Kvothe

character · importance 100 · 303 theories

“The legendary arcanist and Kingkiller narrating his own life as a quiet innkeeper”

also known as Dulator, Kote, Kvothe, Kvothe Kingkiller, Kvothe the Arcane, Kvothe the Bloodless, Lightfinger, Maedre, Reshi, Shadicar, Six-String, the innkeeper

Appearance§

Kvothe has flame-red hair, the colour of which is sometimes likened to Illien's fire, and notably green eyes, a trait remarked upon throughout the Chronicle. His parents Arliden and Laurian both have brown hair and eyes. His eyes shift colour with his mood, darkening to a deep pine-green in moments of intensity, and after his time in the Fae he is repeatedly described as seeming a little Fae around the eyes. He is mistaken for Yllish on more than one occasion. As the innkeeper Kote he appears dimmed and diminished, behaving and seeming far older than his actual age, which is in his twenties; the narration describes him as a man waiting to die. Three layers of silence are said to hang about him at the Waystone Inn, the deepest being most truly his own.

Description§

Kvothe is the narrator and protagonist of the Kingkiller Chronicle, recounting his life over three days to the scribe Chronicler at the Waystone Inn in the village of Newarre, where he now lives in hiding as the innkeeper Kote. Born into an Edema Ruh troupe led by his father Arliden, who travelled under the patronage of Baron Greyfellow, Kvothe was a prodigious musician and lutenist from childhood. His mother was Netalia Lackless, who left the noble Lackless family to travel with the Ruh as Laurian, making Kvothe of Lackless blood. When he was twelve the Chandrian slaughtered his troupe for the song Arliden was composing about Lanre; Kvothe witnessed the killing and survived. He spent roughly three years as a destitute urchin on the streets of Tarbean, learning theft, deception and disguise, before being roused to himself by the storyteller Skarpi and making his way to the University. Admitted at fifteen, far younger than the customary age, he studied sympathy, naming, artificing and sygaldry, rose to the rank of Re'lar, feuded with Ambrose Jakis and the master Hemme, and was recognised by Elodin as a true namer. He travelled to Severen and served Maer Alveron, destroyed a bandit camp in the Eld, entered the Fae where Felurian taught him the arts of love and where he named her, met the Cthaeh, and trained among the Adem in the Ketan and the Lethani, earning the sword Caesura and the deep name Maedre. He bears many names and epithets, including Kvothe the Arcane, the Bloodless, Kingkiller, Maedre, Shadicar, Lightfinger and Six-String, and is a self-acknowledged liar and self-mythologising narrator who insists his story be recorded exactly as he tells it. In the frame story he is a diminished figure who appears to have lost his former power in sympathy and naming, cannot open his own thrice-locked chest, and describes his life as a tragedy.

Relationships§

• Enemy The Chandrian — Slaughtered his troupe; he is sole survivor and witness
• Love Interest Denna — His muse; swore an oath to her about her patron
• Mentor Elodin — Recognised Kvothe as a true namer
• Member Of Edema Ruh — Born into an Edema Ruh troupe
• Mother Laurian — Netalia Lackless, who travelled with the Ruh as Laurian
• Rival Ambrose Jakis — Feuds with him at the University
• Served Maer Lerand Alveron — Served the Maer at Severen and cured his lead poisoning
• Lover Felurian — Taught him the arts of love in the Fae; he named her
• Father Arliden — Led the Edema Ruh troupe Kvothe was born into
• Nephew Of Meluan Lackless — Of Lackless blood, a nephew of Meluan Lackless

