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Narwhal

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<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Narwhal</default></title>

<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group><header>Basic Information</header> <label>Civilian Name</label> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Gender</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Death</label> <label>Age</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> <label>Relations</label> <label>Family</label></group> <group><header>Professional Status</header> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Classification</label> <label>Unique Features</label> <label>Alignment</label>

<label>Status</label><format>
Alive
</format>

<label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Previous Team(s)</label> <label>Base of Operations</label></group> <group><header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label></group> </infobox> Narwhal is the head of the Guild and the leader of the Protectorate's Toronto branch.<ref name="Cast1">Narwhal – Head of the Guild and the Protectorate’s Toronto branch. A masterful forcefield user who can create forcefields that intersect (and thus cut) the bodies of nearby opponents. Appears nude, but covers herself in an intricate carpet of tiny forcefields, with a long horn of the same material. - Cast (spoiler free)</ref><ref name="Cast2">Narwhal – Leader of both ‘The Guild’ and of the Protectorate station in Toronto, Ontario. Narwhal is an unparalleled wielder of forcefields. - Cast (in depth)</ref>

Personality

A former member of the military,<ref name="SB7915"/> this carried over to her interactions with people. Some of whom were able to guess she had a military background right away.<ref name="28.2 e1">Narwhal turned on the spot, facing Saint square-on, and I got the immediate sense that she had some kind of military background. Another part of me was idly aware that her chest didn’t sway that much, all things considered. The nature of the shard-covering she wore made it pretty clear she wasn’t wearing a bra, but…

Right. The same effect she’d used to move the book was holding her entire body. All of the benefits of a full, athletic figure, none of the drawbacks.

I was still a little weirded out that she didn’t wear any clothes. In a sense, the scales covered more than a bikini would, but there were no lines or solid objects to break up the natural contours of her body. - Excerpt from Cockroaches 28.2</ref> Somewhat like Hellhound the manifestation of her abilities caused a mental shift in Narwhal's psychology.<ref name="SB7915">Inverness said: I'll ask about Narwhal. It seems she stood out more than other characters, and not just because of her lack of dress. I remember someone describing it as her having a disproportionate presence compared to other characters that were also rarely featured.

Is she one of the characters you attempted to write about beforehand?

Could you elaborate more on her character and if she'll be featured again in a Worm sequel?

If you look at the drafts on my pig's pen blog, I have some stories up there, including the first superhero WIP I put together. Narwhal featured. The protagonist was cannibalized (see my writing approach post in the last thread or the W.o.G. thread) and one of her powers given to Rune (I was trying to fill the gaps and write a magic based superhero), but was so different I don't count her as having survived. Narwhal, by contrast, has the distinction of joining Dragon as one of the first characters I wrote who survived the drafting process of my first superhero writings and made it into Worm.

That said, she never had a place in Worm, really. She was almost a cameo for my own personal benefit, and may have more of a role in the sequel. I'm not positive, but I can sort of see it playing out.

As a character, she's ex-military, but has a Rachel-like mental issue (and no, it's not exhibitionism) - she spins an awful lot of plates, as head of the Toronto PRT and a prominent member of the Guild. She doesn't stop, and doesn't let herself stop. That's all I'll say here. - comment by Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref> She was still an effective leader.<ref>Pitch 6.1</ref>

She tries to address people she's respects how they want to be addressed. She is formal and naturally inquisitive<ref name="28.2 e2">“Right then, I know most of you,” Narwhal said. “Weaver, of course, we’ve met enough times. I liked your last book recommendation.”

“I’m glad,” I said.

“Tattletale,” Narwhal greeted her, a little less warmly, “Hellhound-”

“Bitch. My enemies call me Hellhound,” Rachel said.

“Ah, I’m very sorry,” Narwhal said. She looked genuinely upset at the mistake. “The others, I’m not familiar with.”

“Imp and Canary,” I said.

Narwhal glanced at Aisha. Of our group, only Tattletale was wearing her full costume. Aisha, Rachel, Canary and I weren’t wearing ours. “No masks?”

Imp shrugged. “World’s ending. It’s a way to get in the right headspace, eh? We were talking to Taylor there a bit ago, and what we’re thinking is it’s stupid to spend our time keeping little secrets when there’s bigger fish to fry? Like it’s stupid to dwell on revenge or any of that. So it’s symbolic, isn’t it? A statement? Eh?”

