Kevin's Watch

The Ardent's "thing" (or one of them) is his wearing of ribbons. These are not only clothes, but also Doc Ock style limbs - he can use them to lift himself, to snatch things, carry things, to attack, etc.

Since reading about the Ardent, I've been coming across this ribbon thing a lot.

For example, there's one scene in Deathly Hallows Pt 2.

Spoiler

Voldemorts robes become ribbons which attack Harry.

(I'm surprised that correspondence hasn't been mentioned hereabouts yet.)

Then today I saw a trailer/ad for "Treasure Hunter". There's this dude dressed in ribbons, and they flail out at people, attacking them.

Have I only started noticing this? Or have ribbon-clothes-limbs been around all the while and I only just started noticing?

They've been around, but not particularly memorable... so aside from the Ardent, I couldn't give you an example of one.

There is a series I am rather fond of by Sherri S. Tepper. The first trilogy is based around Peter, and is called The True Game (King's Blood Four, Necromancer Nine, Wizard's Eleven being the separate books). It is followed by the better written sequels Jinnian Footseer, Dervish Daughter, and Jinnian Star-Eye. In this one, there is a character called the Oracle, which is bedecked in ribbons bound in cirllets at the ends of the extremeties. I think you will find similar examples if you do a survey (not that you really will...). It is an old phenomenon (Tepper's books predating Covenant, if memory serves). Even within the books there are shapeshifters which use them. And is my memory mistaken, but wasn't there an Adept in Anthony's Split Infinity series (the black one, perhaps) which used lines as his form of magic (an ongoing ribbon...).

Doc