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

[KoShiatar]

I started to think the Fool can shift genders, or that perhaps his body is simply made differently from that of other human beings, and gender matters little to him. Remember when Fitz notices that he is, after all, different like he claims, and that he has a few strange physical characteristics such as the way his hands are attached to his wrists. Also his sexual tastes (or lack thereof) are indication of this.

[Beloved]

The Fool takes many different forms.

The White Prophet... The Fool... Amber... The Scentless One... Lord Golden... Beloved.

But, trust me. I am convinced he is male. In Fool's Fate FitzChivalry and the Fool become one, remember? In their odd magical ways, they become one being... and I love that... and afterwards Fitz still referred to Beloved as male.

Therefore, I consider him male. I love him so much...

[maulkin]

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.

[chriSchaeffer]

@maulkin
good point. I don't know where that is in the book, but it sounds plausible.

I wonder... Since the next book is going to be centered so much around Dragons, I wonder if we will see more white prophets. They always seem to pop up when dragons are involved. OMG it would be awesome to see the Fool again.

[maulkin]

I wonder... Since the next book is going to be centered so much around Dragons, I wonder if we will see more white prophets. They always seem to pop up when dragons are involved.

But who will the next catalyst be, now that Fitz has retired?

[messi]

yes, it wasn't stated that they had to be the opposite sex but all those mentioned had catalysts of the opposite sex--except the Fool???

[redchild]

Fitz and the Fool seem to be an anomaly to the pattern of Prophets and Catalysts. First of all, the Fool was born even when there already existed another White Prophet. Second, his prophecies seem to clash severely against those of the White Woman. Third, the Fool left his homeland far earlier than when he was "supposed" to leave, so he began his search for his Catalyst relatively young.

You could also say that since Fitz was just a boy when he first met the Fool, a boy would have appealed to him far more than a girl. Especially considering that he was a lonely boy in an environment where most people shunned or ignored him.

I wonder... Since the next book is going to be centered so much around Dragons, I wonder if we will see more white prophets. They always seem to pop up when dragons are involved. OMG it would be awesome to see the Fool again.

Yes I hope so too I don't believe his story is really over

[bofeus01]

Okay if im not mistaken in the book mad ship from the liveship trader trilogy you see somone observing amber down at the docks and whats written is that theres something strangely masculine about her features. And also the Fitzchivalry creates the fools body from scratch and there is no indication of him noticing him being a female but rather a being which is much different then a human. And last the fool clearly explains his relationship that as the same of nighteyes to fitzchivalry which in my opinion rules out physical relationship but explains the whole idea behind beloved just like fitzchivalry loved nighteyes. That is I believe ample evidence that male/female was never the question here and to answer the problem of the white prophet being the opposite sex I do not believe all the white prophets where actors such as the fool and it never states anywhere that they were on the contrary you see that the white lady doesnt need to do that because she was able to amass power giving her enough influence as to do what she pleased as opposed to the fool who needed to be subtle to accomplish what he wanted and that is why he specifically has this lingering question of male or female in the first place for white prophets and he was the only one who needed to play a likeable character to get people to do his bidding.(In other words it was just chance that the two other white prophets mentioned in the book took upon themselves catalysts of opposite sex)

[Garetha]

[But who will the next catalyst be, now that Fitz has retired?
[/quote]

I'm not sure he can retire as a Catalyst. The Pale Woman is shocked when she realises he is still the Catalyst, and bringing the Fool back to life, altering the future, is very strong evidence of this. Perhaps Fitz remains as such so that he can play an important role in future books, or maybe I'm just wishing.

[trekkie75]

Apart from the fact that I change my opinion on the matter kind of every hour...

One of the last chapters of the Golden Fool starts with a bit about white prophets. it's "he or she" and that this dualism has something to do with the jammailian god SA who is both.

My theory is, that the white prophets are either hermaphrodites or at least to an extend androgynous to allow them, to pick up the gender, that suits them/their purpose most.

Beloved seems to me more male physically - while he acts definatly more like a woman. And I haven't even read the Liveships yet.
Hence he can be percieved as both and what he really is just doesn't matter and is nobodys business but his own.

I think it's about options.
There more open and undefiend the "gender-issue" is, the more options there are.

If the catalyst requieres a male counterpart - the white prophet can be male. Regardless of his/her physical facts.
And vice-versa.

The white woman being definatly female may be just another reason, why she is the false prophet.
her gender options are limited. Hence, she is not the true white prophet, but just a white woman.
Maybe she is another decendant of those 12 white/human children (just looked it up: 6 boys and 6 girls).
A rare coincidence - but not the white prophet.

The Fools heart is definatly female. For the most part, probably.