The Wotch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Wotch | |
|---|---|
 Anne Onymous, The Wotch (Image Drawn by Anne Onymous and Robin Ericson) |
|
| Author(s) | Anne Onymous and Robin Ericson |
| Website | http://www.thewotch.com/ |
| Current status | Updating every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday |
| Launch date | November 21, 2002 [1] |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy |
The Wotch is a webcomic by "Anne Onymous" and "Robin Ericson". The first daily page appeared on November 21, 2002. The comic has a simple cartoon style. Its plots are clearly influenced by manga, particularly Ranma ½ by Rumiko Takahashi, while the mixture of humour and drama is reminiscent of Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which is occasionally referenced explicitly) and Jeff Smith's Bone. The comic is season-based, with about 9 issues a season. It has recently started its third season.
The Wotch updates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays but has experienced several delays due to outside events. In particular, it went on hiatus from about November 10, 2004, but returned to its normal schedule on January 5, 2005 following a successful donation drive. Donation income has since supported Anne Onymous. On December 29, 2006 the strip was placed on a second significant hiatus caused by real-life personal issues afflicting the author. The comic maintained regular updates during the hiatus by posting comics authored and illustrated by numerous guests. Regular story comics restarted on February 28, with Anne Onymous once again doing the writing and drawing.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Two high school students, Robin Ericson and Jason Grey, are curious about Anne Onymous, the new girl at school. Jason is particularly smitten with her because of his fetish for redheads. What's more, Anne seems to have magic powers. Jason thinks she must be a witch, but when he confronts her she tells them she is actually a Wotch. It all began one day while walking in the woods near band camp, she found a box containing a magic flute and was told by a mysterious voice that the flute had given her the magicks of the Wotch - which she must use wisely.
In any event, her powers have a tendency to go wrong, causing endless chaos for her friends and classmates. Unknown to her, in another dimension the Dark Lord Melleck Xaos (pronounced kay-ahs) and his henchmen are plotting to exploit the powers of the Wotch in order to rule the world. Xaos's efforts usually cause Anne's spells to misfire with even more catastrophic results, resulting in strange transformations (Jason frequently finds himself transformed into a girl, which he doesn't mind so much as long as he/she has red hair!), and the appearance of mythical creatures on the school campus.
Meanwhile, the editor of the school newspaper, Ivan Bezdomny (the name of a character from Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita), is determined to find something interesting to put in the paper, which means that Anne and her friends have to try and prevent him from finding any evidence of her powers while at the same time trying to put right the latest disaster.
Anne lives with her older brother. She frequently transforms him into a little girl at his request, because he finds having the simple mind of a small child to be relaxing.
[edit] Characters
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
[edit] The Main Three
- Anne Onymous – Anne Onymous was a completely normal high school girl until she found a magical flute at Band Camp. As she held it in her hand, she was told that she was the latest in the Wotch line. Still learning, her lack of experience has been the cause of many crazy events in Tandy Gardens. At first, she tried to hide her secret from everyone except her older brother/younger sister, until Jason Grey, initially obsessed with redhead Anne, inadvertently saw her float a pencil to her hand while stalking her. Since then, she's let her secret be known to Jason, Robin Ericson, Angelique the Defective Djinn, Milo Happerbasket, Katie McBride, Samantha Wolf, Ally Taverner, Ally's boyfriend Joe, Mingmei Wu, Irene Lew and James Thompson. She seems to have a crush on the adult version of Link from the Zelda series. She is usually portrayed wearing a pink t-shirt and a purple skirt.
- Robin Ericson – Robin is close friends with both Anne and Jason. He originally considered Anne to be just a friend; however, he has developed a crush on her (which she seems to neither notice nor return). Robin has no extraordinary abilities whatsoever, and all three times he tried to use magic, the attempts failed miserably. Shamed by the fact that he could neither help nor protect Anne, Robin has recently taken up martial arts. He often serves as the voice of reason when Anne is flustered by her latest magical mishap, or when Jason is simply being himself. Robin has a younger brother named Kirk, who calls himself by the name "Kirkashi". Robin usually wears a black t-shirt with a knight's helmet on it.
- Jason Grey – Jason's entire life revolves around three things: reading comic books, making sarcastic remarks, and redheads. Jason is the third member of the trio, and maintains a high level of stoicism, commenting only once in a while, usually still while reading his comics. He remains perfectly calm in even the most dire of situations, such as being the only one to notice that one of their friends had just transformed into a bloodthirsty werecat. In fact, it seems as though the only times when he isn't completely taciturn and laconic is when A): a new comic/movie has just come out, or B): his redhead sense starts tingling. Jason is obsessed with redheads, completely ignoring the existence of girls of any other hair color. In fact, the only non-redhead he has ever been attracted to was, quite ironically, the love of his life, a Djinn named Angelique, who is currently in the Djinn dimension. Anne has a habit of transforming Jason into a redheaded girl. He was originally incredibly annoyed by this, but is no longer bothered by this (unless he is not transformed into a redhead). He has named his alternate form Sonja. (S)he recently went out on a date with a boy named Larry in order to get him to stop constantly calling him after seeing 'her', and being smitten. The date ended with Larry kissing 'her', leaving Jason in a state of shock. He seemed to be doing better afterward, but whenever he sees Larry, he screams and runs off in a panic. Jason's usual attire is a grey t-shirt with the letters "CMX" (short for comics) in a yellow blurb.
