Superfish Discussions

REFERENCE POSTS

Witches: Known Information

DISCUSSION POSTS

What makes Superfish a "defect" in witch society?

What's happening with the witch's core inside of DJ?

Investigating the Sources of Magic in Obscaria (and the Etymology of Superfish's Name)

INBOX RESPONSES

The Metaphysics of Enchanted Objects

How long has Superfish been in the human world?

Who is the more interesting character, DJ or Superfish?

ART

We have seen the following,

He seems fairly situated in the human world, owning a mobile residence that he can access through a magical portal.

He has a fair amount of knowledge of human technology—owning a vespa, a record player, and even a telephone. He makes his own meals using fresh ingredients, takes lengthy showers, and overall is competent in various human customs. He has also gathered a sizeable collection of artifacts and items.

Toppleprey, the red-eyed witch, has been trying to kill him for a "while."

He was working as a junior officer at some point, with Toppleprey present as an authority figure in some capacity.

When discussing potion-making in the first few episodes of the comic, he mentioned that he hadn't made a potion in a "while."

In conclusion,

He most likely graduated witch school at 16, then joined the ranks of witches and served in their system for a few months.

However, he was found lacking in some way, and did not fulfill the terms that were bestowed upon him.

He escaped Obscaria sometime after. It was either always his plan to do so, or something he decided upon after the events that led to him becoming a target for Toppleprey.

He has been on the run since, and has spent enough time in the human world to know a significant amount about at least its physical reality.

We know the following so far,

All witches have cores that are located inside their bodies and are the sources of their magical energy and supernatural abilities.

Witches also make use of a variety of enchanted objects, of which we have seen the following two so far: Superfish's magical portal, and Toppleprey's cane.

Some things native to Obscaria tend to "leak into" the human world. E.g. thera-beetles.

Which raises the following questions,

If witches are only one of the many species of Obscaria that have supernatural abilities, there presumably are more forms of magic than just the version witches utilize. In which case, where do these forms of magic source magical energy from?

As witch cores have been likened to parasites in their behavior and pathology, were they ever independent forms of "life" that were later incorporated into witches?

Was Obscaria as a world seeded with something during its creation, which in turn is the true source of the magic that is woven through the biology of their natives?

pegl0 has specified that there are three reasons for why Superfish is "named" as such,

As a humorous nod to how formal and stiff names commonly sound in contemporary fantasy as a genre.

A direct result of how names in Obscarian languages do not translate well into human ones, especially given they function more as titles than names.

A secret third reason that will only be revealed later in the comic.

When it comes to Superfish's "name", we have the following information,

His name means "Superior One" in his native witch language.

His witch core is translating his name into English using approximations, suggesting that his true name may be an amalgam of "a word for powerful" and "the name of a species found in Obscaria that may be considered analogous to fish in the human world."

Toppleprey, the red-eyed witch hunting Superfish down, has given us some insight into Obscaria and witches,

Through Toppleprey's ability to transform into a rat, we were made aware that witches are capable of transforming into at least one animal form.

He is 800 years old, and was also present in Superfish's flashback during a nightmare, likely acting as an authority figure.

He has stressed upon the importance of the binding nature of magical contracts (shown in his rendezvous with the werewolf assassin).

Hence, we can speculate as follows,

Perhaps, Superfish's greater magical potency may also be a result of him having a secondary source of magical power. If there are divine beings in Obscaria that are so few in number they may as well be stuff of legend, it's possible he may have had an encounter with such a being as a child, and hence absorbed some of their power. Or been blessed by them.

He may also be capable of transforming into a "fish-like" Obscarian species, hence giving him his "name."

He may instead have pledged allegiance to an order of witches in Obscaria who have said "fish-like" species as a symbol, in which case his defection may have marked him for termination.