Established facts§

• Kvothe is born into an Edema Ruh troupe led by his father Arliden under the patronage of Baron Greyfellow, and is a prodigious musician and lutenist from childhood.
• His mother is Netalia Lackless, who left the noble Lackless family to travel with the Edema Ruh as Laurian, making Kvothe of Lackless blood and a nephew of Meluan Lackless.
• The Chandrian, including Cinder and Haliax, slaughter his troupe when he is twelve, killing his parents for the song Arliden was composing about Lanre; Kvothe is the sole survivor and witness.
• After the massacre he lives roughly three years as a homeless urchin in Tarbean, learning to steal, deceive and act a part to survive, until the storyteller Skarpi rouses him.
• He is admitted to the University at fifteen, far younger than the customary age, and studies sympathy, naming, artificing, sygaldry and medicine.
• He rises to Re'lar, feuds with Ambrose Jakis and the master Hemme, and is recognised by Elodin as a true namer; he is later expelled and banned from the Archives after being caught with fire in the Stacks.
• He calls the Name of the Wind, Aerlevsedi, against Ambrose at the fountain in Imre, shattering cobblestones that cannot be mended and leading to his trial.
• He travels to Severen and serves Maer Alveron, diagnoses and cures the Maer's lead poisoning, builds him an arcane gram, and is recommended to the court through Count Threpe.
• He destroys a bandit camp in the Eld led by Cinder, an identity he only confirms later when the Cthaeh names him.
• He enters the Fae, where Felurian teaches him the arts of love and gives him a shaed, and he names her, an act that helps convince Elodin of his power.
• He meets and converses with the Cthaeh during his time in the Fae, an encounter that horrifies Bast.
• He trains among the Adem in the Ketan and the Lethani, earns the sword he renames Caesura, and is given the deep name Maedre, meaning the Flame, the Thunder, or the Broken Tree.
• He hunts and kills a band of false Edema Ruh near Levinshir after learning they murdered a true troupe and abducted two young women, gut-wounding their leader Alleg and branding him with the broken circle.
• He bears many names and epithets, including Kvothe the Arcane, the Bloodless, Kingkiller, Shadicar, Lightfinger and Six-String.
• He is a self-acknowledged liar and self-mythologising narrator who admits much of his University reputation consists of rumours he started himself.
• His true names come from his sleeping mind, and his waking translations are often slightly wrong, as when he names his horse Keth-Selhan meaning to call it Twilight.
• He can divide his mind to hold separate trains of thought at once, a skill he developed as a boy playing Seek the Stone.
• He is skilled at picking locks and opening sealed places, yet cannot tie knots and is poor at alchemy.
• He swears an oath to Denna, by his name, his power, his good left hand and the ever-moving moon, that he will not seek out the identity of her patron.
• A bounty of a thousand royals and a duchy stands for the head of Kvothe Kingkiller, and most of the world believes him dead.
• In the frame story he lives in hiding as the innkeeper Kote in Newarre, a name he chose deliberately because names matter to him, and which Kilvin glosses as disaster in the saying Chan Vaen edan Kote.
• As Kote he keeps a thrice-locked chest of seamless roah wood that he built himself yet can no longer open, even with the key and the word Edro.
• As Kote he appears to have lost his power in sympathy and naming, makes no music, and is beaten by two of the king's soldiers, yet still kills a pack of scrael, shatters a bottle from across the room, and takes one perfect Ketan step.
• He narrates his life to Chronicler over three days, insisting it be written exactly as he tells it, and frames the account as a tragedy of his rise and fall.
• He calls the Name of the Wind from his sleeping mind in moments of extremity, including the Tarbean alley, the breaking of Ambrose's arm, and reviving Denna's breath.

