I'd Tap That (Potential)
A Theoretical Exploration of Classpects
Written 3/9/2019
Classes in games are a universal constant, and have been since even before the mania of roleplaying games took the world by storm. We are all familiar even distantly with warriors, rogues, mages, etc. In some games, however these designations are far more in-depth and complex, and an example of this is shown in Sburb, the fictional video game featured in the long-running webcomic Homestuck, created by Andrew Hussie. All Sburb players are given full titles comprised of a class and an aspect which are the window into their unique abilities. They serve as a kind of classification system for the characters, showcasing what they have the potential to be. These titles are also referred to as their classpects or “God Tier” titles. Each title consists of a class, an associated aspect, and, later, a God Tier outfit. Though every single Sburb player has a classpect, there has been surprisingly little exposition on the subject, leaving much of what we know about Sburb classpects to speculation and inference.
This exploration shall begin with the classes. There are at this time twelve known “regular” classes and two additional “master” classes. Classes are classified passive (+) or active (-), and are placed on a scale from most passive (7+) to most active (7-). (Although it is unknown if there are more classes than have been named, that the Master classes are classified with the number 7 suggests that the fourteen we know of are all that exist.) Although we are aware of the passive/active classifications of some named classes, there is no known arrangement on this scale of any classes (excepting the Master classes, which are +7 and -7 respectively). Each class, however, has a counterpart which resides at the opposite end of the scale and utilizes the same abilities but for different reasons. Ingame, the “active vs. passive” differentiation has been described as such: active classes exploit their aspect for their own benefit and passive classes exploit their aspect for the benefit others. An example of this: a Rogue of Light, a passive class, would exploit luck and their possible relation to destiny to aid their allies in combat, whereas a Thief of Light, an active class, would use those same powers to aid themselves and bring themselves closer to their own personal goals1. Of course, these classes are not necessarily indicative of the personalities and actual actions of the players, but they do serve as a guideline to how their powers may best be exploited, and generally speaking a good indication of what they are more inclined to do. A Thief can use their powers for unselfish reasons, though it would likely be more difficult for them to utilize their powers in such a way.
Another interpretation of “passive vs. active” classes is that active classes are, as the word suggests, generally more aggressive and direct in the use of their aspect, choosing to weaponize it where a passive class would simply channel it. It could also refer to a passive class’s tendency to be more geared towards defensive strategies and boosting, rather than an active class’s tendency to be combat-oriented. These are both far more literal translations.
In addition to the passive/active scale, some classes are also gender-specific. These classes include: Muse for feminine-presenting players, and Bard, Prince, and Lord for masculine-presenting players. It is speculated that Maid, Sylph, and Witch are femme-exclusive, as only femme characters have been known to have these titles and they are symbolically female by name. It is also theorized that Page is a masc-exclusive class, leaving the division even at four and four, and leaving four classes that are gender-neutral. The classes explicitly listed above, however, are the only ones confirmed in canon to be gender specific1, and any declarations otherwise are at this point purely up to reader inference. It has been stated in canon that there are an equal number of femme and masc exclusive classes, which lends some credence to the assumptions listed above.
The second half of a Sburb player’s title is their aspect. There are twelve known aspects. Each aspect is named for an abstract element of reality, categorized as fundamental, emotional, or metaphysical11. This categorization hints (or occasionally outright states) where a player’s power is likely to rest. Unlike classes, there is no aspect alignment of passive or active, nor is there any correlation between gender presentation and aspect assignment. Aspects are the forces that a passive or active character takes advantage of. They have been seen to tie symbolically to a player’s pre-game life, as seen in Vriska Serket’s affinity with luck as a Light player or Roxy Lalonde’s ability to go unnoticed as a Hero of Void.
Both classes and aspects generally tie into a player’s personality and strengths, which allows them to take control of their aspect very early on in the game. However, all classes have been shown to have potential beyond what has been previously demonstrated and some classes (such as the Page) are stated to have extreme potential beyond what the player may initially expect. This implies that there is no scale of strength for classes or aspects. The power lies within the player.
