To Zane, this cloak “was too precious to wear around, to soil, and use” (2.595). This shows that it has sentimental value to him, and that he, at the very least, loves his father, even if that love may not be replicated.
Relationship with Vin
In the beginning of The Well of Ascension, Zane follows Vin around the city, and she knows him only as The Watcher. Early on, Zane shows very little interest in Elend and a whole lot of interest in Vin.
He wants to know why Vin plays “their” game, referring to the non-Mistborn people around her. He wants to know why she lets the people around her control her (2.200). He says that “they” user her, and that she doesn’t belong with “them,” that both of them belong to the mists (2.203).
Moreover, he constantly prods Vin to take power for herself and to separate her from “normal” people, like Elend. He has a strong belief that Mistborn like he and Vin are superior to mere mortal men.
Zane knows that Vin is like him and he begins to think that she could maybe understand him (2.210). In fact, he is “broken” in away that is similar to Vin:
“He did resemble Elend—a hard version of him. Zane had been broken by life just as she had been, but both had put themselves back together. Had the re-forming made them stronger, or more fragile?” (2.599).
He believes that Vin both can and should “save” him (2.599). Ultimately, Vin chooses Elend over him in the end, and is the one that kills him.
Analysis
Zane is one of the most tragic characters in the Mistborn series. He has been starved of basic comforts and love throughout his life. He is tortured by Ruin’s voice in his head and has to cut himself to resist it. His only real relationship is with his cruel and unloving father. When he does finally find someone like him in Vin, she ultimately chooses Elend over him. As a bastard, the entire world has chosen Elend over him as well.
His disdain for normal, non-Mistborn people is a driving factor in making him one of the great antagonists in the Mistborn series. He is not a villain, but rather a tragic gray character who creates tension for Vin and accelerates her character arc. After all, she must choose between him and Elend, between the life of a skaa Mistborn who takes power for herself, or a subservient noblewoman within Elend’s court, one who tries to make the world a better place through civil means.
