Who is Merric Vale?

Who is Merric Vale? This may be the most popular question I’ve gotten since the character was introduced back in the Skeleton Key Guild. I had plans for him even then and have been dropping clues about his origins for sometime.

I’ve heard many theories about, just who is Merric Vale. Let’s take a look at the most popular ones and see what everyone has been thinking.

He is a member of the First Kind. I’ve gotten this one quite a few times. the reasoning behind it is pretty clear, from the moment he made his first appearance he has shown his dislike of the Old Kind. As anyone who had read the Doorknob Society Saga will attest, the First Kind did have a deep hatred for their kin.

He is a member of the Lost Orders. This one calls back to the first book of the Doorknob Society and brings up the lost orders of the Old Kind. Since it is clear his abilities are different than any of the Old Kind. He must therefore be a member of one of the missing orders.

He is the Gremlin King. Now the Gremlin King along with the Hellions are something most Old Kind use to scare their kids into being good. Kind of like the boogie man of our childrens nightmares. Both of them were mentioned in The League of Skull & Bones. Which leads us into our next theory.

He is a Hellion. Now the Hellions were ancient enemies of the First and Old Kind. It would certainly explain his hatred of the Old Kind and his different abilities.

Those are a few of the theories floating around. I know there are more but I figured I would hit on the more popular ones. So what does everyone think, who is Merric Vale? Let me know in the comments.