The true strength in a classpect lies not in what classpect you are assigned, but in how you take advantage of that classpect. You may have a Lord and a Mage in your party and at the end of the game the Mage may far exceed the Lord in terms of power despite Lord being the most powerful active class. It is all about potential and, more importantly, how you tap it.
We will begin exploring the two “master” classes, Muse and Lord. These two are one of three pairs of classes that have been confirmed to be a passive/active pair.
Not much is known about either of the two Master classes in canon. Much can be speculated, however, from the actions of those who have embodied them and by the actions associated with their titles. It can also be speculated that, as the extremes on the passive vs. active scale, they serve as the perfect template for what a passive or active class “should” be. Thus, one would infer that a Muse would be a class dedicated completely to the aid of others by the exploitation of her aspect, while a Lord would be a class that is entirely geared towards amassing and growing power, and that both could, at the end of their game, potentially have reality-altering abilities. This is implied heavily by Caliborn’s destruction of entire pockets of reality after his ascension to Lord English and Calliope’s insertion of her (imaginary) self into real events via illustrated fanfiction.
Muse is the most passive of all the classes, and is a femme exclusive title. There have not been many examples of a Muse’s potential or powers in canon, as our only canon Muse was killed off very early in her game. The Muse class could embody the historically supported muse archetype, adopting the line, “I inspire”2. Thus a Muse may find that she inspires others by taking advantage of her aspect or simply by having knowledge of her aspect. She could also inspire her aspect in others, an ability which would be very useful if the subject were a Muse of Hope or Life. Being one of the master classes, a Muse’s control over her aspect would be immense, as is stated above, and she could potentially have enough control to change the nature of reality itself. Keeping in line with the earlier theory that the Muse is the ultimate template for what a passive class would be, a Muse’s influence may be so subtle as to be un-subtle.
Another potential statement of the Muse is “I create”3. As Lord English uses his powers to literally destroy time, the Muse of Space may have had the opportunity to use her powers to literally create space where there was none. A Muse of Life would be able to cheat death, encouraging life to grow where there was none and giving massive boosts of power seemingly from nothing. A Muse would be able to inspire the creation of her aspect in places where her aspect was absent by reaching into herself and channeling her own inner strength into the world around her. This may be the ultimate embodiment of passivity: channeling one’s aspect through oneself and altering the reality indirectly.
The Lord class is on the complete opposite of the spectrum as the most active class. It is a masc-only class. The singular example we have of a Lord has not matured in the most ideal of conditions, much as our only example of a Muse has not matured in the most ideal of conditions. In addition, it is unclear if Lord English’s extreme penchant for destruction is a result of his class or of his personality. Given that it is a master class, the amount of power a fully-fledged Lord would carry would be immense and since he is much more likely to use his aspect as a weapon directly, he would need to have an extreme degree of control. Caliborn, the only known Lord, has stated that the road to being a fully-realized Lord would be “excruciating”4, implying that it is a class which holds extreme degrees of danger and responsibility.
A Lord’s role may, just as the Muse’s is, be exactly as his title implies. Rather than inspiring, a Lord strives to completely understand and control his aspect. One may infer that as the opposite of the Muse a Lord’s ultimate goal may be the complete destruction of his aspect in order to oppose a Muse’s indirect creation of hers. Given how other Sburb active/passive pairs work, however, this is not likely. Just as the Thief and Rogue use the same mechanic to different ends, it is likely that Lord and Muse both create their aspect for different uses. A Lord of Life, to make a proper comparison, would force massive growth and strength in himself, and then use that strength to foster his own ability to take control of the game in a forceful manner. The Lord forges his aspect from strength within himself and shapes it to his own whims, which is likely how the canon Lord of Time has become so powerful and has influenced the creation of countless universes tailored to his desire to destroy them.
