The Fool (spoilers for all RotE books, including LST)

[Nuytsia]

Heehee I don't think I ever got around to posting in this thread.....
SPOILERS Tawny Man Trilogy I guess......
At first I just presumed the Fool was male, and sort of wondered why all the speculation. However, I guess there's no getting away from the fact that a few things do feel like the author giving us a definite steer in the direction of 'this could be a female'. The scene Farseer mentions above being about the main one that I can think of. I mean it's classic book (and TV/film) scenario isn't it, when the girl dressed as a guy keeps her chest covered? So I am now leaning toward the theory that he may change gender when he changes colour....
I am a little disappointed to think this may be the case though - all the supposed playing around with gender kind of becomes nothing if he actually IS changing gender..... does that make sense? I mean now instead of saying gender doesn't matter, it's saying ok it DOES matter! Maybe that IS what Hobb wants to say? There's a twist on all those interpretations out there!

To me, the Fool "feels" like neither a woman nor a man. The Fool feels like a child, all be it a wise child, especially in the later books. The love that the Fool feels for Fitz never gives the impression of sexual desire. It seems more like childish affection or infatuation. All in all, the Fool treats Fitz like a beloved (if somewhat dim) elder sibling. Added to this, Nighteyes refers to the Fool as "The Scentless One". This is presumably due to the Fool's alien nature but also implies a lack of hormonal activity.

This is interesting because I never really thought of him that way, but it does fit a lot of his character. Considering his lifespan he probably IS a child! At least a teenager. Actually in the Tawny Man trilogy he seemed a lot like a teenager to me. Especially in his reactions to Fitz (if we can believe Fitz's POV!). eg that part when he goes to their coterie session and poor old Fitz is on the floor and the Fool says something like 'I wasn't scared' - I can almost see him crossing his arms and pouting, practically poking his tongue out at Fitz.

I often wondered about that lack of scent thing - I thought maybe he was just the only one in the six duchies who bathed on a regular basis

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as I remember, all of the white prophets mentioned in the books worked with catalysts of the opposite sex. Perhaps a white prophet is able to become whichever sex is most attractive to the catalyst of the age, in order to establish a more effective bond.

That's something I often wondered about too! You'd think the prophet and catalyst getting 'involved' would be a REALLY BAD idea considering all they go through and what sacrifices have to be made. I would have thought you'd try and be the gender that would be least attractive to the catalyst (if you had a choice). I mean how hard must it have been for the Fool to allow all those things to happen to Fitz considering how he feels about him.