[edit] Important Others
- Cassie Sinclair – Cassie is a fairly normal High School girl, if one ignores the fact that she is a Goth. She is known among her friends as the "resident witch", although her powers were initially quite weak. They have multiplied since then, although it is not known whether she gained this much power or mastery over it by her studying and training or by an outside force. Her main method of using magic is by wielding raw power, seemingly powered by strong emotions, or invoking deities, and she only seldom casts spells like Anne's. Cassie has become Anne's rival due to jealousy of Anne's powers and Anne hanging around so much with Robin (on whom she has a crush), but, when confronted with two demonesses who wanted to kill Anne, she chose to fight rather than reveal Anne's location to them, even though her own life was in danger. After Robin confessed that his date with her was based on a dare, she started to invoke Nemesis to take revenge on him, but didn't complete the curse, because she couldn't bring herself to kill Robin, though she does seem to be planning to blow up his face in chemistry class.
- Samantha Wolf – Samantha "Wolfie" Wolf. The only female wrestler on the Tandy Gardens team. When she first decided to join the team, she was picked on by the TG football jocks, until Anne's Personified Feminine Pride turned them into female cheerleaders, who encouraged Wolfie to join the team. At first, the boys would try to take advantage of her on the mat (by touching her in inappropriate places), but that would only compel her to beat them down harder. She soon became known as one of the best wrestlers in Tandy High. She and many of her ancestors were werewolves. These ancestors used a magical heirloom amulet, to keep their human consciousness even during the three nights a month that they transformed. Somehow, both the lycanthropy curse and the power of the amulet combined in the Wolf bloodline, meaning that Samantha does not need the amulet when she transforms. Because of this, she has given it to her best friend, Katie McBride, so that she can keep her mind as a werecat. Both Wolfie and Katie have discovered Anne's secret and are respectfully keeping it. It is believed that Wolfie is a Weezer fan, and usually wears a yellow t-shirt with Weezer's logo.
- Katie McBride – Katie McBride is Wolfie's best friend in the world. She and Wolfie do pretty much everything together. After she discovered that Wolfie was a Werewolf, she stood by her all the way. Shortly after the Mythos Virus incident, Katie was bitten by a demonic cat and transformed into a Werecat. She went on a rampage through Tandy until Anne managed to get the Wolf Family Amulet around her neck, bringing her human consciousness back even in werecat form. Since that day, Katie and Wolfie have known Anne's secret. Katie has a crush on Legolas from The Lord of the Rings movies. She also seems to have a bit of a problem with Jason, mainly because of his redhead obsession. However, it could be more than that, as they have revealed that the two have some sort of history from last time they were alone together. They have sworn not to speak of it and nobody (including the readers) knows what it is. Katie is rather proud of her Irish heritage, and dresses accordingly.
- Evan Onymous – Evan Onymous is a 21-year-old computer technician and Anne's older brother. He is more commonly known as "E" by his friends and family, as emphasized by the large letter "E" on his shirt. He was most probably the first to learn that Anne was the Wotch, and has kept her secret well. After discovering an Amulet that returns a person to a younger age, E often asks Anne to make him younger so that he can relax after a hard day of work. The spell has an odd side effect of transforming him into a girl in the process, an effect which, as E said, he can live with.
- Lilly Onymous – Lilly (a play on "Li'l E") is Evan's 4-year old alter ego that he uses to relax after work. Although they share the same body and are fully aware of the other person within them, they are distinctly different people. Lilly once ruined all of Evan's Star Wars figurines because they weren't cute enough, and was the indirect cause of Anne being temporarily being turned into a cat person. While Evan has a large "E" on his shirt, Lilly has a small "e" on her dress. She is best friends with the young girl across the street, Jennie Flint, and has recently befriended Robin's younger brother, Kirk. When Lilly is transformed into an adult woman, she is called Missy (a play on "Miss E"). Missy wears a full length skirt and a red shirt with a sort of combination of a cursive "e" and a cursive "l". Recently, the Youth Amulet which Evan used to become Lilly was destroyed. However, Anne is now confident that she can turn Evan into Lilly without it.