From Lord we continue onto another powerful active class: Prince. The Prince is another class with a confirmed passive opposite (The Bard). There are several canon Princes to study which lend insight into the nature of this class.
Prince and Bard have been defined as the “destruction classes”5, and the Prince as the active half of this pair can thus be defined as either “one who destroys his aspect” or “one who destroys with his aspect”. The first possibility can be observed in Eridan Ampora, the Prince of Hope. Ediran used his powers to destroy the last hope of his race, as he saw the situation they were in as being completely hopeless. In addition, we have seen Dirk Strider, the Prince of Heart, directly influenced the souls of others, and from what we’ve seen, we can assume he has the power to destroy them if he wishes to. The second definition has not been seen as yet in a canon Prince, but would be observed as a Prince using his aspect to completely destroy the presence of another aspect.
There are several things that all canon Princes so far have shared in common, which can be traced back to their class. The first similarity is that the three Princes all seemed to demonstrate a lack of their own aspect in their life or personality. They have also been seen attempting (or succeeding) to destroy or dispel their aspect wherever they find it in their lives, implying that they are not at peace with their aspect, and that this disconnect is the source of their power. The second similarity is that Princes have all been shown to be excellent physical fighters. Their strength lies in strength, not only of aspect but also of body. They are also all known to be very headstrong and impulsive characters, embodying the archetypical role of the prince as a man of action and passion.
The passive counterpart to the Prince is the Bard, described as “he who allows destruction of his aspect” or as “he who invites destruction through his aspect”. This class has been commonly accepted as taking the moniker of the Jester implying someone with little power or agency.
It is likely that a Bard’s talents lie in the manipulation of things relating to his aspect rather than to manipulation of the aspect itself. A Bard uses his aspect not as a weapon but as a tool for his ultimate goals. A Bard inspires his aspect in others via careful manipulation, but can also destroy his aspect in others with the same methods. An example of the first would be Gamzee Makara, the Bard of Rage, who through his actions while sober, inspired a great deal of rage and turmoil in Nepeta Leijon, Terezi Pyrope, and Kanaya Maryam,. His actions and words resulted in three deaths, and inspired a chain of events that resulted in greater chaos, and ultimately resulted in the destruction of a universe.
A Bard, to borrow further from the archetypes of the title, may take advantage of the fact that, at first glance, one would not think to take him seriously. Because the class is so closely tied to the archetype of the Joker, a Bard may not be seen as a threat or even as a useful player. So far, the two canon Bards have been characters who seem so ridiculous and harmless at first glance that you would not think twice of them. The first Bard, Gamzee Makara, made a dramatic change to his character and revealed that he is in fact as strong as you would imagine a Prince might be, and has risen to the title of the Most Important Character In Homestuck. The other Bard, Cronus Ampora, is also an exceedingly ridiculous personality who has been implied to also be very powerful, though examples of just how powerful have not been explicitly seen.
The next class discussed is that of the Rogue. As the title suggests, this class is characterized by theft and subtlety. This class involves stealing one’s aspects or powers and using them to aid others. Rogues “steal” objects or aspects and inadvertently use them for their teammates’ benefit. They have also shown a tendency to “share” elements of their aspect with their teammates as well. A Rogue would use their aspect to shift the advantage between agencies. For instance, a Rogue of Time could be seen “stealing time” from their enemies by establishing stable time loops that allow their teammates to accomplish more than their enemies in the same amount of time. The Rogue, then, is less about openly stealing and more about shifting their aspect to where it is needed most. They have been described, by someone who would know, as the “Robin Hood” of classes17.
The active counterpart of the Rogue is the Thief, who, rather than shifting an aspect, takes it outright and keeps it for themselves. They may hoard things related to their aspect and, at a later date, learn how to use it to their advantage. They are more about the domination of their aspect via theft and manipulation. A Thief would more likely be seen directly controlling the flow of their aspect and using it directly as they need it rather than waiting for it to be useful or using it as a way to strengthen their team.
