Children of the Light

The Children of the Light (aka Whitecloaks) are a male-only Third Age paramilitary organization that opposes the use of the One Power in general and Aes Sedai in particular. They feature prominently in the books, serving as villains and antagonists in the early books, particularly in The Eye of the World. However, they ended up technically on the side of the protagonists during the Battle of Falme at the climax of The Great Hunt. They were conquered by the Seanchan under the leadership of Eamon Valda. When Galad Damodred, a young officer of relatively low rank, challenged and killed Valda, the Whitecloaks briefly splintered into two opposing forces. The Hand of the Light and allied Children under High Inquistor Asunawa remained loyal to the Seanchan and pursued and confronted the splinter Children under Lord Captain Commander Galadodred Damodred. Ultimately, Galad and his top officers persuaded the top officers of the "loyalists" to defect from the Seanchan. They executed Asunawa and won the vast majority of the Whitecloaks - including some Questioners - to their side. Under Galad's orders, the remaining dissenting Whitecloaks and Questioners were released to go as they would. The Children served under Perrin Aybara's leadership on the side of the Light in the Last Battle.

General
The Children of the Light are known as Whitecloaks because they wear almost completely white cloaks at almost all times, but most Children resent being called Whitecloaks. A subset of Whitecloaks form an inquisitorial group known as the Hand of the Light under their leader, the High Inquistor. Such Children are known as Questioners due to the question mark-shaped shepherd's crook they wear on their cloaks. Questioners rank slightly above Whitecloaks of equivalent rank, but the High Inquisitor ranks below the Lord Captain Commander.

Whitecloaks are a zealous and fanatic group as a whole. They stand first and foremost against the Shadow and all who serve the Dark One. However, they are typically very quick to assume Darkfriend status. People often are considered Darkfriends by Whitecloaks for such benign reasons as:
 * Opposing Whitecloaks in any way
 * Avoiding Whitecloaks
 * Using the One Power
 * Associating with Aes Sedai

Additional things Whitecloaks consider indicative of Shadow allegiance:
 * Consorting with wolves (i.e. being a Wolfbrother)

Questioners are even more zealous and fanatical than the rank-and-file Whitecloaks, and extract confessions from suspected Darkfriends by means of physical torture.

Known Members

 * 1) Galadodred Damodred - The Lord Captain Commander during Tarmon Gai'don. A very talented swordmaster, he ascended due to an ancient Whitecloak law after killing his predecessor in a challenge of one-on-one combat to the death. He made said challenge based on the (false) rumor that Valda had killed his mother, Morgase Damodred, on the (true) rumor that Valda had raped her, and to a much lesser extent on Valda's leadership of the Children. Galad fought Damodred in one-on-one combat and was nearly as skilled in the sword as the latter, but was ultimately defeated and seriously wounded. Galad has romantic interest in Berelain, and previously had some romantic intention towards Egwene.
 * 2) Eamon Valda - Galad's predecessor. He became Lord Captain Commander after conspiring with High Inquisitor Asunawa to have his predecessor killed. He also raped Morgase Damodred while she was a "guest" of the Children. Met Galad prior to the latter becoming a Whitecloak and gifted him a copy of Lothair Mentelar's The Way of the Light and likely recruited him around the time of the White Tower's schism.
 * 3) Pedron Niall - Valda's predecessor. He was Lord Captain Commander at the beginning of the events depicted in the main book series.
 * 4) Rhadam Asunawa - The High Lord Inquisitor of The Hand of the Light from the beginning of the events depicted in the main book series up until his execution by the rest of the Whitecloak leadership.
 * 5) Geofram Bornhald - A Lord Captain under Pedron Niall, who considered him the best Whitecloak tactician. Father to Dain Bornhald. Commanded the Whitecloaks that began the antagonism with Perrin Aybara. Died during the Battle of Falme. Generally required more evidence of Darkfriend status than most Whitecloaks.
 * 6) Dain Bornhald - Son of Geofram Bornhald. Spent most of the series hating Perrin Aybara due to his perceived involvement in Geofram's death as reported by Jaret Byar. Ultimately killed Byar in defense of Perrin. Early friend and supporter of Galad.
 * 7) Trom - Friend and fellow officer with Galad. Present when Galad encounters Elayne and Nynaeve in Amadicia
 * 8) Jaret Byar - A zealous rank-and-file Whitecloak noted for being similar in disposition to Questioners. Extremely loyal to Geofram Bornhald and, after Geofram's death, his son Dain. Even more hateful towards Perrin than Dain, he tried to assassinate Perrin after the latter rescued the Children from a Shadowspawn ambush. Byar was with the Whitecloak force under Geofram Bornhald when Perrin killed two Whitecloaks.
 * 9) Abdel Omerna - Nominal spymaster under Lord Captain Commander Pedron Niall. Assassinated Niall as part of a plot by Asunawa and Valda
 * 10) Jaichim Carridin - High-ranking Questioner and the only confirmed Darkfriend among the Whitecloaks.

Known Affiliates

 * 1) Sebban Balwer - Covert spymaster and ostensibly secretary to first Pedron Niall and later to Perrin Aybara. Left the Whitecloaks after the assassination of Pedron Niall and harbored resentment towards the Whitecloaks as an organization and Valda in particular. Has positive feelings towards Lord Captain Commander Galad, likely due to the latter incidentally avenging Pedron Niall.

Bigotry
Whitecloaks are notorious amongst WoT fans for their bigotry. However, this is often overstated. As a male-only organization, the Whitecloaks likely hold some bigotry towards women (if for no other reason than as a result of their attitude towards the female-only Aes Sedai of the Third Age). And they certainly despise all channelers.

However, the Whitecloaks are formed from men from every nation in the wetlands and, as such, are the third most multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural organization in Randland after the White Tower and the Black Tower who similarly draw recruits from all nations (the White Tower in particular also draws recruits from the Sea Folk.

The Whitecloaks also clearly hate those who do not conform to the nearly universal WoT religion (worship of the Creator and defying the Dark One), but this is fairly universal among the Third Age nations of WoT. Being convicted as a Darkfriend is a capital offense in every known nation. Atheism in WoT is extremely rare, and there are no known interactions between a Whitecloak and an atheist. All that said, the zealotry of the Whitecloaks and their readiness to consider other Creator-worshippers to be Darkfriend infidels can be considered a form of religious bigotry.

Miscellanea

 * The Whitecloaks were the inspiration for the r/whitecloaks subreddit, based mostly on the state of the organization at the end of the series and Galad's leadership.