Soren (Guardians Of Ga'Hoole)

"Kludd, No!" — Soren when Kludd falls into the fire. —Legend of the Guardians

Soren was a male Barn Owl, or Tyto alba, and was the main protagonist of the first six Guardians of Ga'Hoole books, as well as the former leader of the band and creator of the chaw of chaws. He was the mate of Pellimore and the father of Blythe, Bell, and Sebastiana (also nicknamed "Bash"), as well as the brother of Kludd and Eglantine. He appears in Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole as the main protagonist.

Personality
Soren was a kind hearted and very caring owl, especially towards his friends, sister, mentor, daughters and mate. He didn't hesitate to help those in need, and did his best not to hurt others' feelings. He respected nest-maid snakes, and had a deep bond with Mrs Plithiver (also called Mrs P.), his former nest-maid snake before he came to the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. However, Soren did have his faults: He could be rather sarcastic at times, and can also occasionally be a little short-tempered. He was also shown (at least at the beginning of his adventures) to be rather shy when speaking in public to any owls other than his friends and family. However, he was courageous and normally firm with his principles, which was why he was appointed and looked up to as a leader. He felt strongly against eating snakes.

The Capture
Soren was born in the kingdom of Tyto to his parents, Noctus and Marella. He had an older brother named Kludd and was a witness to the birth of his little sister, Eglantine. One night, when Soren's parents were out hunting, Soren was pushed out of the nest by Kludd for a Pure Ones test. Soon thereafter, Soren was snatched by a patrol from St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls (more commonly known as St. Aggie's).

When Soren arrived at St. Aggie's, he met an Elf Owl named Gylfie, who also had been snatched. Gylfie had tried to fly before she was ready. They became fast friends and quickly discovered the evil intentions of the "academy": to take over the entire owl world using an army of owls that had been brainwashed and wiped of their individuality. This was done by a process called moon blinking, which involved sleeping under the shine of the full moon. Soren was assigned the number 12-1 until he had earned a name.

Over time, Soren began to realize that he had not fallen by accident: Kludd had pushed him out. Soren and his newfound friend were assigned to work in the pelletorium, a place in the canyons of St. Aggie's where they had to pick out small bits of metal called flecks from owl pellets. Soren asked what the flecks were, but instead was punished brutally through laughter therapy, as questions were forbidden at St. Aegolius.

Soren was then cared for by Aunt Finny, who told him to call her Auntie. He was also cared for by an owl possibly Hortense, who was a nurse in training.

After Soren recovered, he and Gylfie were caught trying to avoid the shade during the sleep march and were subjected to a more powerful process called moon scalding. Despite their dire circumstances, they resisted only by reciting the legends of Ga'Hoole. Soon after, they discovered that the eggorium, the area where owls sat on eggs to hatch them so they could join the St. Aegolius cause, was open for workers. This happened to be the place closest to the sky, which would be a good place to be if they attempted to fly away. Gylfie found out that 12-8, or Hortense, was not moon-blinked, but was instead sneaking eggs for eagles to bring to the kingdom of Ambala. However, she was caught and pushed off a cliff by Finny, Soren's ruthless but seemingly friendly pit guardian.

The two companions also arrived at the conclusion that an adult Boreal Owl named Grimble was not moon-blinked either. Their suspicion proved to be correct and Grimble taught Soren and Gylfie how to fly and helped them to escape through the library of St. Aggie's, although at the cost of his own life at the talons of the Ablah General, Skench. Shortly after their escape, Soren and Gylfie encountered a Great Gray Owl named Twilight, who was journeying to find the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, and they chose to go with him. Along the way they went to Soren and Gylfie's old homes to see if their parents were there, but they were not to be found. Later, Soren found Mrs. Plithiver, who revealed to Soren that Kludd had pushed Eglantine out of the nest as well. Kludd had also threatened to eat Mrs. Plithiver if she tried to tell anyone. In Kuneer they found a Burrowing Owl named Digger, whose brother, Flick, had been eaten by Jatt and Jutt of St. Aegolius. They were shortly attacked by Jatt, Jutt, and 47-2, that tried to eat Digger as well, but they were killed by Zan and Streak, two bald eagles that were allies of Hortense. After the two eagles informed Digger that his parents were killed as well, all four owls united, becoming the band and set out to find the Great Ga'Hoole Tree.

The Journey
Soren and his friends continued their journey to the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, even after being mobbed by crows and given lectures by owl families who thought the tree a myth. They encountered a Bobcat, then after killing it, they found a dying Barred Owl blacksmith. Gylfie asked if St. Aggie's had attacked them, to which he replied "You only wish!" before dying. They stopped for a rest in the Mirror Lakes, a place with lakes so clear that they could see their reflections clearly for the first time. This caused them to become obnoxious and vain, but Mrs. Plithiver became suspicious, theorizing that there was some magic about the place and ordering them all to leave, only for them to be caught in a storm that drove them to the edge of the Northern Kingdoms, the Ice Narrows. Puffins redirected them, and they eventually reached their destination.