- Ivan Bezdomny – Ivan is the editor-in-chief of the Tandy Gardens High School Newspaper. He's a casual acquaintance of Anne, Robin, and Jason, and is constantly searching for the cause of all the strange happenings in Tandy, often coming very close to discovering the truth, but never actually making it, which, unfortunately, might change soon, as he has realized that Anne, Robin, and Jason have all been on the scene of most paranormal events he's witnessed. Ivan also has a small team of paranormal investigators, current members being Scott Winters, his girlfriend Julie, and Jason Grey (who is there for the sole purpose of sabotaging their progress). He has mentioned that he has a cousin in Moperville, the main setting of El Goonish Shive, but this was just a nod to EGS, as there is no connection between the two comics.
- Mingmei Wu/Professor Sorgaz – Professor Sorgaz, transformed into a stereotypical Japanese schoolgirl in body by Anne's Personified Anger, then in mind by Anne's Personified Joy, originally had no memory of her past life. However, Miranda West (a.k.a. The Mysterious Cloaked Figure) cast a spell on her so that her memory would eventually return. When it finally did return, Ming and Sorgaz - then two minds in the same body - agreed to become an amalgamation. Ming got to live on, and Prof. Sorgaz got to recapture the youth that he squandered. Ming found a way to explain Prof. Sorgaz's disappearance to Ivan Bezdomny, and then quit Ivan's band of investigators.
- The Cheer! Squad – Alexandra King, Samantha Smith, Cher Lita Harper, and Joanna Star are seemingly the only four cheerleaders in all of TG High. They were originally four Football Jocks/Bullies named Aaron King, Gene Smith, Sunny Leo Harper, and Colin Star, who were transformed into Cheerleaders by Anne's Personified Feminine Pride when they were picking on Wolfie. Joanna is the only one who remembers their past lives, though Alex recently had a dream about her life as Aaron. The four star in their own Comic: Cheer!
- Allison Taverner – Allison Taverner (Or "Ally" to her friends) is the owner and only employee of her family's old business, a convenience store called Taverner's Market. The store was built on the exact location of a nexus to another dimension called otherSpace, where humans do not exist. When a human enters otherSpace, their form is altered into a creature that, in this dimension, would be considered a mythological creature. Ally, who practically lived at the store, was in close contact with the nexus for most of her life. Because of this, her genetic makeup was altered ever so slightly by the otherSpace nexus. When the Mythos Virus spread through Tandy, and Ally was infected, instead of turning into a mythological creature of our dimension, she was turned into a mythological creature of otherSpace; a human. After Anne spread the Mythos antidote through the town, Ally was reversed to what those of otherSpace would be considered normal; a Centaur. Although she was originally horrified by the change, she has grown used to it, and does not want to be changed back at all. Shortly after her change, Miranda West cast a spell on her so that no one except for the Wotch would notice the fact that she was a Centaur unless someone pointed it out. She currently runs the shop, hoping her boyfriend will grow to accept her change.
- Miranda West, The Mysterious Cloaked Figure – Ever since the first "Wotch" Storyline, "Enter the Wotch", Miranda West, previously known as the Mysterious Cloaked Figure, has been in existence. Although she was originally described an ethereal voice who told Anne of her destiny when she first picked up the Magic Flute, it has been confirmed that Miranda actually confronted Anne when the Flute was discovered. Miranda has a pet Phoenix whom she named Arizona, who also seems to act as West's conscience at times. Miranda and Ari have been traveling around Tandy, trying to help people who have accidentally gotten in between Anne and her miscast Wotchcraft spells. On October 31, 2005, at the end of the storyline "Consequences", Miranda revealed herself to Anne as the previous Wotch. She is very strict and uptight, sometimes being rather mean to Jason and Robin in the process. This attitude, combined with the reign of the Wicked Witch of the West during Miranda's time as the Wotch, gave her the nickname "The Wicked West of the Wotch", which she had hoped died with the Witch, who actually turned out to be alive. She also seems to fantasize about turning Anne, Robin and Jason into salamanders, just to get them to shut up.
- Glock and Ti'el - Glock and Ti'el are both government agents who have come to Tandy and become involved in the lives of the students of Tandy Gardens High School. Glock originally travelled to Tandy after his partner, Ti'el, was kidnapped by D.O.L.L.Y. and he tracked them there, using his special tazer to free brainwashed women of D.O.L.L.Y.'s control along the way. He became aware of Anne's ability to change men into women after listening to D.O.L.L.Y. transmissions and approached her in order to tell her of the groups intentions. Unfortunately Anne was kidnapped by D.O.L.L.Y. shortly after and when he, Jason, and Robin tried to rescue her they were also captured. It was then revealed that Ti'el, who is an extra-terrestrial, was used as the first test-subject for the Transparent Cylinder of Death and Glock himself became the first human test subject. The now female Glock was thought to have been turned into a D.O.L.L.Y. agent but she had managed to avoid the effects of the feminine pride gas and also freed Ti'el of those same effects. Glock had short, dirty-blonde, hair and mustache as man and was said resemble the father of Ted from El Goonish Shive, as woman she has long bright-blonde wavy hair. Ti'el is a purple tentacled humanoid alien with green eyes and green hairlike tentacles. Male Ti'el had a bald head and a tentacle "beard".