In his explanation of how witch cores translate languages, pegl0 has explained that many older witches have the ability to understand other Obscarian languages even independent of their witch cores. This is due to them "picking up" on these languages over time, likely due to prolonged contact. With the knowledge that potion-making is important enough an activity for witches given the literature available, this suggests that,

Obscaria has likely had a bustling trade since the beginning—magical ingredients at least were in plenty in the past. Given the nature of witches, many may have been used to extinction or otherwise destroyed.

Even the varying sources of magic currently present in Obscaria may be heavily controlled and monitored, with witches functioning as the regime that dictates their trade.

It seems highly unlikely that pegl0 will take the traditional route of having DJ develop the ability to use magic exactly the way an average witch does; he has specified multiple times that DJ cannot perform magic the way a witch can. While this could also be to throw the readers off momentarily, I believe he has different plans for DJ.

We know that,

DJ is set to become physically stronger over the course of the series, and will also become a better fighter with experience.

Witch cores are parasitic in nature, and each core is unique to each witch.

We can speculate on the following,

At the very least, the witch's core is going to be something that allows for DJ's increased physical abilities, especially since he is presumably going to be fighting other magical beings.

Does a witch's core being unique to each witch mean that another witch would not be able to use it to its full abilities? Or is that irrelevant?

Superfish is the strongest witch alive. Given that a witch's core is the source of all their abilities, his core likely exhibits an anomalous strength that could potentially have unintended consequences. Could DJ's nightmare have been the core's response to Superfish's proximity? With Superfish acting almost as a sink for magical energy to be siphoned off to.

Given the nature of the story, we can be almost certain of the following,

Taking the following facts into account,

Superfish has stated many times that he is the most powerful witch alive, a fact that the creator has confirmed as being accurate. It's not mere bragadocio.

He has also specified that a spell involving the removal of a witch's core has never been performed in history.

It was right he performed this spell that Toppleprey, the red-eyed witch, called him a "dirty defect."

Witch society is highly militaristic and hierarchical, likely also lacking any family units analogous to the ones humans have.

Even witch names function more as titles.

Superfish has no qualms wiping people's memories, enchanting them, killing them if they wish to hurt him, etc. However, he was visibly concerned for DJ's health since the beginning of the events of the series.

He routinely refers to witches as something separate from himself, describing their behaviors in third person.

We can draw the following conclusions,

If Superfish is the first person in known history to perform a spell that can extract a witch's core, his levels of magical power are unbelievably high.

Superfish, being all of 19 years of age and yet so powerful, is definitely something that would not fly in a strictly hierarchical witch society where age is a defining factor in how powerful you are.

Superfish is much less likely than other witches to see killing as the only option in every situation. He isn't as species-ist as they are, having never absorbed their doctrines due to the alienation he faced growing up.

Thus,

There is something about the nature of Superfish's unbelievably high magical power that makes him a "defect" in the eyes of witch society.

The alienation he experienced within it has caused him to see himself as something separate from them, since he never fully absorbed their modes of operation or way or life.

While the above means he sports a "more" apparently moral outlook toward other life than most witches do, it is NOT the reason for why he is considered a "defect."

Based on the above, there are some more points of note we can speculate on,

What could a society that seeks to maintain a very strict order hate more than someone who presents the greatest threat to it? Perhaps, Superfish's magic even allows him to render the magic of other witches dysfunctional in some way. We already have seen him replicate the same on a very broad level with his core-removal spell.

Perhaps, he has always been able to carry out minor versions of the same thing? Making witches incapable of using magic for some short duration. Or, he may instead sport a degree of invulnerability to magic cast upon him that witches do not normally have.

Toppleprey called him a "defect" right after he was rendered powerless against him, somewhat implying that something like this has happened before, even if to a much lesser degree. There is likely some precedent to Superfish being able to render magic used against him useless.

ORIGINS

Witches are NOT a divergent branch of human evolution and have existed independently since the beginning.

