Planeswalker (lore)

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This page is about the beings capable of planeswalking. For the card type, see Planeswalker. For the 1998 novel, see Planeswalker (novel).
"Planeswalker Pantheon" by Brad Rigney.

A planeswalker is a powerful spellcaster with the ability to magically travel between the planes of the Multiverse.[1][2] Only one in several million sentient creatures are born with the potential to planeswalk, and even fewer realize that potential.[2][3] Players are flavored as planeswalkers,[2] and planeswalker characters are central to the game's storyline.

Before the events of the Time Spiral block, planeswalkers possessed a godlike near-omnipotence. The Mending removed this power, and now planeswalkers are mostly ordinary beings, although their access to vast resources of the Multiverse still gives them a practical advantage in accumulating power.[4]

Description

Planeswalkers are defined by their ability to magically travel, or planeswalk, between the planes of the Multiverse by way of the Blind Eternities.[1][2] Because this is a form of magic,[5] all planeswalkers are mages, although not all possess formal training.[6]

The act of traveling between planes by itself does not make a planeswalker; planeswalking is more specific than that. The use of an Omenpath or planar portal, for example, is not considered planeswalking. Marit Lage, the Eldrazi, and the Myojin of Night's Reach are not planeswalkers.

Spark

Silhouettes of Tyvar, Ob Nixilis, Narset, Kiora, and Karn. Trails of crackling purple-white energy leave their body.
Outside the body, the planeswalker spark appears as a trail of blue- or purple-white light.
Main article: Planeswalker spark

All planeswalkers possess a spark, an imprint of aether from the Blind Eternities upon their soul.[7] The spark is what allows a planeswalker to traverse the Blind Eternities in relative safety. It is extremely rare, appearing naturally in only a tiny fraction of sentient beings.[1][2]

Even among those who possess a spark, only a small number ignite and gain the ability to planeswalk.[1][2] Extreme, traumatic, perspective-altering life events are the main cause of sparks igniting; extreme positive experiences can also ignite a spark, though this is less common.[1][8] When the spark is ignited, the newly-ignited planeswalker planeswalks away for their first time, appearing on a random plane. Some planeswalkers die shortly after completing their first planeswalk: left in catatonic states, lost in the Blind Eternities, or simply dying due to the stress.[9][10]

Only sentient creatures with the ability to manipulate mana and cast spells can become planeswalkers.[2][11] Having a soul is also a requirement; this is more loosely defined, but creatures born from parents tend to have souls.[11] Planeswalker sparks don't appear naturally in creatures that are manifestations of mana, such as angels and demons;[11][12] exceptions to this rule include the angel Elspeth Tirel and the demon Ob Nixilis, both former humans.

Planeswalker sparks usually don't persist after death; even if the bearer of the spark is later brought back to life, they will no longer be a planeswalker.[13]

Planeswalking

The act of planeswalking requires full concentration and a substantial amount of mana.[2] It can take weeks or months to get the hang of and a lifetime to master,[14] and planeswalkers vary in how quickly and frequently they can planeswalk.[15] The details differ between planeswalkers based on their identity, their experience of the Multiverse, and the colors of mana they use.[2] Teferi Akosa described his first planeswalk as a passenger of Urza's as "like walking on clouds in a rainstorm through a rainbow. The colors were vibrant yet misty—at the same time," while Jhoira noted that she only felt nausea.[16] Karn likened it to floating it in water, while he compared traveling through time to walking against a windstorm. Chandra described her sense of other planes and planeswalking as akin to her peripheral senses.[17] Planeswalking almost always leaves behind a {PW}-shaped aether imprint.[18] A planeswalker's arrival can be sensed by the sound of displacement air.[19]

Planeswalkers can generally bring some nonliving items with them when they planeswalk, including clothes.[20] They vary in how much inorganic material they can carry.[15] A rare few planeswalkers can carry organic material or other creatures with them, usually with a restriction.[15] Jiang Yanggu can planeswalk with his dog Mowu;[15] Wrenn can bring a treefolk that she's in a symbiotic relation with;[21] Nissa has carried a packet of Zendikari seeds she planned to plant on another plane;[22] Ugin was able to bring Nicol Bolas to the Meditation Plane wrapped in his wings, though the Blind Eternities grievously injured and blinded Bolas, and it is implied that Bolas only survived the trip because he was a powerful Elder Dragon.[23] Kaya Cassir is exceptional in that she can merge her body and mind with another being and take that individual with her on a planeswalk.[24]

