Hanse Shadowspawn is name of a fictional character created by Andrew J. Offutt for the Thieves World anthology series, as well as the name of a novel featuring that character. He also appeared in the novel "The Shadow of Sorcery." He is a son of the Illsigi God Shalpa, which may be responsible for his skills in thievery. Hanse is regularly described in the Thieves World series as an arrogant and brash young man, with flashy clothes and overly-displayed throwing weaponry, who moves with the obvious grace of a cat without making any noise whatsoever. It is undisputed in the series that Hanse is the City of Sanctuary's best and most effective thief.

He is a close friend to Prince Kadikithis and the magician, Strick, and he also rescued the immortal mercenary, Tempus Thales, from a vivisectionist.

In the second Sanctuary Series, Hanse is presented as an old man, now going by the name of "Chance." Chance walks lamely and carries a walking-stick, though it is revealed that such devices are merely a ruse covering up the legendary thief's still not inconsiderable powers. Chance befriends and takes on the solo thief "Lone" as his apprentice, Lone displaying much of Hanse's former skills and, sadly, his former arrogance and over-confidence as well.

It is also the name for the malignant creations that serve the Dark One in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.

See also

• Concepts in the Wheel of Time series