Brandon Sanderson has built one of the most expansive fictional universes in the history of fantasy literature, populating it with dozens of memorable characters across multiple worlds and magic systems.
Recently, a fan at MCM Comic Con London 2026 asked him which character's growth he was proudest of, and the answer was not the one most people might expect. According to Sanderson, it is Dalinar Kholin.
For readers who have followed The Stormlight Archive, Dalinar needs little introduction. Known in his younger years as the Blackthorn, one of the most feared military commanders in the history of Roshar, he is a man whose arc across five novels spans the full distance from conqueror to something approaching a conscience for an entire world. He is a Bondsmith, a leader, and above all a man trying to reckon honestly with what he has done and what he still owes.
What fans may not know is just how old Dalinar actually is in Sanderson's own life.
Dalinar was there years before the Cosmere existed
When the question was put to him at the MCM panel in London, Sanderson paused before giving a surprisingly candid answer about where this character really came from.
"I'm probably going to settle on Dalinar," he told the audience. "I have writing from when I was 16 and trying my first novel that has both Hoid and Dalinar in it. I often look at Dalinar as my first character. He's definitely the first character I can remember."
That places Dalinar's origins somewhere in the late 1980s, long before the Cosmere existed and long before Sanderson had published a single word professionally. The character who is now central to one of the best-selling fantasy series in the world began life in a teen Sanderson's notebook.
Sanderson also shared that he did not just write Dalinar once and get it right. He kept returning to the character across years and multiple failed attempts before arriving at the version readers finally met in The Way of Kings in 2010.
"I wrote multiple books with Dalinar before I arrived at the version of Way of Kings that you guys read," Sanderson said. "He was a compelling character that I kept coming back to."
It is quietly remarkable, the idea that even Sanderson who is famous for meticulous planning and extensive outlining, could not quite crack this one character for decades. Dalinar kept pulling him back. Something in the idea refused to let go.
And when Sanderson finally explained why he thinks that is, the answer was a little moving.
"It almost feels like I had to grow up in order to get Dalinar right," he said. "He's grown with me as a character across my 50 years of life."
Dalinar's arc in The Stormlight Archive is fundamentally about a man confronting the worst version of himself and then asking what responsibility looks like after that kind of reckoning. It is in my opinion one of the most carefully constructed redemption arcs in modern fantasy, and Sanderson's comments suggest it took that long to write because it took that long to truly understand.
"I'm most proud of just being able to do justice to this idea I had when I was 15 years old," Sanderson said.
With Wind and Truth, the fifth and concluding book of the first Stormlight arc, having released in December 2024, Dalinar's story has now reached a major milestone — though the series itself is planned to continue in a second five-book arc. Sanderson has indicated that arc is not expected until around 2031, meaning fans are in for a long wait before Roshar opens its doors again in any significant way.
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