Planeswalkers can planeswalk to specific locations, though their accuracy is determined by their experience, mana, time, and familiarity with the destination.[25] A planeswalker can also effectively teleport by planeswalking to the Blind Eternities and then back to another location on the same plane.[26][27] Any planeswalker can follow another planeswalker by following the "aether trails" in their immediate wake.[24][28][29] A planeswalker can potentially describe a plane or method of locating it to another planeswalker, but this method can be unpredictable. Planeswalkers are also capable of exploring the Blind Eternities and finding planes they've never traveled to.[28]

History

Pre-revisionist

In original continuity, any sufficiently powerful wizard could become a planeswalker. Even non-planeswalker wizards familiar with two adjacent planes could travel from any location on one to the other, similar to passage between connected planes in Kaldheim's World Tree in modern continuity.[30]

Traditional planeswalkers

Planeswalkers had incredible magical capabilities, surpassing all but the most powerful mortal wizards. Their lives could last indefinitely, and their physical forms were matters of will as they were energy projections of a center of consciousness. Through intense effort, planeswalkers could create their artificial planes. Because of planeswalkers' prolonged life spans and immense power, some are worshipped as gods; many end up losing their sanity, or, at the very least, they come to regard the lives of mortals in low esteem, if even at all.

Current planeswalkers

The new breed of planeswalkers introduced with Lorwyn no longer displays the near-omnipotence of their predecessors. While planeswalking leads to broader experiences and a greater chance to learn, most planeswalkers are not any more powerful. They are still physical beings that, in general, age normally, can be harmed, and need the same sustenance as other mortals. They stopped being able to transport other people during a planeswalk. They can bring their clothes and some small items, but, for example, not food.[31] This is in stark contrast to the earlier planeswalkers. Some of them have managed to suppress or avoid some of these limitations by magical means; however, these are specific to each planeswalker.

The new breed manifested itself for the first time in Venser of Urborg, a Dominarian artificer who participated in the solution of the Dominarian temporal crisis. Teferi's first theory was that the rifts mutated Venser's spark, which affected his ascension.

The new breed was born during the Mending, when Jeska sacrificed her life and her spark to mend all temporal rifts in the Multiverse (doing so on such a great scale was probably enabled by her former existence as Karona, the embodiment of Dominarian magic, and the fact that Dominaria is the Nexus of the Multiverse). The Mending caused a change in the very rules of the Multiverse, and the nature of the planeswalker sparks.

In March of the Machine: The Aftermath, it was revealed that the consequences of the New Phyrexian Invasion caused many planeswalkers to lose their sparks as the multiverse was forced to open paths between planes. At least sixteen named Planeswalkers with printed Planeswalker cards became legendary creatures, with their first appearance as such having a cracked planeswalker symbol or "desparked" watermark.[32]

Reasons for change

Pivotal for the Mending was the creative team's long-standing wish to make planeswalkers more identifiable.[33] Toning them down provided a solution that also cleared the ways for the new planeswalker card type.[34] This, in turn, allowed planeswalkers to be not only the focus of the storyline but also of brand identity.

The change in Aftermath would allow for non-planeswalker characters to interact across planes, and also lower the number of planeswalkers necessary to carry a story.

In the game

Within the lore of the game, players assume the role of dueling planeswalkers.[3][2][35] This has been a part of the lore and marketing since the Alpha rule book[36] and hasn't changed despite the radical changes to planeswalkers that have occurred throughout the series.

Planeswalker cards represent alliances forged between the player and specific planeswalker characters.[37] They were introduced in Lorwyn, right after the Great Mending,[38] and quickly became a mainstay of the game.[39] Most planeswalker cards are powerful mythic rares.[40]

Symbol

Main article: Planeswalker symbol
Planeswalker symbol

The handprint-like planeswalker symbol {PW} symbolizes planeswalkers and their ability to traverse the planes of the Multiverse.[41][42] It is, for example, used to planeswalk in the Planechase format, as part of the Masters 25 expansion symbol, and hidden in card art (e.g., Barren Glory and Omniscience). It seems to refer to the different paths or planes that a planeswalker can choose to walk. Specifically: five choices, as in the five colors of Magic. On the other hand, Mark Rosewater has said that it also has a “five becoming one” aspect, to match Magic's ethos of the colors working together.[43][44] The latter could also mean there is a connection to the Lorwyn Five or the Gatewatch.