Theories§

• well-supported Kote Hasn't Lost His Powers — He Suppresses Them by Choice and Depression pop 1338
• plausible Kvothe Is Far Older Than He Looks — He Spent Centuries in the Fae pop 1250
• plausible The Waystone's Silence Is Active Concealment Magic Consuming Kvothe pop 1226
• plausible Kvothe Is Baiting the Chandrian to the Waystone, a Trap Built to Defeat Them pop 904
• plausible Kvothe the Unweaver: Why He Can't Tie Knots and What He Will Undo pop 787
• plausible Kvothe Accidentally Speaks Shehyn's True Name During Their Sparring Match pop 705
• plausible Kvothe Built the Waystone Inn as His Own Arcanist Holding Cell pop 560
• plausible Kote the Innkeeper Is Bait in a Deliberate Trap for the Chandrian pop 538
• well-supported Kvothe Is an Unreliable Narrator — A Bard Telling His Own Legend pop 505
• well-supported Kvothe's Mother Laurian Is the Runaway Lackless Sister (Netalia) pop 499
• plausible The Doors of Stone Plot: Lackless Heritage, the Box, and the Four-Plate Door pop 497
• fringe Kote Is Hiding from an Army of Adem He Infected with a Fae STD from Felurian pop 495
• plausible Kvothe's Quest for Vengeance Will Turn Him Into a New Chandrian pop 473
• plausible Fela, Not Kvothe, Killed the Man in Imre Using the Name of Stone pop 438
• fringe Bast Is Secretly Kvothe's Son, Hidden by Fae Time-Dilation pop 430
• plausible Auri Is Dead Before Book 3 — That's Why Kvothe Speaks Freely of Her pop 425
• plausible Kote Lost Fingers on His Right Hand and Hides It with Glamourie pop 422
• fringe Seven Hidden Figures in Kvothe's Life Mirror and Counter the Chandrian pop 421
• fringe The Kingkiller Chronicle Is Secretly a Prequel to Bast's Own Story pop 419
• plausible Kvothe's Name Encodes a Deeper Meaning Than 'To Know' pop 410
• plausible The Thrice-Locked Chest Is Kvothe's Dead Man's Switch for Self-Resurrection pop 408
• plausible Kvothe Lost His Power by Changing His Name to Kote pop 406
• fringe Bast Is the Hidden Son of Kvothe and Felurian pop 402
• plausible Elodin Engineered the Rooftop Jump to Expose Kvothe's Power Lust pop 385
• plausible Kvothe's Threefold Silence Originates in His Doomed Love for Denna pop 385
• plausible Kvothe's 'Nalt' Fallacy Is a Meta-Joke About His Own Suppression pop 373
• plausible Kvothe Survives Felurian Through Trauma-Triggered Naming, Not Charm pop 357
• well-supported Kvothe's Alar Is Like Ramston Steel — And It Eventually Shatters pop 353
• plausible Felurian Kept Kvothe Because He Stayed Sane, Not Because He Was a Great Lover pop 344
• plausible Kvothe to Kote: the Dropped 'V' and 'H' Encode His Lost Voice and Hands pop 342
• plausible Why Kote Genuinely Fails at Sympathy: Trauma, Hidden Bindings, or a Curse-Device pop 337
• fringe Kvothe's Folly Was Killing Haliax, Not Cinder pop 317
• well-supported Elodin Accepted Kvothe Because His Sleeping Mind Had Already Named Auri pop 315
• plausible Modegan Polyamory Could Drive a Wedge Between Sim and Kvothe in Book 3 pop 314
• plausible Kvothe's Three-Day Chronicle Is a Crafted Performance, Not Pure Truth pop 313
• plausible Lorren Knew the Chandrian and Tried to Protect Kvothe from Them pop 303
• plausible Chronicler Is Reawakening Kvothe's Name and Power by Writing His Story (Grammarie) pop 295
• plausible Kote's Name Encodes 'Expect': He Is a Seer Lying in Wait pop 288
• plausible The Edema Ruh Have a Dark Origin That Mirrors Kvothe's Downfall pop 287
• plausible Kote Engineered His Own Biography — The Frame Story Is a Deliberate Plan pop 287
• fringe Kvothe Is the King — Kote Is His Own Killer pop 286
• fringe Kvothe Will Re-Ignite the Creation War by Opening the Lackless Door pop 285
• plausible Kvothe Was Born Amyr Through His Edema Ruh Bloodline pop 283
• plausible Skarpi Slipped Young Kvothe a Plum Bob During Their Tarbean Meeting pop 282
• plausible Ambrose Didn't Hire the Assassins: Someone Tracked Kvothe From Anilin pop 282
• plausible Kvothe Has Rigged the Waystone Inn as a Sympathy Bomb pop 277
• fringe Denna Walking Into the Waystone Will Snap Kote Back Into Kvothe pop 276
• fringe Kvothe Split Himself Into Kote and Bast Using Creation Magic pop 272
• plausible Chronicler's Cipher Is Yllish Knots and the Story Is Remaking Kvothe pop 270
• plausible The Third Fear: Simmon's Betrayal Will Destroy Kvothe pop 265
• plausible Kote May Already Be Dead, Kept Alive by Sheer Force of Will pop 259
• plausible Kvothe Reveals His Secrets Because They No Longer Matter by Book 3 pop 257
• plausible Kvothe's Life Mirrors Lanre's, Implying He Is on the Path to Becoming Haliax pop 257
• plausible Kvothe Unknowingly Speaks the Seven Words to Denna While Reviving a Suffocating Woman pop 254
• plausible Kote Is a Mask: Kvothe Is Hiding and Still Secretly Wields His Power pop 252
• plausible Kvothe's Name Derives from the Old Norse Word for 'To Speak, Recite, and Sing' pop 247
• fringe It Was the Angels Who Called Down the Lightning, Not Kvothe pop 247
• fringe Stapes Is Tracking Kvothe With a Sympathetic Bone-Ring Compass pop 244
• fringe Kvothe Sealed His Own Power Away With Heart of Stone, and the Book 3 Title Marks Its Return pop 238