A more easily understood class is that of the Seer. This is the last confirmed passive class. The Seer says “I know,”2 and is one who uses their knowledge of their aspect as it relates to the future to help their team to victory. The Seer is one of the few classes that does not directly control their aspect at all. Instead their ability to See is more closely tied with events pertaining to their aspect. Seers are possibly the most passive class (second to Bard if we stand by our previous statement that Prince is the second most active class), as their actions are completely related to how they deal with the knowledge they are gifted with.
All canon Seers have had the ability to See into the future to an extent, and they also have an innate ability to sense events or magically know bits of knowledge relating to their team and their aspect. For instance, Rose Lalonde, as the Seer of Light, was able to See which path was most fortuitous, and was able to ascertain the path to victory (of course, as she explained, the path she could See depended entirely on how you define victory, a loophole that all Seers would relate to in some degree). A Seer would not simply be gifted with images of the future. Their visions would have to be related in some way to their aspect. For example, a Seer of Doom would likely be able to See which paths lead to destruction, if you are to interpret his title literally.
The final class with a confirmed passive/active designation is the Witch, which is strongly considered a femme exclusive class. It is the final active class. It is loosely defined as “she who manipulates her aspect,” though this is very vague and can, in actuality, define every other class.
A Witch’s power over her aspect may be much stronger than any other class excluding the master classes, and it may be more accurate to say “she who physically controls her aspect” or “she who directly manipulates her aspect,” for those whose aspects have no physical forms. Witches have been shown to have direct control over their aspect, shaping it to their whims.
As an active class, a Witch is probably not likely to use her aspect as a weapon, but she will definitely use it. Jade Harley, as the Witch of Space, has been shown shrinking entire planets and destroying the fourth wall, allowing her to travel in between universes.
Witches have been shown to be exceptionally quick to learn the ins and outs of their aspect, which is a must when your class involves directly manipulating your aspect for your own benefit.
The passive counterpart of Witch is not known, but it is speculated to be Sylph, Heir, or Mage. None of these classes, however, have even been confirmed to be passive.
The following classes explained are those who have not been confirmed to be passive or active, and thus some liberties shall be taken when describing their abilities.
A Sylph is believed to be a very passive class. As with the Witch’s description, however, it feels redundant to define a Sylph as someone who manipulates their aspect for the benefit of others, as this is the very basic definition of every passive class. However, a Sylph can defined as stating “I educate”6 or “I heal.” Thus, it is far more likely that you could accurately compare a Sylph more closely to a fairy godmother or a helpful witch. The role of the Sylph seems to be to nurture, to heal, and to educate. The Sylph is more dedicated to using their aspect to fix the problems their party may be experiencing, or even the problems an individual person may be experiencing. This is shown by the known Sylphs’ helpful (often viewed as meddlesome) natures and their tendency to attempt to educate and aid others even where it might not be wanted.
In these respects, actually, a Sylph is not really like a Witch at all, and the comparison between the two has been cast into doubt by words spoken by someone who knows7.
Besides Witch, Sylph is also speculated to be the passive counterpart to Maid.
Maid is another class that, due to canon occurrences and title associations, may be femme exclusive. Very little has been canonically stated about this class. However, it can also be assumed that the Maid is an active class due to the aggressive actions we have seen Maids demonstrate. They have been speculated as saying “I fix”2 or defined as “she who protects her aspect.” Maids, thus far, have been seen dedicating themselves to the preservation of their aspect within their team (in the case of Aradia Megido--the Maid of Time--the alpha timeline). Maids are archetypically those who serve and who fix and who clean up, and Maids serve a similar duty as it pertains to their aspect. These duties include manipulating and destroying instances of their aspect in order to further protect it (such as Aradia sacrificing all of her doomed selves to protect the alpha timeline).
It also is implied that Maid is the passive counterpart to Heir, which, interestingly enough, is a class that is possibly masc-exclusive.