See also

References

  1. ↑ a b c d e Jay Annelli (2022). Magic: The Gathering - The Visual Guide, DK. ISBN-13 978-0744061055.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Brady Dommermuth (August 16, 2007). "You Are a Planeswalker". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2008-05-09.
  3. ↑ a b Pete Venters, Kij Johnson, and Scott Hungerford (April 1997). "Dominian Chronicles". The Duelist #16, p.63-65
  4. ↑ Doug Beyer (October 13, 2013). "Which came first, the power or the spark?". A Voice for Vorthos. Tumblr.
  5. ↑ Doug Beyer (December 12, 2007). "Goodies from the Mailbag". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-11-11.
  6. ↑ Doug Beyer (December 7, 2014). "The planeswalker spark is inherently magical". A Voice for Vorthos. Tumblr.
  7. ↑ Magic Story Podcast: The Mending (May 3, 2018)
  8. ↑ Doug Beyer (August 4, 2015). "Spark Ignition". A Voice for Vorthos. Tumblr.
  9. ↑ Adam Lee (August 25, 2010). "Slime, Trials, and the Inner Garruk". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020.
  10. ↑ Doug Beyer (May 2, 2013). "Traumatic spark ignition". A Voice for Vorthos. Tumblr.
  11. ↑ a b c Doug Beyer (April 26, 2013). "I've been wondering about what things can and can't become Planeswalkers?". A Voice for Vorthos. Tumblr.
  12. ↑ Doug Beyer. "Although demons and angels cant get the spark...". A Voice for Vorthos. Tumblr.
  13. ↑ Doug Beyer (December 23, 2013). "Is planeswalker's demise means his or hers end?". A Voice for Vorthos. Tumblr.
  14. ↑ Doug Beyer (August 13, 2013). "The power of planeswalking". A Voice for Vorthos. Tumblr.
  15. ↑ a b c d Mark Rosewater (April 7, 2019). "Do any planeswalkers besides Yanggu have special planeswalking powers?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  16. ↑ Will McDermott (April 1999). "Scars of the Legacy". The Official Urza's Legacy Game Guide
  17. ↑ Magic Creative Team (February 1, 2017). "Renewal". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  18. ↑ Magic Arcana (December 30, 2009). "What's That Symbol?". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-05-10.
  19. ↑ Emily Teng (May 2, 2023). "March of the Machine: The Aftermath - Beyond Repair". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  20. ↑ Doug Beyer (June 07, 2014). "How do planeswalkers manage to bring items/people with them when they planeswalk?". A Voice for Vorthos. Tumblr.
  21. ↑ Seanan McGuire (September 03, 2021). "Tangles". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  22. ↑ Kimberly J. Kreines (September 23, 2015). "Nissa's Quest". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  23. ↑ Greg Weisman (April 2019). "War of the Spark: Ravnica". Del Rey.
  24. ↑ a b Greg Weisman (November 2019). "War of the Spark: Forsaken". Del Rey.
  25. ↑ Doug Beyer (January 08, 2015). "A lot of factors contribute to how accurate your planeswalking is". A Voice for Vorthos. Tumblr.
  26. ↑ Michael Yichao (March 2019, 2017). "Impact". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  27. ↑ Langley Hyde (August 11, 2022). "Sand in the Hourglass". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  28. ↑ a b Doug Beyer (March 28, 2014). "Is it possible for a PW to communicate to another PW the location of a plane which the latter has never visited?". A Voice for Vorthos. Tumblr.
  29. ↑ Valerie Valdes (July 1, 2024). "Bloomburrow Episode 1: Calamity Comes to Valley". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  30. ↑ Richard Garfield. (1994). "Dominia and Its Walkers." Magic: The Gathering Pocket Player's Guide. Wizards of the Coast.
  31. ↑ Magic Story Podcast: The Mending (May 3, 2018)
  32. ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 08, 2023). "When we see desparked former planeswalkers in future sets, will they have the desparked watermark?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  33. ↑ Mark Rosewater. (September 3, 2007.) "Planeswalker Rules. Planeswalking the Walk", magicthegathering.com, Wizards of the Coast. (Internet Archive snapshot)
  34. ↑ Matt Cavotta (September 06, 2007). "The Last Quack". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.
  35. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (July 25, 2008). "You Are a Planeswalker". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  36. ↑ John Carter (December 25, 2004). "The Original Magic Rulebook". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2018-02-10.
  37. ↑ Doug Beyer (September 10, 2007). "The Era of the Planeswalker". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12.
  38. ↑ Mark Rosewater (November 05, 2007). "Planeswalk on the Wild Side, Part I". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  39. ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 23, 2018). "Planeswalking Down Memory Lane". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  40. ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 1, 2019). "Waging War of the Spark, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  41. ↑ Magic Arcana (December 30, 2009). "What's That Symbol?". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-05-10.
  42. ↑ Mark Rosewater (December 17, 2012). "Do you happen to know what the "planeswalker symbol" actually represents?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  43. ↑ Mark Rosewater (November 19, 2017). "Do you have any trivia or interesting perspective on the Planeswalker Symbol?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  44. ↑ Mark Rosewater (December 2, 2018). "Can you talk about what the symbology of the Planeswalker symbol is? Why a “handprint”-like design?". Blogatog. Tumblr.

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