• fringe Kvothe's Red-Haired Child Will Shatter the Adem Belief That Men Don't Father Children pop 237
• fringe Kvothe Will Make His True Confession About the Chandrian to Puppet pop 233
• plausible Kvothe's Ultimate Folly Was Releasing the Cthaeh From Its Tree pop 230
• plausible Kote Is a Mental Barrier Kvothe Built to Guard His Secrets pop 229
• plausible The Amyr Keep Two Ancient Bloodlines Apart to Control the Doors of Stone pop 222
• fringe Denna May Be a Secret Redhead and the Real Target of Kvothe's Assassins pop 222
• plausible The Thrice-Locked Chest Holds Kvothe's Lute and His Bound Self pop 222
• fringe Bredon Is Master Ash, the King Is Cinder, and Kvothe Must Re-Seal Iax pop 220
• fringe Kvothe Becomes King, Making 'Kingkiller' a Description of His Own End pop 217
• plausible Kvothe's Dream After the Massacre Contains Crucial Foreshadowing pop 216
• plausible Trauma, Not Stupidity, Explains Why Kvothe Never Recognises His Aunt Meluan pop 212
• fringe Ambrose Jakis Becomes the King That Kvothe Eventually Kills pop 210
• fringe Mola Turned on Kvothe After Spotting His Fae Heritage in the Medica pop 206
• fringe Kvothe's Thrice-Locked Chest Holds the Letters That Unmade His Name pop 203
• plausible The King Kvothe Kills Is Roderic Calanthis, Making Alveron the Penitent King pop 201
• plausible Music Is a Powerful Form of Naming, and Kvothe Has Lost His Own pop 200
• fringe The Amyr Suspect Kvothe Is a Chandrian Agent at the University pop 199
• fringe Kvothe Has Become the New Lanre/Haliax in the Frame Story pop 198
• plausible Hearing Cinder's True Name Awakened Kvothe's Sleeping Mind pop 198
• plausible Auri Made a Name for Kvothe, Turning Him Into Kote pop 198
• plausible Kvothe Split His Mind With His Alar to Become Kote the Innkeeper pop 197
• fringe Kvothe Will Wound Himself to Break Free of Haliax, Echoing Selitos pop 192
• fringe Kvothe's Thrice-Locked Chest Holds the Three Silences, Not Objects pop 190
• plausible Kvothe's Slaughter of the False Troupe Mirrors the Chandrian's Attack pop 189
• well-supported Kvothe Unconsciously Names His Horse, Revealing His Naming Gift pop 187
• plausible Kvothe Hurriedly Forges a Protective Gram in the Doors of Stone Prologue pop 187
• plausible The Thrice-Locked Chest Is Kvothe's Lute Case Holding His Name pop 183
• plausible Kvothe Tells and Spreads His Story as Bait to Lure His Enemies to the Waystone pop 180
• fringe It Was Mola: The Medica Student Behind Kvothe's Mysterious Collapse pop 179
• plausible The Wind Saved Me: Kvothe Unknowingly Calling the Name of the Wind pop 175
• fringe The Cthaeh Is the Real Villain and Kote's Inn Is a Trap Against It pop 173
• fringe Kvothe Sealed His Story's Ending Inside the Thrice-Locked Chest pop 172
• plausible Kvothe Has Bast Magically Bound to Him at the Waystone Inn pop 172
• plausible 'Kote' May Be an Imperfect Translation and Not Literally Mean Disaster pop 171
• plausible The Three Things Wise Men Fear Are Literally Enacted Across The Wise Man's Fear pop 167
• fringe Denna and Kvothe May Be Half-Siblings Through the Lackless and Fae Lines pop 167
• fringe Skarpi Spoke Kvothe's True Name, and the Story Could Restore It pop 166
• plausible Kvothe Recreates the Aethe-Rethe Legend to Engineer His Own Death pop 163
• fringe Cinder Is Already Dead, Killed by Kvothe Before the Frame Story pop 163
• fringe Kvothe's Tale of the Nameless Old Man Foreshadows His Own Fall pop 162
• fringe Cinder Used the Eld Bandit Raids to Lure Kvothe Into Freeing the Cthaeh pop 161
• plausible Denna's Willow Blossom Foreshadows Her Bringing the Cthaeh's Cure to Kvothe pop 158
• plausible Kvothe Is Being Gifted Taborlin's Seven Magical Items, by Women pop 157
• well-supported Kvothe's Knack for Names Points to Master Ash Being Cinder pop 156
• plausible Kvothe Tells His Story Knowing the Truth Will Destroy Him pop 155
• fringe Present-Day Kvothe May Already Be Dead, Sustained by Bast's Grammarie pop 149
• plausible Old Cob's Tall Tale Secretly Encodes Events From the Unwritten Book Three pop 145
• plausible Kvothe Unknowingly Gets People Killed Through His Schemes and Pranks pop 144
• fringe Kvothe Is Shrouded in Silence as Lanre/Haliax Is Shrouded in Shadow pop 143
• plausible Lanre's True Story Is Hidden Within Kvothe's Own Chronicle pop 139
• plausible Kvothe Enters the Sword Tree a Knower and Leaves a Shaper pop 138
• plausible Why Kvothe Reveals His Adem Name Maedre Despite the Danger pop 138
• fringe Kvothe Becomes the Cthaeh Through a Time-Looping Path to the Past pop 136
• plausible Kote's Bitter Laugh After the Soldier Beating Echoes the Cthaeh's Promised Joke pop 130
• fringe Frame-Story Kvothe Has Become One of the Chandrian pop 130
• fringe Kvothe's Eight Rings From the Children's Rhyme Map Onto the Individual Chandrian pop 129
• fringe Learning He Is a Lackless Is the Betrayal That Sets Kvothe on the Path to Folly pop 129
• plausible 'Third Time Pays for All' Points to a Final Chandrian Showdown pop 127
• fringe Kvothe's Thrice-Locked Chest Is a Door Connecting Him to Auri pop 123