[edit] Other characters
- Scott Winters – Scott recently transferred to Tandy from Toronto. He has a tendency to be turned female, and immobilized. He blames this on the cafeteria goulash, thinking that it gives him hallucinations. He and his girlfriend, Julie have recently joined Ivan Bezdomny's band of investigators. He usually wears a t-shirt resembling the Flag of Canada.
- Julie – Julie is Scott's girlfriend. The mysterious Agent 32, who, before the big basketball game, decided to trip people while she was still invisible, seems to have targeted Julie in particular. She and Scott joined Ivan's band of investigators to get to the bottom of the trippings, but Ivan doesn't seem to take it very seriously.
- Irene Lew and James Thompson – Irene and James have been close for a long time, so much that they could be considered an item. Their minds have switched bodies three times so far. The third time has just recently been reversed. After that, James and Irene left Ivan's band of investigators. James is a big Green Lantern fan, usually wearing a green t-shirt with Green Lantern's logo. However, after the last switch, and until it was reversed, "Irene" wore the Green Lantern shirt as a hint to the readers that their minds were still swapped. James is perfectly happy being himself again, but Irene secretly wishes she was still a boy.
- Milo Happerbasket – Milo is the owner of "The Magic Touch", a magic supplies store that most people mistake for a lingerie shop. He is immune to all forms of body-affecting magic, including the Mythos Virus, lycanthropy, and magical healing. Anne is one of his preferred customers.
- Jennie Flint – Jennie is Lilly Onymous' best friend and next-door neighbor. She and Lilly like to play Pretty Princess all the time. Lilly has told Jennie about how she turns into a boy all the time, and they talk about it sometimes; Jennie's mother, Mrs. Flint, has dismissed it as a product of Lilly and Jennie's active imaginations. When Jennie is transformed into an adult woman, she is known as Jen.
- The WereKitty – "WereKitty" is the name commonly used by Wotchers to describe the Demonic Lycanthropy Vector who turned Katie into a Werecat. The WereKitty isn't necessarily evil. As far as most Wotchers can tell, it acts pretty much like a normal cat, right down to the scary, occasionally evil-looking eyes. All that is known about the WereKitty is that it can spread Lycanthropy, and is incredibly cute. Shortly after Anne resolved the "Katie is a Werecat" problem, the cheerleader Cher Lita Harper found the WereKitty on the sidewalk while she was taking out the trash. Taking pity on the poor animal, she took the WereKitty in to her house, where it currently lives. It is unknown whether or not Lita is a Werecat.
- Kirkashi of the Eric-San Clan – Robin's younger brother, Kirk, has recently developed an obsession with ninjas and martial arts. He has changed his name to "Kirkashi of the Eric-San Clan" and has begun to study different martial arts. He considers anything someone tells him to do as a "Mission", and does not rest until he fulfills it. He has earned a yellow belt in his dojo and claims to be able to project fireballs of "Chakra" from his hands. He recently drank a love potion that Cassie Sinclair intended for Robin, and now considers her to be "The One He Must Protect", sending her various letters of love. His fascination with ninja and ninja clans, his claim that he can project chakra into a tangible force, and the unusual markings on his headband are all references to the anime series Naruto. A further clue is Kirk's one-time claim of having "the spirit of a demon fox within." Also, Kirkashi's name and attire are similar to that of the Naruto character Kakashi.
- Max and Xander – Max and Xander are two characters who were based on two people Anne knew from school. Max is short and wears a baseball cap while Xander is tall with spiky hair. Max has yet to say a single word in the comic; Xander, on the other hand, tends to talk far too much. Both of them are desperately searching for a female partner. After Xander drank some Love Potion Cassie intended for Robin (again), he began lusting after the Gothic Witch, which rather surprised Max, as he had just said before drinking the potion that she was the only girl he was not interested in. Nowadays, he dreams of her, and threatens anyone who hurts her feelings by telling them that he'll get Max to mess him up.
- Coach Ratke – Coach Ratke is the P.E teacher at Tandy High. He also teaches another unknown class. He doesn't seem to care much about what his students do and is constantly leaving the class to supposedly take phone calls. He's currently on probation from teaching while the school board evaluates his teaching qualifications...again.
- Ms. Natasha Dahlet – Ms. Dahlet was the substitute taking Ratke's place while he's on probation. She turned out to be actually the commander of the violently feminist D.O.L.L.Y. organization, though she initially hid behind her student, also called Natasha. Glock and Ti'el fought with her and she seemed to escape. However when she returned to gloat over Anne she was turned into an actual dolly by Miranda so she wouldn't get in the way.
