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Guardian
Kirkhusas are dog-like creatures that resemble large otters, usually kept as pets or guard animals throughout the Stillness. While they are generally herbivorous and friendly, during a Fifth Season they undergo a change that makes them carnivorous and sometimes violent towards humans.
Get the entire The Fifth Season LitChart as a printable PDF.
Kirkhusa Term Timeline in The Fifth Season
The timeline below shows where the term Kirkhusa appears in The Fifth Season. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 10: you walk beside the beast
...the woman freezes as she steps out the door. In front of her is a kirkhusa, a large dog-like creature that people keep as pets. Kirkhusas are usually friendly, easily-trainable, and...
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This kirkhusa clearly used to be a pet, and it paces back and forth as if fighting...
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...did do, but he refuses to explain. Meanwhile, his arm is still stuck inside the kirkhusa’s mouth and dripping with blood. Essun offers to help him get it free, but Hoa...
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Chapter 13: you’re on the trail
...a geomest at the most prestigious university in the Stillness. The first afternoon after the kirkhusa attack, Tonkee leads Essun and Hoa to her home, which is a cave inside of...
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...be human (although orogenes aren’t technically considered human either). When she asks him about the kirkhusa he refuses to explain, saying only that he wants Essun to still like him. As...
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