• plausible Kvothe Lost His Name and Power by Breaking His Sworn Oath to Denna pop 123
• fringe Kvothe Secretly Worked Sympathy Against the Skindancer in the Frame pop 123
• fringe Auri's Holly-Berry Kiss Anoints Kvothe, Granting the White Star on His Brow pop 123
• fringe The Cthaeh Engineered All the Old Songs and Stories Millennia Ago pop 122
• fringe Kvothe Took a Flower From the Cthaeh and Edited It Out of His Story pop 121
• fringe Felurian's Moonlight and Abenthy's Stone Mirror Wave-Particle Duality pop 121
• fringe Kvothe Becomes the Silent Fire, the New Seventh Chandrian pop 121
• plausible Caesura's 'Poet-Killer' Nickname Is a Story That Evolved, Not a Real Killing pop 121
• fringe The Waystone Inn Is a Trap Designed to Burn the Chandrian pop 120
• fringe Cinder Is Not Master Ash: 'Cinder' Names What Remains of Kvothe pop 118
• fringe Kvothe's Single Lie: He Was Never Actually Shown the Lackless Box pop 117
• fringe The King Kvothe Kills Is Cinder Possessing King Roderic Calanthis pop 117
• fringe Kvothe Is Taborlin the Great, a Premonition the Cthaeh Seeded Into Legend pop 115
• plausible Kvothe's Kingkiller Title May Be a Lie, Making Him a Scapegoat for His Lackless Blood pop 114
• plausible Kvothe's Story Is a Tragedy That Ends in Utter Ruin, Not Redemption pop 113
• fringe A Detailed Fan Prediction of the Doors of Stone Plot, Translated From Spanish pop 112
• plausible Denna as Irene Adler: Is 'The Woman' a Sherlock Holmes Nod? pop 111
• fringe Did Ambrose Secretly Dose Kvothe With Trust-Altering Alchemy? pop 109
• fringe Kvothe's Thrice-Locked Chest May Need Three Separate Keys and Keepers pop 109
• fringe Newarre and Everyone In It Are a Reality Shaped by Kvothe pop 109
• fringe The Angel Kvothe Killed for His Heart's Desire May Have Been Denna pop 108
• fringe Simmon Is the Blind Man Kvothe Sings Colors To pop 108
• plausible Kvothe's True Knack Is Opening Locks, Not Just Naming pop 107
• plausible The Waystone Bar Fight Reveals Kote's Damaged Hand and an Arrowcatch pop 107
• fringe Kvothe Is Blamed for Maer Alveron's Death, Having Misread the Caudicus Affair pop 106
• plausible Kvothe Blocks His Own Sympathy With a Long-Held Alar Against Himself pop 106
• fringe Kvothe May Not Be the Biological Child of Arliden and Laurian pop 106
• fringe Kvothe Used a Self-Splitting Alar to Lock Away His True Identity as Kote pop 106
• fringe The Angels Use the Wind to Both Save and Punish Kvothe pop 105
• plausible Kvothe Cannot Truly Die: A New Lanre Cursed to Survive pop 105
• plausible Kvothe Used Denna as Bait to Trap Master Ash by the Imre Fountain pop 104
• plausible Denna's Death and the Source of Kvothe's Hopelessness in the Frame pop 104
• fringe Kvothe's True Name Is Partly Trapped Inside the Thrice-Locked Box pop 104
• plausible Bast Isn't Afraid Kvothe Will Die, but of What He'll Become as His Name Fades pop 103
• plausible Kvothe and Lanre Both Suffer Disasters Seven Years Apart pop 102
• fringe The Princess Bride Meets The Crow: What Rothfuss's Pitch Comp Reveals About the Plot pop 102
• fringe Chronicler's Ten Words Are the Words That Break a Strong Man's Will pop 101
• fringe Kvothe Is Deliberately Painting Targets on His Friends by Telling His Story pop 101
• fringe Kvothe's Sleeping Mind Subconsciously Steers Him Away from Denna pop 100
• plausible Kvothe Returned to Felurian and Aged Decades in the Fae pop 100
• fringe Count Threpe Is the Trusted Friend Who Betrays Kvothe pop 100
• fringe Kvothe Stole the Thrice-Locked Chest Instead of Making It pop 99
• plausible Why Elodin Withheld His Vote on Kvothe's First Whipping pop 98
• plausible The Chandrian Spare a Witness to Seed Fear Without Revealing Secrets pop 97
• fringe Chronicler Secretly Warned Kvothe About Bast's Night Visit pop 96
• well-supported Kote Is Desperately Trying to Open the Thrice-Locked Chest at the Waystone pop 94
• plausible Aaron Will Return With Soldiers to Claim the Bounty on Kvothe pop 93
• fringe Felurian May Have Conceived a Child by Kvothe in the Fae pop 93
• well-supported Denna Quietly Sells Her Emerald Jewelry to Help Kvothe and a Friend pop 93
• plausible Auri's Silver Coin Gift to Kvothe Is More Than a Penance Piece pop 92
• plausible Kvothe May Have Invented His Encounter With the Cthaeh pop 91
• fringe Elodin Will Be the One to Confront Kvothe in His Self-Imposed Exile pop 91
• fringe Kvothe Is Hiding Because He's Next in Line to Be King pop 91
• plausible Kvothe and Denna Are Both Lacklesses, Making Them Hidden Kin pop 89
• plausible Kvothe Defeats the Chandrian by Changing Their Deep Names pop 89
• fringe Cinder Wants to Die and Steers Kvothe Toward Killing Him pop 88
• fringe Bast Might Secretly Be Kvothe's Son pop 88
• fringe Masks: A Lost Naming Art for Hiding Power and Identity pop 88
• plausible The Chandrian Are Shapers Who Altered Their True Names, and Kvothe Did Too pop 88
• well-supported Kvothe's Innkeeper Name "Kote" Translates to "Disaster" pop 88
• plausible Kvothe Is Now Cut Off From the Doors of the Mind Like Haliax pop 88
• plausible Denna Keeps Finding Kvothe by Design, Not Coincidence pop 87
