Spellbinder Character Development Spotlight
This is less going to be a character development post for Spellbinder but an analysis into her character, both meta and not. Personality, physical form, how she fits into the team, and so on. I don’t have much else to introduce with so let’s get started diving into her being.
Gender
Well, first off, she wasn’t originally a she according to an old character profile. I’m not sure how accurate that is, given that I didn’t use pronouns that often in my ancient writings, I just referred to the characters by name. It’s possible that Spellbinder was always a she and that I messed up her pronouns in that profile. It’s also possible that I changed her gender super early on (maybe to have a female character?) or…I don’t know.
I don’t really remember Spellbinder as being a he, really, she’s always been a she to me. Balon I remember being a man and Dien was…more neutral. But memories fade. So take that what you will.
But, in the end, Spellbinder uses the she/her pronouns through and through and that is what she is.
Visually Striking Vacore
Like the rest of the characters, her general appearance hasn’t changed much.
And her appearance is admittedly…out there. Yet so iconic! She was a visual mascot for me when I was young. If Cyclone was like my writing mascot, Spellbinder was like the visual icon/thing that I could do to express my characters or world or even just artistic sensibilities. I could draw her, just her, effectively. So I drew her randomly and sometimes as a sort of motivational poster (see below for example). I remember thinking, as a kid, that my Spellbinder art would be super valuable one day, or something. I had that passing thought, not super serious, though.
Like King, her body is rooted in everything’s origins as LEGO. I think part of her was built by my sister or was from something my sister had built. I made modifications (what percent I do not know) to it and thus Spellbinder as a LEGO model was born.
I want to call out her bright red square feet. They are totally for stability. If she did not have them, her LEGO model could not stand. So, although, maybe in-verse, they need not exist, they exist because…that’s what she looks, and she looks like that because her LEGO had to be like that. Her LEGO form has had some updates over time to increase with stability and smooth it over, though, but it doesn’t change her look at all.
So her Vacore is visually striking, but also, admittedly too, kind of clunky. She knows it and kind of resents it, but it’s iconic. She grows to embrace it in full.
Backstory
I don’t know if this counts as a spoiler, really, or is just telegraphing my opinion on the matter:
I do not have a clear root ‘origin’ story for Spellbinder. (Side note: Neither do I, exactly, for Cyclone, but his has some more vague details to it).
When I played with LEGO and made stories via it, I did sort of play act through Spellbinder’s ‘origin’, or like, her discovering her roots, but it never really sat with me and it’s not canonical.
I’d say I’d never write a concrete backstory / origin / making of Spellbinder (I mean, who made her, how she came about, that type of thing), but never say never. But that sentiment is accurate and has been accurate for me for a long time. Don’t expect some crazy explanation of who made her or why or how she can do magic. It’s not important to me…or her.
But, let’s just quote Of Fractured Edges to basically sum up my opinions:
“Spellbinder,” Qua’wva said her name and it was like a rush of familiarity. “Being Eyierak incarnate granted her a Kharat.” Her friend’s name sounded the same to her as it did to him. “A special and pure thing that helps her give her magic; helps, I say, because the magic is part of her being and her being is not merely Eyierak incarnate. The thirst and envy for completeness and attainment of that false belief drove her to madness, and the strength of her convictions from and of her comrades brought her back to sanity. She may not have a Kharat like others, but she does not need it. She finds the strength to overcome such doubts through the affirmation of herself and from the support of her friends.”
She doesn’t need like a complete explanation, a complete…well, anything. She willpowers through it. Yes, maybe, some of her backstory, does matter…does she need it? Nope.
Personality
Willpower, or let us say passion, is a big part of Spellbinder’s personality. She’s driven and passionate about her ideals, her dreams, swept away by them, and once driven mad by them. She sometimes lets ideals/her imagined way of things, get the better of her. All of them grow beyond their flaws, but in a way, it’s also Spellbinder’s strengths. She has a passion for the big picture…which can become problematic.
I mean, that is what led her to bringing them all together without any real preamble (though, there is one allusion to her by Nefertiti in the first chapter). But part of it is also self-serving. Spellbinder’s tension is usually like reality not meeting the expectation that she has been so individually passionate about it. In Amethyst Shards (no spoilers), I think she sort of smooths over a lot in a test of this.
Passion isn’t a unique trait in the party, and Spellbinder does have personality characteristic overlap with both Cyclone and to a degree Balon but she is still distinct from them (as they are from ehr). I think the best way to call out Spellbinder from the others is that Spellbinder kind of holds herself differently about it all. Cyclone, like Spellbinder, is very unique based on his circumstances, but doesn’t, hmm, necessarily feel a sense of predestination over it. Balon kind of hates it (during parts of her arcs). Spellbinder…wants it and wants to fulfill it. Her passion is her locus rather than like an accessory. Passion is a central fixture to her being, for better and worse.
Her passion is what kind of keeps the train going. She’s the glue and framework. Stuck them together initially and is keeping them together. This is my current musings, though, so I might develop my opinion differently in time.
Maybe another way of putting it is that she’s also like King, maybe too uptight at first, and then has to like…break into reality, but also learn how to mold it properly.
She is a mage, after all.
Mage
Spellbinder is the mage. She’s the only robot mage, and that quality is also a critical part of her value to the team. No one else in the Trinity and the One uses magic. But her toolkit is limited. If you were in an RPG or something, I feel like you could say Spellbinder specialized heavily into magic and history knowledge, but didn’t branch out beyond that.
Which is fine since she carries the entire team in this regard. With magic, she provides:
- Teleportation
- Pocket dimensions
- Fighting capabilities
- Random problem solving via magic
Utility! So much utility that cannot be enumerated in full. She does so much. Is it all magically rooted? Pretty much. It’s an essential part of her. She goes all the way with it and she doesn’t need anything else.
Closing Thoughts
There was a time where I thought, if my works ever turned into a movie or show or something, that I would voice Spellbinder. That I could do Spellbinder. All the characters are like me in various ways, but Spellbinder felt like one that I’d be able to be as. I don’t know if that’s true anymore, but I thought I’d share it.
But anyway:
Spellbinder’s notable qualities are maybe more limited than the other characters, but that’s fine. She goes deep instead of wide with her qualities. Magical expertise all the way, passion burning hot within her, and so on. She doesn’t need a complex backstory or web of philosophical musings. She just needs herself and what she has. That’s all.
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