Lopen

Lopen is a Herdazian bridgeman in Bridge Four. Unable to carry bridges, he makes himself useful to his bridge crew by carrying waterskins for them on bridge runs and aiding in the surgery and post-battle first-aid delivered by Kaladin. He apparently has many cousins that can be called on to do favors.
==Appearance==
Strikingly, when Lopen joins Bridge Four, he is missing his left arm.Book signing, Chicago, IL, 3/22/14 
He is a slender man, and is startlingly easy to lift. Eventually, his Surgebinding abilities restore his missing arm with Stormlight.
==Personality==
Lopen is extremely humorous and can deliberately sound obtuse in order to get a rise out of another. He can talk rings about most men who demean Herdazians, who most of his jokes are about. He finds these jokes to be extra funny. First and foremost, he claims that he is an expert on one-armed Herdazian jokes.
Despite experiencing great misfortunes, he never accepts these things as part of his identity,Book signing, San Diego, CA, 11/14/17 liberally uses rude gestures when insulted, and has a sense of humor that people around him find strange, but Lopen has proven to be both compassionate and reliable.
==Characteristics==
He speaks with a quick accent and has a tendency to use Herdazian words like gon, gancho, or mancha when referring to whomever he is talking.
Lopen wound up on a bridge crew because someone thought he was annoying. He's the only person in Bridge Four who's not a criminal.Oathbringer release party, Provo, UT, 11/13/17
He's somebody who knows everyone and is related to half the Herdazians around.Oathbringer release party, Provo, UT, 11/13/17
He is able to regrow his arm because he didn't identify as being a one-armed Herdazian, even though he made jokes about it.Book signing, San Diego, CA, 11/14/17
==Beliefs==
He believes a man can never have too many cousins.
==Biography==
Even though he is a Herdazian and, technically, a practitioner of Vorinism (albeit a brand unique to Herdaz), Lopen doesn't seem to be bothered by a man writing. He is excited by the potential that the absorption of Stormlight offers Kaladin (recorded by Sigzil in glyphs) as members of Bridge Four conduct experiments with Kaladin's abilities.
However, Lopen doesn't like the inclusion of Shen into Bridge Four because he's concerned about just how he perceives that Shen stares at him.
At the end of Words of Radiance, Lopen becomes able to absorb Stormlight, though he is not a Surgebinder, and it has been hinted that he is a squire to Kaladin, along with his fellow bridgemen. After managing to absorb Stormlight, he was able to regrow his missing limb.
According to Teft, other members of Bridge Four have also absorbed Stormlight. This is because Kaladin unconsciously made them his squires,* giving them each the ability to absorb Stormlight but not Surgebind.
Still, with Stormlight puffing from his mouth as he speaks, Lopen jumps up, then crashes back to a plateau upon the Shattered Plains, seemingly stuck to the ground, and when asked about it replies ...
Then ...
When Hobber is able to regenerate his legs via Stormlight absorption, Lopen makes the Bridge Four salute. To Hobber, this seems to mean something special, coming from Lopen. Two arms.** One of the first times Lopen had been able to make the salute. Hobber salutes back.
Lopen bonded with the spren Rua during the Battle of Thaylen Field. While Lopen said the First Ideal, he did not become a complete Radiant. After the battle, while talking to a wounded soldier, he stated the Second Ideal and then became a full Radiant.
==Cousins==
Throughout Words of Radiance, a number of Lopen's cousins appear to join Bridge Four. The first to be noticed by Kaladin is Punio.
After the assassination attempt on King Elhokar, Kaladin had the king removed to the home of Lopen's uncle in Little Herdaz - technically in Highprince Sebarial's warcamp - where Lopen's mother also resides, as do two of his strongest cousins, Huio and Rod.
Rod was a jovial Herdazian who barely spoke Alethi that Kaladin hadn't really known and who was killed by the Parshendi.
==Quotes==
==Notes==
*As stated in Words of Radiance, there were sixteen Windrunners, but they each had many squires.
Lopen had been actively pursuing becoming a full Radiant ... but the only one of "Team Kaladin" who'd been doing so.Arcanum Unbounded release party, Provo, UT, 11/22/16
Lopen actually became king of Alethkar, for a short time, because he and his family hid King Elhokar and, at least in his perception, convinced the king to abdicate for a short time so they could not lie when they said "We don't have King Elhokar with us." This is canon.Arcanum Unbounded release party, Provo, UT, 11/22/16
According to Brandon, while Lopen's children would have a claim to inherit Alethkar because he was king for just a brief moment, he doesn't think the Alethi would pay attention to it.Book signing, Beaverton, OR, 11/16/17
**Also according to Brandon, with regard to Stormlight healing, an individual's perception of themselves is a huge part of it.Book signing, Orem, UT, 3/10/18 Lopen is particularly stubborn about just how he "should be."
==Speculation==
The Lopen seems to have an abnormal level of control over his Spiritweb, as evidenced by his ability to regrow his arm using Stormlight simply because he thought he should be able to, despite the fact that he lost his arm during childhood.
Once Lopen achieves the Third Ideal, anyone who is his cousin will also become a Windrunner squire. At Lopen's discretion, this horde of affable Surgebinders is likely to encompass every Herdazian on Roshar.
==References==
Category:Herdaz (people)
Category:Bridgemen
Category:Military (people)
Category:King's Guard
Category:Squires
Category:Surgebinders
Category:Windrunner