• well-supported The 'Kingkiller' Moniker Foreshadows Kvothe Committing Regicide pop 87
• fringe Kvothe's Shroud of Silence Mirrors Haliax's Cloak of Shadow pop 87
• plausible Kvothe Built the Thrice-Locked Chest as a Puzzle for His Future Self pop 87
• fringe Cinder Is the Wind Kvothe Actually Called on Ambrose pop 86
• plausible Kvothe Will Steal Princess Auri From a Sleeping Barrow King pop 86
• fringe Auri Carries a Secret of the Heart Tied to Kvothe Being Expelled pop 86
• plausible Elodin Knows Far More About Kvothe's Past Than He Lets On pop 85
• plausible Kvothe's 'Ridiculous Rumors' Are Hidden Truths Wrapped as Lies pop 83
• plausible The Cthaeh Only Strengthens What Kvothe Already Knows and Does pop 83
• fringe Kvothe's One Lie Is Alleg's Story, an Allegory Hiding Three Truths pop 83
• fringe Denna May Be Running a Long Con on Kvothe pop 83
• fringe The Broken-Lute Scenes Are the Same Scene, Hinting at a Blood-Drinking Demon pop 83
• fringe Kvothe May Carry the Cthaeh's Power, and the Shattered Bottle Proves It pop 82
• plausible The Thrice-Locked Chest May Hold Kvothe's Own Hidden Name pop 82
• plausible Kvothe's White Star Brow Links Him to the Amyr or the Angels pop 81
• fringe KKC Characters Are Built From Blended Egyptian and Greek Gods pop 80
• fringe Kvothe Introduces Key Characters As If the Frame Listeners Already Know Them pop 80
• plausible Kvothe and Auri Unconsciously Name Things When They Describe Them pop 79
• fringe Count Threpe Is Secretly Maneuvering to Obtain Kvothe's Blood pop 78
• fringe Kvothe May Spread a Sexually Transmitted Blight After His Time With Felurian pop 78
• fringe Kvothe Tests Chronicler Using the Mating Habits of the Common Draccus pop 78
• plausible The Skin Dancer Asks Whether Kvothe Is a Chandrian or a Shaper pop 78
• fringe Auri the Namer Saved Kvothe in His Battle With the Angel pop 77
• plausible Kvothe's Tarbean Beating Foreshadows His Rise and Fall pop 77
• fringe Auri's Gift Candle May Secretly Be an Ever-Burning Candle Made by Shaping pop 77
• fringe A Full Story-Format Prediction of How Book Three Unfolds pop 77
• fringe Kvothe Killed Cinder, Not the Poet King, in That Vintish Street pop 77
• fringe Lanre Is the 'One Who Remembered the Lethani' and Is of Adem Ancestry pop 77
• fringe Kvothe Travels to Modeg Chasing the Lackless Box's Lost Key pop 76
• plausible The Whole Chronicle Is a Tragedy Engineered by the Cthaeh pop 76
• plausible Kvothe Will Recover His Powers, Foreshadowed by the Eolian Audition pop 76
• fringe Did Kvothe Create Bast With Naming During the Felurian Battle? pop 76
• plausible Kvothe Only Appears Defeated to Lure His Enemies Into One Place pop 75
• fringe Kvothe's Stolen Ring and Forged Letter Force Denna to Marry Ambrose pop 74
• fringe Kvothe's True Name Is Sealed in the Thrice-Locked Chest and He Won't Get It Back pop 74
• fringe Kvothe Binding Felurian With His Breath Reenacts the Shaping of Iax pop 73
• fringe Caudicus Already Knows Who Kvothe Is Before They Meet at Severen pop 73
• well-supported Chronicler Is Older Than Kvothe and Attended the University Before Him pop 72
• plausible Kvothe's Whole Life Was a Trap Set in Motion by the Cthaeh pop 72
• fringe Vashet Knows Kvothe's True Name and Hunts Him for Killing Her Poet King pop 71
• plausible Caesura the Poet-Killer Foretells Kvothe Killing King Roderic pop 71
• fringe Kvothe Sleep-Talks in a Language He Was Never Taught pop 71
• fringe Kote Secretly Returned to the Fae During His Innkeeper Years pop 71
• plausible Why Kote Is Described as 'a Man Waiting to Die' at the Waystone Inn pop 71
• plausible Kvothe's Lost Power Is His Split Mind Holding Permanent Protective Bindings pop 71
• plausible Kvothe Is Deliberately Holding Back His Power as Kote pop 71
• fringe King Roderic Calanthis Is a Secret Arcanist and the King Kvothe Kills pop 70
• plausible By Healing the Maer, Kvothe Accidentally Empowers a Tyrant King pop 70
• fringe Kvothe's Lash Scars Spell a Hidden Message in Chronicler's Cipher pop 70
• plausible The Cthaeh's Word 'Again' Hints Kvothe Will Meet Cinder One Last Time pop 70
• plausible Why Kote Doesn't Get Along With the Priest in Newarre pop 70
• plausible Why Kvothe No Longer Plays Music at the Waystone Inn pop 70
• fringe Alar as Love 'Despite': Holding a True Belief That Contradicts the Evidence pop 69
• fringe Kvothe's Red-Haired Child Will Disprove the Adem's Theory of Conception pop 69
• plausible Denna Is the Inverse Mirror of Kvothe, on a Parallel Revenge Journey pop 69
• plausible Denna's Feelings for Kvothe Are Possessive, Not Casual pop 69
• fringe A Full Doors of Stone Prediction: Cinder, Denna's Betrayal, and the Moon pop 68
• fringe Was Kvothe Skin-Danced When He Walked Into His Troupe's Massacre? pop 68
• plausible Kvothe Will Become the Next Illien and Master the Eight-String Lute pop 68
• plausible The Cthaeh Didn't Influence Kvothe Because He Was Already Doomed pop 68
• plausible What Was the Last Straw That Broke Kvothe Into Kote? pop 68
• fringe The King Kvothe Killed May Be Haliax, Tied to Encanis via Shattered Stone pop 68