Narwhal looked at the yellow-haired girl. “You went without the mask for the same reason?”

Canary shook her head. “No.”

“Canary is a rogue,” Defiant said. “And a onetime inmate of the Birdcage. She never wore a costume.”

Narwhal glanced at Defiant. “Do you know them, then?”

He nodded. “Well enough. There’s no risk in letting them near Saint. Imp is a stranger-five, Canary is a master eight, but I would be very, very surprised if she had taken control of anyone here for the purposes of misleading us or breaking Saint out.”

“Surprised in what sense? The nature of her power? Because of Weaver and the Undersiders? Or because Canary isn’t that type?” - Excerpt from Cockroaches 28.2</ref>

Presumed to be an avid reader, as she thanked Weaver for her book recommendation.<ref name="28.2 e2" /> She considered Chevalier's leniency with Ingenue to be ill advised.<ref name="I28 e2">“How the hell did she get this far into the hospital?” Narwhal asked.

“Let me go.”

The forcefield disappeared, but another set appeared, pinning the woman against the wall by the throat alone. Narwhal started patting Ingenue down.
[...]
“Let me go, and I’ll be good.”
Chevalier glanced at Narwhal.
"You’re too soft,” Narwhal said.
“You wouldn’t?”
“I would, but I still think you’re too soft.” - Excerpt from Interlude 28 </ref>

Reputation

Narwhal is the leader of a team with international renown. Further she's considered one of the top heroes in the Protectorate.<ref name="SBWoh">Parahumans IRC said:
Wildbow: Armsmaster appears in the posters and such of the top Protectorate heroes.
Wildbow:When they do the image of everyone standing in a 'v' formation
Parahumans IRC said:
Wildbow: Nah. Legend in front, Alex and Eidolon to the left and right, respectively. Then Myrddin, Chev, Cinereal, Narwhal, Rime, Exalt, Armsmaster, Dragon suit silhouette in the background, wings echoing the wings of the PRT logo over their heads. - IRC conversation archived on Spacebattles</ref> Along with Capes like Chevalier, her fellow Guild member Dragon, and Legend.

Appearance

Narwhal is a seven foot tall women, with long, glossy, pale hair. She uses her power to create a single, three-foot horn on her forehead and coat her skin with fine crystalline scales.<ref name="8.1 e1">Narwhal turned heads as she entered the lobby. She stood seven feet tall, with a curtain of glossy, pale hair extending almost to the backs of her knees. She was unclothed, not even wearing a skintight costume on her long limbed body, but it somehow wasn’t obscene. Her skin was layered with fine crystal scales that caught the light and scintillated with faint rainbow hues. A single horn stood out from the middle of her forehead, three feet long. She ignored stares as she found a space to lean against a wall near the front of the room. She had her chin against her chest with her eyes closed, as though she were resting, or concentrating. Or maybe it was a habit she’d picked up when standing straight meant stabbing the average ceiling with her horn. - Excerpt from Extermination 8.1</ref> Her "scales" are each no larger than a fingernail.

After the timeskip her look had been redesigned somewhat, with her horn now curving backward over the top of her head.<ref name="28.2 e3">Narwhal stood just a short distance away, leaning against a wall, a book in her hands. Her costume was skintight, but it took the form of innumerable ‘scales’ of violet-blue tinted crystal, each no larger than a fingernail. Her horn had been redesigned, arcing in a crescent curve.

[...]Narwhal noticed our approach and closed her book, creating a thin shard of forcefield to act as a bookmark, then two more to hold the cover and back of the book. She pushed it aside, and it floated a distance to her right, stopping in midair, in her reach but not in the way. - Excerpt from Cockroaches 28.2</ref><ref name="28.2"> - Excerpt from Cockroaches 28.2</ref>

Abilities and Powers

Narwhal creates crystalline force-fields and can move them at high velocities.<ref name="R1.1">blames_irrationally: Oh gotcha, so she didn't have too much offensive capability before I guess.

Wildbow: She did. She can create forcefields that move. They have sharp edges. Think forcefield hitting you at 40 km/h, edge first. - Comment by Wildbow on reddit.</ref> She is able to, if the target is within fifty feet of her, create a forcefield that bisects part of the target's body, such as an appendage or even cleave through the upper thorax.<ref name ="24.3C1">Narwhal was one of the named examples. Despite people’s impressions, she didn’t demonstrate this against Leviathan.

