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The Blade is madness personified, the erratic and volatile madness that kills. He hits all points on the serial-killer trifecta, he is both charismatic and antisocial. The Blade attaches himself most often to his victims, taking what he wants from them and leaving broken, dead shells behind. Inevitably his obsession and psychoses will be his downfall, but until that happens he will cut a bloody swath across whatever land in which he chooses to hunt.
The Blade can be mastered; he is missing several large pieces of his mind and heart, and part of what makes him kill is the search for these missing pieces. The person who would seek to master the blade, either for capture or for reform, must be as careful as he or she has ever been and more. One slip and the knife will cut.
CANON: Extremes. Desperation. Despair. Glee. Ecstacy. Frenetic. Fanatic. Volatile. Mania. Terror.
ITERATION:
Hawley Griffin (book) The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells.
Hawley Griffin is outcast from society of his own making by the time we find him in the book, but initially his stigma wasn't his fault. His albinism is a genetic fault of his bloodline, not of himself. Because of his derision for those of lower intelligence (a considerable percent of the population) and his preference for intellectual pursuits rather than social activities, he is set even further apart. This drives him to self-experimentation and, ultimately, to murder and madness.
Mackie Messer (book series) Wild Cards ed. by George R. R. Martin
Mackie Messer is an Ace, a person endowed by the Wild Card virus with special powers. His powers are to walk through walls, and to alter his body so that his hands vibrate into lethal buzz-saws. He is also quite insane, although he can and is often directed by a paternal figure. Gruesomely, he also seeks romantic affection from this person.
The Corinthian (graphic novel) Sandman by Neil Gaiman
The Corinthian is nightmare made flesh, intended to reflect all of a person that that person does not want to see. When the King of Dreams was captured and he was freed from all constraints he escaped to the mortal realm, becoming an inspiration to serial killers over the world.
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The Child-Bride is the girl wed to the noble lord for the sake of power, influence, innocence bartered away as a means to gain an end. She is cunning, clever, and resourceful. She is able to portray innocence and childhood while at the same time mothering all those around her. She is also able to hurt, maim, or kill with a ruthless practicality when it is in the interests of protecting her family group.
She seeks out, instinctively, the men who are most commonly her husbands. However, it is something of a love-hate relationship; she also cherishes and misses the innocence she must always lose. Over the years and various incarnations the Child-Bride has learned to take her fate with a certain amount of whimsey.
CANON: Survival. Comfort. Surge. Dichotomy. Patience. Home. Trust.
ITERATION:
Sarah (movie) Labyrinth by Jim Henson
The sexual implications in Labyrinth (apart from one hopefully inadvertent crotch shot) have been subsumed to the point where they will not be seen by children watching. And yet there are so many overtones, especially to the ballroom scene, where she might as well be Jareth's ensorcelled bride.
Wendy Darling (book) Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
Although falling in the canon of the Child-Bride, Wendy marries herself to a child as well. An immortal child, locked forever in the cusp of adolescence. The family imagery is strong between Wendy, Peter, and the Lost Boys. She takes a more motherly aspect to the canon of the Child-Bride.
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The Innocent lives in a vacuum, a world of black and white in which it is pure and can remain so. What, really, can be said about the innocent that will change this?
The Innocent is rarely an adult; often it is a child on the cusp of puberty. It is ambivalent about gender, as its circumstances and situation knows no gender inclination. It is rarely seen, remaining in its tiny room for the influence of the outside world renders it corrupt.
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The Madman, like Shakespeare's Fool, is a figure of uncommon wisdom. He sees clearly because he sees on the slant; both by the altered viewpoint and the compensation he must make to survive he sees better than most. Those who hear his ravings may not always interpret correctly what he says, however. He is a Cassandra figure, reviled for the truths he tells.
Although he is not content in his madness he does not seek to end his condition. He trades the insight that he gains from his lunacy for any semblance of a normal life. In return he gains caretakers, men and women to comfort and
cherish him as he lurches through his life.
CANON: Lunacy. Prophecy. Wise. Babble. Chaos. Color. Radiance. Learn.
ITERATION:
Walter Plinge (book) Maskerade by Terry Pratchett
Walter Plinge is a simpleton, but the kind of simpleton who has found truth in his simplicity. Those around him do not understand him until they take the time to look and listen, really listen. And even then you have to listen on the slant..
Willy Wonka (book) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
There's something about a man who just wants to create a candy factory to please little children. Today if Willy Wonka were to hold a contest like that, we'd look for the hidden stash of kiddie porn. And it's true, hidden in the candy are razor blades, lessons that will cut us if we do not learn them in time. There may be method to his madness, but there's a great deal of madness in his method.
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The Sorcerer encompasses many faults in one. He is a trickster, a manipulative sociopath, a creature who lives to satisfy his whims and needs. His skills lie in prestidigitation, legerdemain, and outright magic. He is a master of all the rules of sorcery and knows when and how to break them.
The Sorcerer was not created with his flaws. He was corrupted from an early point, and always wtihin him he carries the seed of what might have been, making his own self-loathing that much greater. He is acutely aware of what he is and has become over the course of his life and though he may strive for balance he remains, at heart, a chaotic and fallen figure. If he is to be redeemed it must come from outside, and the seed of kindness must be where it begins.
CANON:Magic. Madness. Pattern. Chaos. Intelligence. Enigma. Megalomania. Manipulation. Heartbreak. Fatal Flaw. Hubris. Tragedy. Redemption. Aware.