BIOLOGY

A. WITCH CORES

While the core can be transferred into inanimate objects, it always prefers a living host. Once it transfers into a living host, it attaches itself and doesn't simply move into another living host on its own. A witch cannot have more than one core, and if a witch already has a core and touches an inanimate object containing another witch's core, the existing core would block the new one. The core is practically like a parasite.

KNOWN ABILITIES

A. PHYSICAL

longevity [Toppleprey, the red-eyed witch hunting Superfish down, is 800 years old; they stop aging at 30],

speed,

enhanced reflexes and agility,

superior strength,

perfect immunity,

transformation [they don’t seem to be capable of switching between sexes, however],

levitation and flight.

B. COGNITIVE/SPELL-BASED

instantaneous language translation [They hear the original language as it is spoken to them, but the words are translated in their minds in real time. When they are speaking another language, their core is translating in real-time such that the spoken words come out in a language intelligible to the person they are speaking to. The process is adaptive; witch cores filter words into whatever language the other person is speaking at that moment, not whatever language they are the most fluent in. Older witches, however, usually have picked up on some languages enough to understand them independent of their core’s translation abilities.]

enchantment,

memory wiping.

potion-making.

CULTURE

A. NAMES

Witch names function more as titles, explaining why their names translate so oddly into non-Obscarian languages.

B. TEMPERAMENT

They generally despise all other species, but humans especially so. Witches graduate school at the age of 16, enjoy inflicting torture on others, and altogether belong to a very cutthroat and violent militaristic regime. They only ever wear formal clothing.

C. OTHER NOTES

Dhananjay "DJ" Arora, being the protagonist and primary narrator, is the character whose life we inhibit in the comic. In the very first arc of the comic (that revolves around introducing us to the characters and the world they live in), we quickly learn the following:

1. He feels very responsible and protective towards the people he cares for.

2. This can sometimes be to his own detriment, as he is very averse to being a burden or relying on anyone else. Not out of a need for perfect autonomy but from a desire to avoid selfishly causing others any inconvenience.

3. He is careful and quick on his feet; even when he is intimidated in dangerous situations, he doesn't freeze. He instead does what needs to he done.

4. He lives his life simply and practically—finishes chores, cooks for his brother and himself, studies as required, and spends time with his friends.

5. But, in all this, it is quickly revealed that he has been keeping himself at a distance from these very friends. His life is defined by structure, but it lacks a free spontaneity. He hasn't come out to his friends in fear of their reactions, and this has caused him to implicitly other himself in their presence.

Meanwhile, Superfish is a character that's meant to embody a concept—the picture of a powerful witch who grew up alienated in a strictly militaristic and hierarchical society. What does it mean to be raised in an environment such as this? What is it like to be a witch in this world in the first place?

1. He is our gateway to Obscaria—the guide to understanding a complex new world and its rules. In general, he represents the newness DJ needs in the narrow life he has crafted for himself.

2. Hints of his life's experiences lie in offhand comments, half-shown memories, and the background of his current life. Generally, he is the antithesis of a character like DJ. He thrives in luxury, possessing ornate furniture, expensive fragrances, fresh ingredients to cook himself decadent meals, etc.

3. Decadence is central to his character. He loves delicious food, drives a Vespa just for the aesthetic, has cultivated for himself a striking appearance, and he enjoys keeping someone like DJ on his toes.

Characters like Superfish do not simply exist as people. They exist to embody specific ideas and concepts for both the reader and the protagonist of the story themself. That's why he is a perfect contrast to DJ in nearly every way, and becomes personified through him. As the story progresses, they go through two opposing transitions:

1. DJ goes from being just a person to someone who himself can embody something greater—what does it mean to offer yourself up again and again in the face of the unknown because you know it is the right thing to do? Of all the possibilities, knowing Superfish is easily the one that will introduce the most complexity to his life, and not always in a good way. But, that's what he is to Superfish—a representation of all the ideals that are antithetical to what witches generally believe.