She creates crystalline forcefields and can move them at high velocities. She can also, if you’re within fifty feet of her, create a forcefield that bisects part of your body. Bling, you’re missing an arm. Bling, you’re missing an upper body. - Comment by Wildbow on Prey 14.3</ref>

She also has much finer control, able to use her force fields almost in lieu of telekinesis to manipulate small objects,<ref name="28.2 e3"/> capture people,<ref name="I28 e2"/> or as a kind of stretcher.<ref name="I28 e12">Chevalier shifted his sword to one side, then slid his legs over until he could lower his feet to the ground.

Exalt appeared in the doorway. “Don’t-”

He continued trying to stand.

“Idiot.”

He was lifted into the air by strategically placed forcefields, one beneath his thighs, another behind his back. He stumbled a little as he touched ground, and another field kept him from falling flat on his face. The tubes reaching to his chest were taut. If he’d fallen, they might have pulled free.

He found his balance, then nodded. Narwhal banished the fields. - Excerpt from Interlude 28</ref>

Narwhal can bypass the Manton effect as a result of her second trigger. Prior to that, she was unable to create force-fields that bisected people.<ref name="I5">“It’s not like there isn’t precedent for this.  We know for a fact that some capes who were once held back by the Manton effect have figured out a way around it, or past it.  Narwhal being the most obvious case.” - Excerpt from Interlude 5</ref><ref name="R1">"Narwhal's second trigger." - Comment by Wildbow on reddit.</ref>

Her power was considered to be equally split between offense and defense.<ref name="28.4e1">Tattletale shrugged. “Lung would be too violent, and the focus of Vista’s power is too… location-driven? I have no idea how she’d take Narwhal’s power, because it’s pretty evenly split between offense and defense.”

“Kind of abstract,” I said.

“I’m… reaching,” Tattletale confessed. “Definitely reaching. But reaching and abstract thought bought us the portal to Gimel, and I’ve got to flex my power somehow.” - Excerpt from Cockroaches 28.4</ref>

Attacking her forcefields causes them to light up.<ref name="II6.1">Pitch 6.1</ref> They have a noticeable violet-blue tint<ref name="28.2 e3"/> and shine with faint rainbow hues when they catch the light.<ref name="8.1 e1"/>

History

Background

Triggered. And then triggered again. Joined the then-failed Guild and was responsible for it being revamped into the elite organization it is today.<ref name="R1">The Guild is something of a failed effort that mutated. Where other groups were founded and then collapsed, the Guild drew in just enough powerful members to have some clout after the group failed to get traction. They changed tacks.

The original goal was to be another Protectorate of sorts, albeit cape-led, with an emphasis on peacekeeping and nonviolent absorption of capes. The problem was that Canada is very spread out, and reaction times are thus slow, when you have 10-30 capes to cover a lot of ground. The initial aims shot too high, higher-ups set expectations and couldn't meet them, and the initial guild (which had none of the Narwhals or Dragons or any of those guys) flopped. It was resurrected around the same time Canada sighed and took on its own Protectorate divisions, when political powers that heavily criticized the PRT wanted certain elements in play, as well as a certain amount of freedom to make certain realities a positive without dealing with PRT bureaucracy (initiatives, acting to help other countries without worrying about the balance of PRT forces). The programs and aims that were pure concept beforehand became the reality. Certain individuals got on board and it worked.

The end result is a group that balances a lot of individual autonomy punctuated by demands from higher up. If you're a villain that's not in Protectorate territory and you're crossing lines, the Guild is still something you might worry about. This might be for those who go way overboard (ie. genocide) or cross the lines with pet issues for various members of the Guild (targeting gays, women, interfering with the political process, etc, etc).

The Guild, at its heart, is about trying to set standards, and it's got just enough prominent members that it can make others stand up and listen.