• fringe Kvothe Could Only Change Half His Name When Becoming Kote pop 67
• plausible Kvothe May Have Spent Far More Than Months in the Fae pop 67
• plausible Kvothe Can Still Do Sympathy, But His Alar Has Convinced Him He Can't pop 67
• fringe The Mauthen Vase Depicts Kvothe's Future, Not the Distant Past pop 66
• fringe Three Broken Lute Strings Foreshadow Kvothe's Threefold Fall From Grace pop 66
• plausible Kvothe's Sleeping Mind Is a Self-Interested Monster He Locked Away pop 65
• plausible Bast's Secret Plan With the Deserters Centers on a Specific Bottle pop 65
• plausible Catharsis as Purification Is a Recurring Tragic Motif Around Kvothe pop 65
• fringe Ambrose Will Challenge Kvothe to a Duel on His Return to the University pop 64
• fringe Kvothe's Torn Shirt and the Shaed Tie His Story to Jax and Lanre pop 64
• plausible Kvothe's Adem Name 'The Broken Tree' Marks Him a Broken Lackless Offshoot pop 64
• fringe Denna Disguises Herself and Shadows Kvothe to Derail His Discoveries pop 64
• fringe The Waystone Is the Door That Holds the Flood and Kvothe Will Strike Down the Moon pop 64
• fringe Kvothe Will Seek the Cthaeh's Healing Tree to Cure Denna pop 64
• plausible Kvothe Still Wields Magic in the Present Day Despite Hiding It pop 63
• plausible Kote Knows the True Name of Everything, Even the Stars pop 63
• plausible Hespe's Tale of Jax and the Moon Is Really About Kvothe and Auri pop 62
• fringe Kvothe Descends From Both Iax and Lanre Through the Lackless Line pop 62
• fringe Meluan Lackless May Recognize Kvothe as Her Nephew pop 62
• plausible Kvothe Knows the Name of Silence and Used It to Seal His Power pop 62
• plausible Auri Will Give Kvothe a New Name After He Breaks, Possibly Kote pop 61
• plausible The Edema Ruh Are Wiped Out and Their Name May Be in the Thrice-Locked Chest pop 61
• well-supported Kvothe Really Did Save the Maer, Not Ruin Caudicus's Cure pop 60
• plausible Kvothe Is Blamed for Killing a King He Did Not Actually Kill pop 60
• fringe The Cthaeh Steered Kvothe to the Adem Just to Make Him Bathe Daily pop 59
• fringe Death Is the Door Kvothe Will Open to Bring Angels Against the Seven pop 59
• fringe Kvothe Hides His Pain From Bast, Hinting Bast Is Not Fully Trusted pop 59
• plausible Kvothe Never Intends to Let Chronicler Publish His Story pop 59
• plausible Kvothe Will Be Framed as the Sole Survivor of a Royal Massacre pop 58
• fringe The Cthaeh's Truths Follow a Tetralemma, So Kvothe's Story Need Not Be Tragedy pop 58
• fringe Kvothe's Arrow Catch Will Play a Pivotal Role in Doors of Stone pop 58
• fringe Kvothe Bound the Silence to Trap the Chandrian at the Waystone Inn pop 58
• plausible The Nine Prime Fallacies Map Kvothe's Logical Errors and Coming Tragedies pop 57
• fringe Kvothe Sealed His Own Magic Away Using a Mommet and Copper Chest pop 57
• fringe Kvothe's Final Nameless Ring Represents Shadow or Haliax pop 57
• fringe The Cthaeh Has Steered Kvothe's Whole Life Toward Disaster pop 57
• fringe Kvothe Became the Seventh Chandrian and Changed His Name to Escape pop 57
• plausible Kvothe Lost His Power by Speaking a New Name for Himself: Kote pop 57
• plausible Kvothe Shatters the Imre Cobblestones by Shaping, Not by Killing a Man pop 57
• fringe The Lackless Box Opens When Kvothe Bleeds On It, Releasing the Moon pop 56
• plausible Ambrose Jakis Is the King That Kvothe Kills to Earn His Title pop 56
• fringe Baron Greyfellow Could Learn Kvothe Lives From His Colors at Bredon's Party pop 55
• fringe Kvothe's Parting Mischief in Severen May Have Seeded a Vintish War pop 55
• plausible Auri's Lettuce Riddle Mirrors the Disguised Identities at the Waystone pop 55
• plausible The Darkness Vashet Senses in Kvothe Is the Cthaeh's Supernatural Taint pop 55
• well-supported Kote Means Disaster, Marking Kvothe's Fall from Music to Silence pop 55
• plausible Elodin Admits Kvothe to Naming Class Out of Fear, Not Admiration pop 55
• plausible There Is No Music at the Waystone Because Kvothe's Playing Hand Is Ruined pop 55
• fringe Denna's Patron Is Haliax, and She Was Planted to Betray Kvothe pop 54
• fringe The Current War Starts When Kvothe Takes a Flower From the Cthaeh pop 54
• fringe Felurian Killed Kvothe and Revived Him as Part-Fae pop 54
• fringe Kvothe Cannot Die Because the Story Retells the Myth of Baldr pop 53
• plausible Kvothe Decided to Kill the False Troupe Before He Knew About the Girls pop 53
• fringe Kvothe's Expulsion Could Stem From a Mundane Cause Like His Hidden Gram pop 53
• plausible The 'Brave Orphans Trick the Chandrian' Children's Tale Mirrors Kvothe's Own Story pop 53
• plausible Ambrose May Be the First to Realize Kvothe Is a Lackless Heir pop 52
• plausible Kvothe's Third Silence Is a Musical Caesura, the Pause Before Kote Dies pop 52
• plausible The Three-Day Chronicle Is Kvothe Reconstructing His Own Name pop 51
• fringe Kvothe Is the One Life That Cannot End in Death pop 51
• plausible Kvothe Lost His Powers by Losing His True Name, Not Just His Calling Name pop 51
• plausible Denna Secretly Loves Kvothe and Tries to Protect Him Until Her Death pop 51