The band soon discovered that they would be divided into different chaws to learn different skills. Soren was double-chawed in weather interpretation and colliering along with an obnoxious owl named Otulissa. The weather chaw was led by Ezylryb, a gruff old Whiskered Screech Owl who Soren felt uncomfortable about because of his missing talon, but it turned out that the old ryb had a playful side as he gleeked about in flight. Colliering, the art of retrieving coals for blacksmiths, was lead by Poot, and Soren turned out to be exceptionally good at it.

During the Great Downing, Soren was reunited with his sister Eglantine, who was among the many owlets who were dropped and had been brainwashed into believing that Tytos were supreme. He tended to her night and day, but when she recovered, she was in a trancelike state, the result of being stone stunned. However, when she looked through isinglass brought by Trader Mags, she was cured, but recalled nothing of what happened to her.

The Rescue
After his worries about Eglantine subsided, Soren's worries turned towards his mentor, Ezylryb, who had not returned from his investigation of the Great Downing. While on a weather interpretation flight he saw his parents' scrooms. They told him to beware of an owl called Metal Beak. Upon his return, Soren asked Bubo, the blacksmith, who Metal Beak was, to which he replied that a murderous owl with a metal mask. Soren asked if Metal Beak could possibly be related to the murder of the Barred Owl in The Beaks, and Bubo said that it was highly likely. He also revealed that he was a rogue smith, and told Soren about some of the others, such as the rogue smith of Silverveil.

During the harvest festival, the band snuck out to ask the rogue smith of Silverveil about where Ezylryb could be, but she knew nothing. When they returned, Dewlap discovered them and they were punished. At one point, Soren asked Eglantine if she remembered what happened during the Great Downing, but she remembered nothing. Soren then experimented by showing her another piece of isinglass, which made her recall being imprisoned by the Pure Ones, an organization of owls that believed in Tyto superiority. Realizing that they had probably captured Ezylryb, they (and Otulissa, who was eavesdropping) set off to free him.

They soon reached the Pure Ones' stronghold, which had been abandoned. Once Eglantine realizes that the three bags of the Sacred Flecks of the Shrine Most Pure had vanished along with the Pure Ones. Otulissa revealed that if three bags of flecks were placed in a triangle, it disrupted birds' navigational systems and that was where Ezylryb will probably be. She also revealed that fire could destroy flecks' effects and mu metal could act as a shield against it. Twilight got some metal from doors as Soren and Otulissa collected coals from forest fires.

The five managed to destroy all the bags of flecks and found Ezylryb, but they were ambushed by Metal Beak and some of the members of the Pure Ones. Soren tore off Metal Beak's mask, only to reveal the face of his brother, Kludd, who charged him. Soren set half of Kludd's face on fire, and the Pure Ones retreated, but not before Kludd swore undying revenge on his brother.

The Siege
Soren and the rest of the chaw of chaws went to St. Aggie's to see if it was being infiltrated by Pure Ones, which it was. Soren also had a strange dream of a beatiful Barn Owl, later found out to be Nyra.

The dream turned out, discovered at the end, that Soren had starsight, the ability to dream the future. The owl he dreamed about was revealed to be Nyra, mate of his brother, Kludd, when he came up with the idea to dig owls out of the beseiged tree to attack the Pure Ones from either side. This is when he first met Nyra and led her into being attacked after she had killed Strix Struma.

The Shattering
Soren noticed some things wrong with his sister, expecially when the new ex-Pure One recruit, Ginger, was around. He later found a fragment of a page that came from a destroyed book Otulissa was reading. When Eglantine suddenly disappeared, Soren and the chaw of chaws took part in the rescue mission to save her. Eglantine was being shattered and so was Primrose, but Primrose had bought an amber necklace from Trader Mags that attracted flecks, saving herself from being shattered.

As the chaw of chaws was being prepared for a mission in the Northern Kingdoms, Ezylryb gave his battle claws from Dark Fowl Island to Soren as the "keys" to the Northern Kingdoms and claimed him as his ward like a son.

The Burning
Soren and the chaw of chaws had to go and get recruits for the war against the Pure Ones. Trained in the art of ice swords they were ready for battle. When the Guardians made a truce with Skench and Spoorn in teaching them the way of fire, Soren was very reluctant in aiding. During the final battle of the Pure Ones, Soren gathered the courage in the end to kill his tyrranical brother, but hesitated. However, Twilight was the one who gave the killing blow.

Soren and Eglantine met their parents' scrooms. After they left, he and his sister felt happy, for they know their parents were in glaumora.

The Hatchling
In The Hatchling, Soren is only mentioned as "Uncle Soren," whom Nyroc desires to meet him.