On the flip side, it draws a lot of criticism due to perceived imbalances in the subjects it focuses on (this goes back to individual autonomy). If one guy gets very active and makes gay rights a huge focus (targeting villains with a propensity for gay bashing) then the Guild gets perceived as having a heavy focus on protecting gays. There's a large-ish non-parahuman staff just trying to enable the capes to do as much good as they can. - Wildbow on Reddit</ref>

Narwhal has an experience in dealing with warlords and making sure that their victims were able to become independent.<ref name="6.6 II">“I’ve done this kind of thing before. I fought warlords,” Narwhal said. “I helped the villages after. I delivered supplies to isolated settlements. A lot of people want this to have a happy ending, and experience tells me that ending is possible.” - Excerpt from Pitch 6.6</ref>

Story Start

After the program Armsmaster and Dragon made predicted that Leviathan would attack Brockton Bay, Narwhal traveled to the Protectorate E.N.E.'s base. She listened as Legend addressed them with a pre-battle speech.<ref name="8.1">Extermination 8.1</ref>

Narwhal then received an armband from the Brockton Bay Wards. When the ceiling started to cave in, Narwhal flicked two fingers towards the ceiling and shored it up with forcefields. She was later teleported out of the building by Strider.<ref name="8.2 e1">There was a loud groan, and the ceiling at one corner of the room began to descend swiftly toward the ground. Narwhal flicked two fingers up in that direction, and shored the ceiling with some forcefields, but I saw other portions of the ceiling begin to sag, gallons of water pouring through the gaps in the ceiling tile. - Excerpt from Extermination 8.2</ref>

Narwhal later manifested a dozen forcefields and flicked them towards Leviathan. She redirected the forcefields that glanced off Leviathan's skin; having them press against the edges of his body and get in the way of his legs moving. After the dumpster that Ballistic launched at Leviathan forced him backwards, Narwhal sent another forcefield into Leviathan's neck. Her efforts tore a large enough hole for Kid win to take advantage of.<ref name="8.4 e1">Too many others were capable of delivering the hurt, but were too fragile: Browbeat, Shadow Stalker, Lady Photon, Purity, Laserdream, Brandish and others I didn’t know. The Ward with the crossbow, some guy with crimson skin. There was a light show in the sky above as Kid Win teleported in pieces of the cannon he’d had at the bank robbery, manifesting them onto a hovering platform set directly in front of Leviathan. He’d get anywhere from a few seconds to a minute’s worth of concentrated fire with the gun firing on the highest settings, directing a beam through a gap in the bars to where Narwhal’s razor sharp forcefield had opened a gap in Leviathan’s neck. 

- Excerpt from Extermination 8.4</ref>

Moments later, Narwhal was alerted to an approaching tidal wave by her armband. She created forcefields in-between the defending capes and Leviathan before it hit. She was listed among the losses after the final tidal wave hit,<ref name="8.3">Extermination 8.3</ref> this was later shown to be the casualties list as her name did not appear on the Brockton Bay Memorial.<ref name="27.2 c1">Nope. Common misreading. She was included with the wounded and such when Tattletale was. Comment by wildbow on Extinction 27.2</ref>

Post-Timeskip

She recovered and was seen two years later,<ref name="26.2">Sting 26.2</ref> and was active during Gold Morning.<ref name="28.2"/>

Her power was pivotal at several key junctures during the event.

Early-Ward

Narwhal was still active two years after gold morning as a member of the Wardens. She was considered one of the groups key members, having her own statue in the Warden HQ lobby.<ref name="II3.6">Inside the building, statues of key members stood off to either side of the lobby. Chevalier, Narwhal, Valkyrie, Legend, Cinereal, Stonewall, Topflight and Miss Militia.
[...]
“Is Weld getting a statue?” Tristan asked.

“Not for a while,” Sveta said. “That’s more for people who’ve put in the years, and he only just got in. He’s got a preliminary thing in the gift shop.” - Excerpt from Glare 3.6</ref> She met with members of Foresight and discussed what the wardens needed from the group.<ref name="I2II"> - Excerpt from Interlude 2 II</ref>

She took point as leader of the wardens contingent in the attack on the Mathers Fallen compound.

Trivia

  • One common misconception is that Narwhal was able to create her force fields inside Leviathan's body, and by extension any Endbringer's body, but this wasn't the case.<ref name ="24.3C1"/>
  • Narwhal is a consistent element from the earliest drafts of what would become Worm; she always led the Guild.<ref name="Draft">RuneChild Draft of Worm</ref>
  • Like many characters in Worm, Narwhal took her turn as the protagonist for one of the stories many drafts.<ref name="14.8c18473">Comment by Wildbow</ref>

Fanart Gallery

References

<references/>

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