Spensa Nightshade
Spensa Nightshade | |||||||
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Abilities | Cytonics | ||||||
Titles | Callsign: Spin | ||||||
Profession | DDF pilots | ||||||
Groups | DDF, Skyward Flight | ||||||
Homeworld | Detritus | ||||||
Universe | Skyward Universe |
“ When this is done, Jerkface, I will hold your tarnished and melted pin up as my trophy as your smoldering ship marks your pyre, and the final resting place of your crushed and broken corpse! ”
— Spensa to Jorgen Weight[1]
Spensa Nightshade is a cadet at the DDF Flight School on Detritus. Her callsign is Spin. She is the daughter of Zeen Nightshade (callsign: Chaser). She is the main character in Skyward.
Appearance and Personality
Spensa is seventeen years old with brown hair and is 151 centimeters tall (4'11" in feet).[2][3]
As the daughter of "The Coward of Alta", Spensa was looked down upon by her fellow Defiants. As a result, she acted fiercely when confronted by others and used intimidation as a defense-mechanism. Spensa would often lash out at people who threatened her and even those who didn't, using a wide and somewhat graphic vocabulary inspired by stories of glorious heroes from Earth that her grandmother told her. She was certain that her father was not a coward like everyone thought, and she was bent on proving it by seeming as 'brave' as possible. However, she believed that bravery was about being the most daring warrior and to never show fear. She thought that anything less would make her a coward and prove that the DDF had been right about her father.
In her time in Flight School, she came to realize that being brave wasn't as simple as she thought. People she respected, like Cobb, were guilty of doing things that she would consider cowardly if she did them herself.[4][5] As she loses flightmates to the Krell, she realizes that true bravery isn't just about sounding heroic and what other people think. Instead, bravery is about her own confidence in herself and knowing that, no matter what anyone else said, she was not a coward.[6][7] She becomes embarrassed by how she acted before and realizes that it's okay to get scared sometimes.
by Charlie Bowater Portraitby Charlie Bowater On Skyward coverby LittleGreyDragon With M-Botby Ralf Melevo With Doomslugby cccrystalclear Portraitby astrolauu Portraitby jurassicpencil With Doomslugby taratjah Portraitby astrolauu Claim the Stars
Abilities
Spensa is both an excellent pilot[8] and also has access to Cytonics. Of her Cytonic abilities she can use FTL communication, has some Sensing ability, and can use FTL transportation.
History
Spensa lived in the Glorious Rises of Industry with her mother and grandmother, who she referred to as Gran-Gran.
Spensa accidentally finds an old ship in a cavern. Shortly afterward, she is accepted into Captain Cobb's Flight School class and became a member of Skyward Flight. Unable to take up residence at the school overnight because of Admiral Ironside's fears, she stays in the cavern with the ship. After recruiting her friend Rodge "Rigmarole" McCaffrey to help her, they repair the ship; which is the host of an AI known as M-Bot.
Trivia
- Spensa's race was intentionally left ambiguous.[9]
- The first ideas for her character were developed in 2012.[10]
- If she was a Knight Radiant, she would most likely be a Dustbringer, "with small arguments for Stoneward, Skybreaker, or Edgedancer."[11]
Notes
- ↑ Skyward chapter 8#
- ↑ Skyward chapter 1#
- ↑ Skyward chapter 29#
- ↑ Skyward chapter 30#
- ↑ Skyward chapter 31#
- ↑ Skyward chapter 45#
- ↑ Skyward chapter 51#
- ↑ Skyward chapter 28#
- ↑ BookCon 2018
— Arcanum - 2018-06-02# - ↑ Skyward Pre-Release AMA
— Arcanum - 2018-10-04# - ↑ Skyward Pre-Release AMA
— Arcanum - 2018-10-04#