ITERATION:
Jareth (movie) Labyrinth by Jim Henson
Jareth is master of all he surveys; not only that he is master of what cannot be seen in his kingdom. All the forces of nature, time, space, distance, gravity, they all belong to him. And yet he is not happy, not content with his life. He is trapped in an ennui-based hell of his own making, and always seeks to escape for the wrong reasons, by the wrong means. Thus he is always doomed to failure.
Raistlin (books) Dragonlance by assorted authors
Raistlin, as is the quintessential quality of the Sorcerer, has made his own bed and is lying in it bleeding from the bed-nails. He has spurned everything: his beloved, his brother, his sanity... all for power. An extreme but by no means unique case, his body has become a warning for all who encounter him as to what kind of self-twisted soul lies therein.
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Outwardly the Star is carefree, charismatic and fun-loving. He enjoys a good time and prefers that everyone genuinely enjoy it with him. Thus he is actually great fun to be around; his happiness is infectious and his energy seems to have no limits. He is a consumate performer, an ardent lover, and a loyal friend.
All too often, however, he will get caught up in the persona and the show and forget that he must also be a real person. The Star is prone to becoming more sparkle than substance, and through that process he burns out quickly or collapses in on himself when challanged to be substance rather than sparkle. He must guard against this with ties and a grounding influence in his life.
CANON: Shine. Sparkle. Joy. Share. Energy. Enthusiasm. Life. Glamour. Spirit.
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Peter Pan (book) Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
Peter Pan suffers from the tragic flaw of the Star; he loves his life the way it is, perfect and exciting and full of wonderous things, but lacking in most sorts of substance that we (adults) associate with fulfillment. In the book, Peter Pan never grows up, never achieves a stable balance between the sparkling energy and the quieter sides of life.
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The Twins are brothers, lovers, doppelganger enemies. The twins are equal forces that oppose or ally, although most often they appear as comrades at arms. The fair-haired one is carefree, light-hearted, spontaneous and bouncy. The dark-haired one is quiet and contemplative.
The Twins flank their third, empty space in the middle awaiting his or her presence. If they are opposing forces the middle Arcana represents that over which they conflict; if they are allied the middle Arcana represents that which they protect. In either case the bonds that tie the light and dark twins together are strong, perhaps even stronger than their bond to the rest of the Arcana.
CANON: Doppelganger. Balance. Equal. Share. Love. Black/White.
ITERATION:
Bartleby and Loki (movie) Dogma by Kevin Smith
Oldest of friends, their roles reverse time and time again throughout the film and they still complement each other perfectly. They walk side by side, reinforce each other, and in the end they destroy each other.
Demetrius and Lysander (book) A Midsummer Night's Dream by Will Shakespeare
Shakespeare is fond of the Twins, for whatever reason. Demetrius and Lysander are a prime example. Equal and opposites, rivals and best friends, all within the course of one slim volume of a play. They intertwine seamlessly, in and out of each other's lives.
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The Tragedienne is a woman fallen, not from grace but from any chance of happiness. Due to any number of causes her life has become a vale of tears in such a way that it perpetuates itself. Death would be too easy for her friends and family; she and everyone she is close to live in constant pain.
She bears her hopeless state with good cheer but she is not entirely sane. The tragedienne has most often reached the point where circumstances has piled onto circumstance so much that even the most minor incident seems trivial. She has lost perspective, nothing grieves her any more because everything does. She does not achieve a happy ending.
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The Warrior is a hard-won title, her existance a struggle against the opponants life throws at her. All too often she learns her skills for survival first and her profession second. She is a consummate fighter, proficient with many weapons and highly trained in a few. She takes what role is necessary in battle, and can follow as well as lead.
Although she knows the necessity of conflict and war, she prefers the plow to the sword, and indeed that life-loving quality is what makes her a good soldier. She knows the value of what she is fighting for and her reasons are clear in her mind. She enjoys her life as it comes, and does what she must to ensure that others enjoy theirs as well.
CANON: Strength. Energy. Enthusiasm. Life. Fight. Persevere. Honor. Pragmatic. Tactics. Lead. Charge. Defend. Spirit. Safety. Assurance. Trust.
ITERATION:
Sorsha (movie) Willow by Ron Howard
Sorsha knows fighting, lives it, and she is very good at it. According to the book's version she was taught to fight and to lead by her father. In either case, she is a much better and more loved leader than her opposite number, General Kael. The fact that she sees her priorities straightened and returns to fight for what she believes in, rather than at her mother's command, is proof of that.
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The Witch, sometimes called the Wise Woman, is relatively quiet and calm. She bears the antics of others with a good humor but for the most part does not participate. She is a watcher, though she feels the seasons changing in her blood she knows that she need not help them turn, rather it is they who help her to turn. Her power comes from within; it is a power that comes through knowledge, hope, and faith.
The witch is healer, mother, lover and teacher all in one. She serves what function is needed of her, watching and changing with grace as the circumstances change. For the witch life is a great wheel, and she is always willing to wait for it to turn.
CANON: Hope. Grace. Trust. Calm. Mother. Touch. Love. Smile. Light. Laughter. Zephyr. Heal. Wise.
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Juniper (book) Wise Child by Monica Furlong
Juniper teaches Wise Child, the title character of her book, how to become a doran. The way of the doran is the way of knowing 'how things are,' and in that nebulous phrase is contained one of the essential forms of a Witch's power. Not through pacts or internal energies, but simply the knowledge. The ability to listen and collect information, the secret of paying attention to everything in life as it is all of equal importance. That is what Juniper teaches, and a great part of the essence of a Witch.
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