Who is Rand al'Thor from A Crown of Swords and what is their importance?

This character is the main focus of the Wheel of Time series. Rand is what has been spoken of in ancient prophecies as the Dragon Reborn. It is said that the Dragon Reborn will do battle with the Dark One and save the world. There are various groups that want to find and capture Rand, and each has their own reasons for doing this. There are groups that want to capture Rand so that they can stop him from defeating the Dark One since they serve the Dark One. One group wants to capture Rand because they do not believe he is the Dragon Reborn and believe him to be evil himself. There is even a woman that tries to capture Rand so that she can have him as her husband and assert herself to a more powerful position.