The Outcast
At some point, Soren rescued a Barn Owl named Pellimore from a forest fire. She tried to fight him off, thinking he was a Pure One. To assure he was not, Soren recited the Fire Cycle. Afterwards, they became mates and hatched three daughters, Blythe, Bell and Sebastiana (nicknamed Bash) whom later become known as the three B's. Near the end of the book, Soren met his nephew, Coryn, who had become king after retrieving the Ember of Hoole. He then complimented Coryn on his long journey of fleeing from evil and finding his destiny.

The First Collier
Soren is seen shortly in the prologue, where it is revealed that Ezylryb was dying. He and his nephew, Coryn, under Ezylryb's instructions, read the legends of Ga'Hoole, starting with "The First Collier." As they finished the volume, Coryn confessed to his uncle that Nyra was suspected to be a hagsfiend.

The Coming of Hoole
Soren is seen shortly in the prologue, where it is revealed he had been reading for days with Coryn. They invited the rest of the band, along with Otulissa, to read the legends. As they read the second volume, Soren gave note that they were unaware of who wrote them.

To Be a King
After Coryn revealed that nachtmagen may still be roaming, Soren opened up the final legend. Upon finishing reading, Soren and Coryn decided to keep their suspicions of Nyra's nature a secret for a while.

The Golden Tree
Soren traveled with the rest of the band and Coryn on their journey. At the end, he helped fight against the vyrwolves that teamed up with Nyra, to capture the Book of Kreeth.

The River of Wind
Bess, aka the Knower, discovered the Middle Kingdoms, and their language, Jouzhenkyn. The Chaw of Chaws had to cross the Unnamed sea, find the "Tomorrow Line," and avoid getting sucked into Windkins to reach it. During chawlet practice, Bell snuck away and got lost. She was sucked into an unfamiliar current and was struck on the head with something and became unconsious.

She was shortly saved and cared for by a (blue) dragon owl, Orlando (later renamed himself the Striga) from the dragon court at the Panqua Palace. Nyra captured the Striga and Bell, but eventually were freed by an Elf Owl named Cuffyn. Nyra led a slink melf to assasinate Soren and Coryn, hence they were the main target. The slink melf that included Stryker and some other owls were killed by the Danyk and Tengshu.

Three owls were bloodily killed by the Striga, who used Danyar (a form of fighting in the Middle Kingdom using only their breath, without blood) and also injured Nyra.

Exile
At the beginning of the book, it is revealed that the Striga had joined the tree. Otulissa sent the band on a weather trip to send out feather buoys because she was too busy. During the weather trip, the band reflected on how sadly and weirdly Coryn had been acting. They suggested finding Coryn a mate, which ended up with Soren churring, pointing out he was the only one of the band members that had found a mate. Later on during the weather trip, they found a note which revealed they had been exiled from the tree, and anybody who helped them would be punished. After visiting Mist, the band was brought to the Brad. After clodding themselves with moss, they flew to the great tree with the Greenowls of Ambala. After a skirmish between the Blue Brigade and the Greenowls, the Striga threatened to kill Bell if they didn't drop their weapons. Tengshu saved Bell by dislodging Striga and returned her to Pelli. After that, the Striga was exiled.

The War of the Ember
The strange blue owl known as the Striga had been rousted from the Great Tree. Nyra of the Pure Ones was either dead or undercover in some distant land, leaving the tree at peace. As if fed by an invisible spring, learning and the lively arts flourished at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree and spread through the owl kingdoms. But unbeknownst to the Guardians, in a long empty cave deep in the Northern Kingdoms, two ruthless villians joined forces to conjure an ancient evil, an evil that would do their bidding and wreak havoc around the world. In an attempt to defeat the Guardians, Nyra used Kreeth's knowledge and planned a hatching of hagsfiend eggs. However, they were destroyed by the dire wolves in a slink melf, led by Gllybane (now called Namara) and wolves from her clan. During the second battle in Beyond the Beyond at the Hot Gates, Soren fought with Coryn against the Striga and Nyra. Soren then killed Nyra by lodging an ice splinter in heart, but the Striga sliced off Coryn's port wing, causing him to crash to the ground. In return, Soren sliced off the Striga's head with Ezylryb's old battle claws, sending him to hagsmire with Nyra. Coryn named Soren the new king of Ga'Hoole.

Shadow Wolf
He is mentioned by several wolves who were discussing what would happen if he died since he had no sons, only three daughters.

Spirit Wolf
It is noted that Gwynneth sees Soren's scroom as they cross the Crystal Plain. This means that Soren must have died sometime during the events of Spirit Wolf. He may have succumbed to old age. Pellimore's scroom is not seen, so she is assumed to be alive still.

Behind the Scenes

 * Soren is one of four owls who became stuffed animals.
 * He was respected for his hearing by the rest of the band.
 * Soren had starsight, a special ability that enables some owls to see in the future through their dreams.
 * Although the book mentions that he has entirely black eyes, in the movie he has yellow eyes and black pupils.
 * He is voiced by Jim Sturgess.
 * It seems that Soren has a crush on Otulissa in the movie, while in the books, when they met he found her too snobbish.
 * His name means 'stern' or 'severe' in Italian.