The Heir appears to be a very defensive class. Heirs have been shown to use their aspects to defend themselves, or even having their aspects protect them without their intending it (both John Egbert and Equius Zahhak, Heirs of Breath and Void respectively, have been protected by aspect-y interference before they even learned how to use their power). This can be interpreted as being an active class, as they are using their powers for their own benefit exclusively. The Heir can be said to embody “one who becomes their element” or “one who is protected by their element.” Regardless, Heirs are much more closely tied to their aspects, in such a way that is it an integral part of their functioning. Manipulating their aspect should come as second nature to an Heir as they are well-versed with its workings.
A class that is known for its extreme potential is that of the Page. Pages are known to begin their sessions in much the same situations are Bards, in that they are not someone you would take seriously. However, the Page is arguably the class with the most potential for growth and power when they are fully-realized. Pages are not said to be terribly powerful until they are very far along in their development18, but that wait would be worth it. A Page can be “one who inspires their aspect in others” or “one who is made whole through their aspect”. Their powers are more inclined to be useful to themselves than to anyone else. Rather than being defended by their aspect, however, Pages gain strength through their aspect.
Page is often considered to be the counterpart of the Knight class, based upon the fact that a page is a knight in training. Given these descriptions, however, it may be more realistic to pair the Knight with the Heir.
Knights are known as a warrior class that uses their aspect as a weapon against their enemies. They are likely a passive class, defined as “one who uses their aspect to defend”. Like the Page, they appear to be a very defensive class, though as counterparts, it is very likely the Knight use their aspect for others, thus turning their definition into “one who uses their aspect to defend others,” a definition that is supported by the selfless natures of all canon Knights. Karkat Vantas, the Knight of Blood, has used his aspect to protect and keep his team together, even when everything has gone horribly wrong, thus supporting his role as not only the leader, but also the archetypical protector of the group.
Knights use either direct manipulation of their aspect or merely a knowledge or affinity with their aspect (for the more metaphysical aspects) to ensure the safety and stability of their party.
The final class is Mage. A Mage is likely an active class, as they are known like Seers to be very knowledgeable, but more likely to use this knowledge for their own benefit. Mages, like Seers, are gifted with knowledge related specifically to their aspect, but not necessarily knowledge pertaining to the future, meaning their powers are not as useful when used in a group setting. For these reasons, they are very likely the Seer’s active counterpart.
With all of this knowledge about classes gathered, it is somewhat easy to infer what classes are most likely passive/active pairs, which would aid at the very least in finding the passive/active classifications of the classes who have not been explicitly stated. Following all of these descriptions, I propose the passive/active pairs are as follows: Muse/Lord, Bard/Prince, Rogue/Thief, Seer/Mage, Sylph/Maid, Knight/Heir, Witch/Page. These pairings are based upon what the classes become when you break them down into what they have been fundamentally been found to be. Muse vs. Lord (She who inspires creation vs. He who creates and controls), Bard vs. Prince (He who manipulates into destruction vs. He who destroys by force), Rogue vs. Thief (She who channels vs. She who steals), Seer vs. Mage (He who sees ahead vs. He who sees within), Sylph vs. Maid (She who heals and protects vs. She who fixes [destroys] and protects), Knight vs. Heir (He who defends others vs. He who defends himself), and finally, Witch vs. Page (She who controls vs. He who becomes).
With the finale of the class discussion, the next portion of this exploration would be explaining the aspects which you must link with your class, and this is a discussion in which the lines are not quite as clear. Though aspects are clearly stated by name, they are often not meant literally, and can encompass a great deal of things symbolically, allowing certain classes to take control of their aspects in certain ways.
We have already stated that aspects do not have active/passive classifications like classes do, because the way your aspect manifests itself in your session depends entirely on how you exploit it. As with classes, there are two “master” aspects that are not necessarily the most powerful, but are required for any successful Sburb session. We will begin discussing these two, and move from there into the other aspects.