[edit] Other Dimensions
- Melleck Xaos – The magically enhanced warrior Xaos conquered large parts of a world in a nearby dimension and crushed most of the Resistance that stood up against him. When he stabs people with his "Sword of Shadows" they turn into the Fallen; mindless, soulless creatures that obey his every wish. Xaos has stopped his war since, and his new plan involves getting the powers of the Wotch from Anne. For his schemes, he uses his right hand man, Kohain Ravime, who is able to travel across dimensions and can go to Tandy. Melleck Xaos himself cannot travel between universes. It has been revealed that Xaos was originally Melleck, the Worlock, who fought on the side of a previous Wotch, and has been trapped in that dimension by an unknown power; his actions and his allies there corrupted him to the point that he became a dark lord in the present.
- Kohain Ravime – Kohain is Xaos' trusted right-hand man. He is ever-loyal to his master and, unlike many minions in other stories, doesn't seem to have any intention to betray or take over. Kohain has enough sense to understand that if he wasn't fit to be ruler, it would be best to be at the ruler's right hand. He sought out the fabled destroyer of the Kalimundi empire, Melleck Xaos and awaked him, pledging everlasting allegiance. However, Kohain will occasionally go outside of his authority and attack the Wotch without Xaos's permission, something Xaos tolerates.
- Yukio-Yukiyo - A bounty hunter team currently under the employ of Melleck Xaos. As a young child, Yukio was known in his village to be a Were, who transformed into a female version of himself three nights out of the month. The girl, known as Yukiyo, was locked up every Were night, even though she was neither wild nor dangerous. The entire town hated, hounded, and scorned both Yukio and Yukiyo for what they were. After a few years, when he grew older, Yukio set out on a journey to learn to overcome the curse. He discovered a way to be able to change at will. Yukio was to hone his mind, and Yukiyo, her body. After they had trained, they found a magical amulet that could triger the change by being turned 180 degrees. They returned home, hoping to be welcomed back for conquering the curse, but they were met by an angry mob, which Yukiyo defeated (It is unknown if she killed them or not). After that, they became a bounty hunter, keeping the fact that they were a Were a rumour to instill fear in others.
- General Tigerclaw – The anthro-tiger sorceress leads a faction of the Resistance against Xaos. She has once been captured by Xaos' forces and was tortured by him and Kohain, but was then allowed to be freed as a means of Xaos gaining a magical artifact. She has crossed Xaos' path again later and lost dear friends, but gained the knowledge of the Wotch being his counterpart, and his plans to add the Wotch powers to his own. Thinking that the Wotch therefore must be Xaos' ally, Tigerclaw has tried to send Resistance members to Tandy to kill the Wotch, but they were stopped by Cassie.
- DeFrain – DeFrain was originally a pirate from the dark dimension of Xaos. He has a magical eye that can see through solid objects and a person's aura. One day, his boss, Commodore Haus, found a ship. Defrain looked into it with his magical eye to see no less than four monks chanting around a single treasure chest. Haus led his crew onto the ship and attacked. This attack broke the monks' concentration and made their presence known to Melleck Xaos. He and Kohain Ravime came to the ship and took out all of Haus' men except for DeFrain, Blackbeak the Penguin, and Haus himself. Xaos took a book of prophecy called the Book of Tolodoth out of the chest and returned to his castle. After that day, Haus, DeFrain, and Blackbeak decided to join the soldiers of the resistance to get rid of Xaos once and for all. DeFrain has a small array of magical powers, including teleportation, and a knack for finding unfindable treasure.
- Commodore Haus - Commodore Haus is one of the members of the resistance. Generally preferring to stay on his ship he helps when he can, generally in releasing his two crew-members, DeFrain and Blackbeak, to go on assignment to accomplish goals for the resistance. Commodore Haus is known for his fighting prowess and the fact that he never has fewer than three blades on his person at any time. Apparently Commodore Haus is also a ladies-man, and seems to be trying to woo one of the demon sisters, Anibelle.
- The Demon Sisters – Drax and Anibelle, the two Demon Sisters, are infamous interdimensional bounty hunters who are currently in the service of the Soldiers of the Resistance. Most people consider them to be completely insane, but they have a reputation for getting the job done. Drax and Anibelle are polar opposites in every way. While Drax is large and prefers to rely on her brute strength, Ani is small and prefers the subtle approach, while using her knowledge of magic & science as well as an array of magical crystals. Drax is constantly picking on Ani for her tiny wings and horns, and Ani is often threatening to cut Drax's off. Somehow, however, they manage to work together well.
- Lord Sykos – Lord Sykos of the South lives in a southern and relatively untouched area of the lands of Xaos and has no allegiance to him. He also happens to be utterly bouncing-off-the-walls insane. He stands on the ceiling, he loses bets with himself, and he once turned one of his servants into a stone statue for overcooking his eggs, then, as an afterthought, asked the rest to fix the eggs exactly like that from then on because they were delicious. Not outright cruel, nor sadistic, Sykos doesn't seem to realize or care why he shouldn't be able to do anything he wants to and can still harm others on impulse. He is one of the only people on his world capable of dimensional travel, and the Resistance has sought him out in order to enlist his aid. His current answer is a resounding "Maybe."