Appears in theories§

• plausible The Two Travelers at the Waystone Inn Are Simmon and Wilem pop 1183
• plausible The Chandrian Are the Good Guys and the Amyr the Real Villains pop 761
• plausible The Lackless Box Is Carved from the Cthaeh's Tree pop 629
• fringe Abenthy Is Master Ash: Kvothe's Tutor Became Denna's Violent Patron pop 621
• plausible Master Ash Is Baron Greyfallow, the Patron Behind Both Dangerous Songs pop 515
• plausible The Lackless Box Holds Jax's Flute That Trapped the Moon pop 502
• fringe Denna Is the Moon, or a Living Manifestation Bound to It pop 469
• plausible The Scrael Are Grown From the Cthaeh's Tree and Serve as Its Wardens pop 467
• plausible An Amyr, Not the Chandrian, Massacred Kvothe's Troupe pop 452
• plausible Master Lorren Is an Amyr Suppressing Chandrian and Amyr Knowledge pop 419
• plausible Denna's Chronic Lung Condition Reads as Textbook Asthma pop 416
• well-supported Denna Weaves Yllish Story Knots Into Her Hair as a Charm pop 415
• fringe The University Was Built on Jax's Broken House, with the Moon's Name Behind the Four-Plate Door pop 381
• plausible Trapis Left the Tehlin Church to Atone for Clerical Abuse of Children pop 378

Top contributors§

People on r/KingkillerChronicle who built the theories above.

• u/Sandal-Hat — 22 theories · 734 pts · clarified/corroborated/countered/extended
• u/MattyTangle — 4 theories · 584 pts · corroborated/countered/extended
• u/Kit-Carson — 10 theories · 527 pts · corroborated/countered/extended
• u/BigTimmyG — 1 theory · 473 pts · corroborated
• u/OccasionFlaky4121 — 1 theory · 460 pts · corroborated
• u/Bovey — 3 theories · 457 pts · corroborated/countered
• u/waitingfordos — 1 theory · 386 pts · corroborated
• u/TheLastSock — 13 theories · 375 pts · clarified/corroborated/countered/extended
• u/chainsawx72 — 17 theories · 343 pts · corroborated/countered/extended
• u/taborlyn13 — 9 theories · 328 pts · clarified/corroborated/countered/extended
• u/KiroLV — 1 theory · 315 pts · corroborated
• u/Plantatnalp — 1 theory · 308 pts · countered