The Sheriff of Night Vale is the presumed leader of the Sheriff's Secret Police. They are believed to be the enigmatic person who wears a balaclava, mitre, cloak and a giant silver star, and who speaks through a vocoder, although no one knows for sure if this person is truly the Sheriff of Night Vale, or if the Sheriff of Night Vale even truly exists.[1] The current Sheriff, or the person believed to be the Sheriff called Sam.
Sheriff Sam uses they/them pronouns. Their gender remains unknown but likely not binary, and they are regarded by fandom as nonbinary.
The Sheriff of Night Vale is said to operate from a hovering office above the clouds.[2] This was confirmed when they joined the revolt against StrexCorp, using their hover office to drop bricks on the invaders.[3]
All the sheriffs described have concealed their faces; it is likely a tradition, custom, or requirement of office.
Past Sheriffs
The office of Sheriff seems to have existed since at least 1843. Lucia Tereschenko recalls encountering the sheriff when she first came to Night Vale: she describes them as wearing a welding mask and a cowboy hat.[4].
On 15 December 2015, a person named Sam claimed to be the new sheriff.[5] It is unclear what, if anything, happened to the previous sheriff, as when asked what had happened to the old sheriff, Sam's only reply was to paint a canvas entirely blue.
The Sheriff's poem
The Sheriff of Night Vale honored the residents of Night Vale when they deigned to participate in Poetry Week in 2013, contributing the following poem:[6]
The town criers have cross-stitched their mouths shut and stapled their eyes open.
The benches are all broken.
No one sits down anyway.
No one can fit their broken wings beneath their cloaks.
A skin condition that makes its victims appear timelessly sad afflicts most.
Prominent citizens drown in the carpool lane.
Their makeup floats to the surface.
Wine glasses clink together.
They hate each other.
They clink until one breaks and then the other.
There is no such thing as vagrants.
There is no such thing as home.
The sun has a tick.
No one can afford flowers, but the children stand very still in the garden until the cold snap cracks.
Night Vale Community Radio host Cecil Palmer judged the Sheriff's poem to be "very pretty."
Mentions
References
- ↑ Episode 16 The Phone Call
- ↑ Episode 15 Street Cleaning Day
- ↑ Episode 49B Old Oak Doors Part B
- ↑ Episode 84 Past Time
- ↑ Episode 80 A New Sheriff in Town
- ↑ Episode 20 Poetry Week