- Myrrh - Myrrh is Lord Sykos' maid. An accident occurred when she was instructed to clean up a gooey mess created when Lord Sykos combined his entire collection of magical reagents in one mixing pot, along with a small amount of ginger, which transformed her into a green, amorphous, Slime girl. It is unknown if the goo transformed Myrrh's body, or if the goo somehow replaced the original Myrrh. Myrrh is a fluidic shapeshifter, able to flow through small spaces such as cracks and holes. Her "at rest" state appears to be an anatomically formless version of a nude woman with a single large tendril of material instead of legs, although she appears to be able to create clothing and tools at will from her own body. She is apparently mute, and appears to have a pleasant smell, perhaps as a result of the ginger used in her formation.
- The Djinn – Originally native to Earth, the entire Djinn race was trapped in another dimension that they could only leave when summoned to fulfill wishes. Most Djinn are hundreds or even thousands of years old, making it appropriate enough that their Arabian Nights-themed culture, as a whole, still simmers with resentment over their "enslavement" to humans when the latter have forgotten the entire issue.
Some 2000 years ago, the powerful Djinn leader Ishtarru created a special cursed bottle, which should ultimately allow them to escape into the human world. His attempt to use it was foiled by the arrival of the Wotch and the Worlock (Melleck Xaos) of that time. In recent times Kohain's meddling led to a chain of events when Amaar, Ishtarru's right-hand genie and Djinn leader, came against Anne and was destroyed. Their society has since radicalized and divided into a conservative faction that supports the historical view of taking the realm that's rightfully theirs, and a progressive one that supports acknowledging their current realm as a new true home and peaceful existence with the humans. The Djinn are in a state of civil war.- Angelique the Defective Djinn – Angelique, or Angie, is the leader of the pro-human "Humaniks" and the only non-redhead that Jason has ever been interested in. When granting wishes, she's benevolent. Angie was summoned by Jason through the Bottle of Ishtarru, causing her to lose control of her powers and grant all wishes heard. The fallout from that earned her the affectionate nickname. After the curse on the bottle was broken, Angie was unable to return to her home. Not knowing how long it would be before her powers were drained from being in the human dimension for too long, she went out to make a life for herself as a normal human being. However, many months later, Jason was kidnapped and taken to the Djinn dimension. Angie, determined to save him, found a way to return to her home. While there, she betrayed her best friend to save Jason.
- Kali – Kali is Angelique's former best friend and leader of the anti-human "Ishtarruits". When granting wishes, she's much more like a vengeance demon in how she gleefully twists them to the extreme. She was assigned to deliver a lamp to Jason so that he could be brought to the Djinn Dimension by the Djinn Boss, Amaar. After Angie, Kali, Anne, and Robin went to the Dimension to save Jason, Kali betrayed Angie and destroyed their friendship. It was this schism that started the Humanik-Ishtarruit war. She recently bombed the Humanik main HQ with the Chicken Bomb.
[edit] Spells, Objects, and Anomalies
- The Bottle of Ishtarru – The Bottle of Ishtarru was once a normal Djinn Bottle, but one day, it was cursed by the Djinni Ishtarru. The curse caused any Djinn to be summoned through the bottle to lose control of their powers, and grant any wish by anyone. During this time, the Djinn is unable to return home. However, after a long enough wait, the Djinn can return home, as in two previous cases, one being in the city of Pompeii, and the other in the city of Atlantis. Neither ended well. There was another addition to this bottle's curse. If a mortal were to cast magic on the bottle, that mortal's blood would be the key to return the Djinn to their original home, Earth, without being bound by the Three-Wishes Law. Fortunately, both attempts failed miserably.
- The Youth Amulet and the Age Amulet – The Youth Amulet was a golden medallion with the power to transform anyone into a young child, reversing their gender in the process. It was created by a mischievous imp (known as "Imp"), who used it to turn a prince into a young girl. If she couldn't turn back into a man by the time she grew up, she would be forced to marry him. The young princess ordered one of her sorcerers to figure out how to change her back. The sorcerer managed to enchant a silver amulet to age the princess. However, he couldn't figure out the gender change aspect of the spell, and the princess was forced to marry Imp 16 years early. Imp has decided that any man de-aged by the amulet, and then remaining female until they grow up, shall be his bride. The amulets constantly seek each other out, and if they come in direct contact, will affect anyone within its vicinity. Miranda West, after an experience as a baby, destroyed the amulets in uncontrollable anger. Evan Onymous, who enjoyed spending time as his younger female self Lilly, was horrified by this. He assumed that this meant he could no longer become Lilly, but Anne reassured him that she no longer needed the amulet to perform this change.
- The Mythos Virus – The Mythos Virus is a magical disease that is highly contagious. It will transform anyone who is not already into a mythical creature, ranging from Centaurs to Minotaurs to Hylians. At first it works slowly, taking a few hours to take effect, but as it spreads, the effects are quicker and quicker. Also, it eventually brings with it the instincts of the creatures, such as a Merperson's urge to swim, or a Minotaur's calling to guard labyrinths and block passages. It usually resides in old spellbooks, being transmitted through the book's dust.
- The Wotch Chronicles – After Anne, Sonja, Robin, and Angie found a great mural all about the Wotch in the Djinn dimension, Anne decided it was time for her to tell Milo Happerbasket about her secret. The second she told him, he gave her the Wotch Chronices, a book full of information about the Wotch line. Unfortunately, there are many pages just completely ripped out. When she mentioned this to Robin and Jason, Jason immediately theorized that someone wanted Anne to know more about the Wotch line, but not everything. After Anne had left the shop with the book, Milo had called an anonymous person informing her that he had given Anne the book. This person was Miranda West, who was trying to give Anne a push in her direction. She later disproved Jason's theory about the missing pages about someone wanting Anne to know only part of the Wotch history. In reality, there was a woman in the early Twentieth Century who was curious about the Wotch line and stole a few pages from the book. She turned up as a statue and was put in a German museum some time later. The pages were never found. This was unfortunate, because not a single page of the Wotch Chronicles can be copied in any way, be it conventional, magical, or even electronic. In addition, the Chronicles will automatically change itself into the primary language of the current Wotch, and will add its own entries.
- The Magic Flute – This one time, at Band Camp, Anne Onymous got lost on a hike. She was making her way back to the campsite, when she found a strange glowing box. Inside was a strange glowing flute. As she held it in her hands, the flute's power gave her the powers of the Wotch. It is explained by Miranda West that the powers of the Wotch line were always passed through musical instruments.
- The Pearl of Da'Cothra and the Pearl of De'Kashra – Not much is known about these two mystical pearls, besides the fact that they contain unknown amounts of magical energy, and can heal the injured. Xaos requires these pearls to combine his powers with the Wotch. Both pearls are currently in the possession of Xaos.
- The Lawsuit Gods – As infinitely powerful as magic is, it still has to obey copyright laws. The Lawsuit Gods exist to make certain that if a copyrighted fictional character should be brought into the real world, it will emerge with various differences so as to remain protected from said copyrights.
- The Sword of Shadows – The Sword of Shadows was originally a normal sword that was in the possession of Melleck Xaos, the Worlock. After he was banished from his dimension, and sealed in another, the Kalimundi Empire found him, and trained him, turning his sword into the Sword of Shadows. Anyone who is stabbed by this sword is turned into one of The Fallen; mindless, soulless creatures who obey Xaos' every command. There is no known cure for becoming a Fallen.
- Ka-Girl – Probably Anne's favorite of all her spells, and her favorite pastime is the one that turn boys into girls. She uses it very often (usually on Jason) and it is usually accompanied by the sound effect "Ka-Girl!" Because of this, it's become commonplace to refer to someone that has been turned into a girl by unconventional means as "Ka-Girled". However, the spell has also been accompanied by other sounds, such as "Transform!" "Ka-Change!" or, in Jason's case, "Sonjafy!". The opposite of Ka-Girl, changing females to males, is called Ka-Guy and is much less frequently performed mostly only in the event of changing a Ka-Girled male back. How any of these effects sound in real life is unknown as of yet.
- Were – Were is the term used in The Wotch for a seemingly ordinary human who changes into another creature three nights every month: The night of the Full Moon, and the two surrounding it. What the change into could be any number of things, ranging from wolf to cat to the opposite gender. Not all weres turn violent and dangerous when they change, but can experience personality changes. The two may be a pair of separate entities who both share the same body and can have conversations with each other within their mind. For example, Yukiyo abhors her "brother's" smoking habit, and also has a different sexual preference than Yukio.
- Sunnydale Syndrome – Most of the normal people in Tandy seem suffer from Sunnydale Syndrome, the anomaly most commonly known from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, causing someone, when they see something confusing or odd, to "Rationalize what they can, and forget what they can't." However, some people don't seem to be quite as affected by it, such as Ivan Bezdomny.
- D.O.L.L.Y. – "D.O.L.L.Y." is a militantly feminist and misandrist organization bent on either the enslavement/elimination of the Y chromosome. It is led by Ms. Dahlet, who is posing as a substitute teacher at the protagonists' school. Their sights have been set at Anne for her ability to reverse the gender of other people, deciding that temporary hypnosis was not a viable solution to their perceived problem. "Daughters Of" has been the only part of D.O.L.L.Y. that has been revealed. No one yet knows what the L.L.Y. stands for.
- Feminine Pride Gas (or Dahlet Perfume) - Is a green gas developed by Ms. Dahlet to enhance any women's sense of Feminine Pride to and aide in the brainwashing of them in order to convince them to join D.O.L.L.Y.'s cause. It can also be used on men and has the effect of making them completely subservient to women and makes them desire to become female themselves. It can be overcome with a special tazer owned by Glock and, apparently, by Ka-Guying any girl effected by it. It also seems to wear-off over time.
- The Transparent Cylinder of Death - or "T.C.D." is a glass cylindrical chamber which is capable of permanently transforming a man into a woman, it also emits the Feminine Pride Gas shortly after turning anyone placed in into a D.O.L.L.Y. member. It has been used on both Ti'el and Glock, however Glock managed to avoid the effects of the gas and has also freed Ti'el of its control using the tazer. Despite being called the Transparent Cylinder of Death it cannot be used to kill anyone and is merely called that to sound more dramatic.
[edit] Spin-offs
[edit] Cheer!
The Wotch: Cheer!, or just Cheer!, is an official spin-off comic started in August 2005 by one named Tselsebar, and updated in four-planel greyscale thrice a week. It follows the slightly absurd life and times of four cheerleaders of Tandy Gardens High, who ubenknownst to themselves started out as football jocks/bullies until they ran afoul of the the Wotch's personified feminist side. The group has decided that it's their mission to get everyone to actually come to the school's sporting events and raise school spirit. The comic is mostly within Wotch canon, but what is and isn't is ultimately decided by Anne Onymous.
[edit] Shades of Grey
The second spin-off comic Shades of Grey, was announced with much fanfare and rumpus. It premiered on April Fool's Day, 2006, and lasted for exactly one strip.
[edit] The Wotch: My Sister, Myself
 |
This article or section contains information about an unreleased video game. It is likely to contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change dramatically as more information becomes available. |
The Wotch: My Sister, Myself is an upcoming canonical Nintendo DS (formerly for the Game Boy Advance) game being developed by multiple members of the the comic's forums, in particular those known as Phantom Inker, Thom Khatt, and Lilly Onymous. Its gameplay is planned to be similar to Secret of Mana and the 2D Legend of Zelda games. All that's known for sure about the plot is that Anne Onymous' sister is kidnapped and her friends vanish as well, so off she goes to rescue them all. The game's engine uses LISP for event scripting and BSP trees for collision detection and pathfinding.
The developers changed platforms citing several factors: GBA development is ramping down as the DS is replacing it, the DS has more RAM and better audio quality, greater storage capacity on the DS game cards and more effects[1].
 MS:MS promotional poster. |
 Screenshot of the early GBA build. This version features enemy AI, and no collision detection. |
 How BSP trees are used. |
[edit] Connections with other webcomics
The Wotch has been shown to take place in the same universe/multiverse of certain other webcomics (known by most fans as "The Wotchiverse").
Most notable would be the crossover storyline with The Accidental Centaurs, which was plotted by Thomas "Thom Khatt" Revor and scripted by Revor, The Wotch author Anne Onymous and Accidental Centaurs author John Lotshaw. Both comics have referenced the encounter since then, and the crossover has had lasting consequences for both of them (Sam's magical powers and Anne's newfound, if limited, knowledge of Xaos). In addition, Lenny (a Djinn from Accidental Centaurs) comes from GenieWorld, a dimension first introduced in The Wotch, and apparently was Angelique's teacher. The ties between the two comics become more intertwined with the start of the "Sunday Specials", a storyline taking place in the GenieWorld dimension and involving characters from both comics and shown on the Wotch website on Sundays.
Another comic, Zebra Girl by Joe England, also appears to have been confirmed. Sandra (the main character of the comic) has made multiple cameos in The Wotch, as well as another character named as Crystal. Anne made a cameo at one point in Zebra Girl on the Magi-Net, which is a sort of magical equivalent of the Internet created by Joe England. Its existence was confirmed in the Wotchiverse when Miranda West mentioned it here.
The comic Triquetra Cats, taking place a few centuries in the future, shows Anne and Xaos in a flashback montage about Magic-Users. There is also a mention about Wolfie and her amulet, though the story has been altered over the years. Wotch merchandise can also be seen being sold at a comic shop in Triquetra Cats.
There have also been cameos by characters from Abstract Gender and Krakow, and Rich Wilkins, a Wotch character from Ekaltsew High School, (and a reference to Buffy antagonist Richard Wilkins III) has made an appearance in Abstract Gender.
Moperville, the town in which the events of El Goonish Shive occur, is mentioned early in the series. El Goonish Shive is another webcomic, similar to the Wotch in its frequent transformation and gender-swapping. The Wotch has never actually been referenced in EGS however.
The webcomic known as Casstoons, made by fans of the DC comics character Cassandra Cain as a protest to her current status is the DC-universe and as a parody of comics in general, also has some minor links to the Wotch. Anne is a fan of the Casstoons and has made some guest comics for it, but the only in-continuity link between the two is a small cameo of Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown as they apear in the Casstoons.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Phantom Inker (2006-09-05). Nintendo DS, A change of plans. Retrieved on October 18, 2006. “We will be developing it for the Nintendo DS, and not for the Nintendo GameBoy Advance.”