Time is the aspect that is possibly the easiest to explain. As is very much obvious, Time players have a connection with and an innate knowledge of the progression of time and the intricacy of its ceaseless workings, and find they have the ability to manipulate and commune with time. This may manifest in the ability to slow time, freeze time, travel through time, steal time, or a host of other abilities. Many seem to accept the knowledge that Time players are constantly aware of time passing around them, even when they are not actively using their powers. It is quite possible that, though Time players are “born” with the knowledge required to navigate time, they may not be able to explain it, as it may come as naturally to them as breathing comes to any living creature. So far, no exception to this rule has been found. Even without spending copious amounts of time practicing their skills as we have seen other players do, Time players seem to enter the game knowing how to work their element with almost no trouble. This is especially true once they have reached God Tier. Both canon Time players have been shown to have almost complete mastery over time by the time they achieved God Tier.
There are several associations with the Time aspect which lend some insight as to what this aspect really represents. Time players have some kind of fascination or association with death, lending to the conclusion that Time is tied into the inevitability of all things and the inevitable progression of the universe. They also often have something relating to music on their planet, in their home, or on their person, which makes sense as timing is very crucial in music. Time is also associated in life with clocks and timers, which are commonplace in canon, and often symbolic in context.
But there is more to a Time player than those abilities alone. They are tasked with keeping the alpha timeline intact and ensuring that their session is completed by this means. One final task designated to Time players is that all of them thus far have had on their planet a device that will allow them to perform the Scratch, which is a feature that completely resets their session with preferably better starting conditions. The details of the Scratch may be explored at a later date, but for now we will be content with the knowledge that it is the duty of the Time player to tend to this feature should their session require it. (A brief note on the Scratch: though the mechanism required for starting the Scratch is on the Time player’s planet, in both instances in which we have seen a Scratch performed, it has not been performed by the respective Time player due to interfering circumstances. Thus, it is not a duty that is exclusively Time-related, but is merely just a duty that they may be more suited to.)
The sister aspect to Time is Space. It is slightly harder to define. The exact powers granted to a Space player are not entirely certain. One canon Space player, Jade Harley, has been shown to have extreme control over spatial relationships8, with the abilities to shrink and grow objects as well as teleport the objects in addition to herself, though it is uncertain whether these abilities are a result of her place as a Space player or of her designation as a Witch, whose abilities involve direct manipulation over her aspect. However, it is likely that all Space players would have some amount of control over these elements of space.
In contrast to Time which has been associated with death and mortality, it is thus logical to assume that Space is an aspect related to life and creation, which is shown by the fact that it is the duty of the Space player to breed the Genesis Frog, which brings about the birth of a new universe. Given that there is already a Life aspect, however, this may simply be a conclusion that is drawn from the generally generous natures of the known Space players. Space players thus far have been shown to be very caring and in two cases very motherly individuals, which shifts Space’s association from the broad term “life” to the more precise term “birth”.
Space is an aspect that is often thought to be tied into physics and the rules of the physical realm, which makes sense when you consider that Time and Space are intended to embody the necessary components of a universe, Space being the physical realm and Time being the inevitability of progression and death. They could also represent physical vs. mental/spiritual existences, which work in harmony to form a working world. In this respect, Space players would then be granted control over the physical world, which would lead to some very interesting mechanics and abilities when you consider how it could be paired with some of the different classes.
By tying Space to “birth”, we are left with the association of “life” and “creation” to be placed on its logical aspect, which is that of Life. This aspect is very straightforward, and perhaps may be as easily outlined as the Time aspect has been. Life players have been seen not only with the ability to heal others9, but also the ability to bring themselves back from what appeared to be certain death10. One ex-Life player has shown the ability to prolong the lifespan of others, however given that she is the semi-immortal leader of a race of telepathically-inclined aliens, it may be that this was simply an inherent ability only distantly related to her previous iteration as a Hero of Life.
Life players have also had ties in their own lives to the cycle of natural life, such as the constant struggle for survival, the need for adaptation, and constant bending or breaking of the rules. This suggests that Life players are the most versatile and hardy of all aspects, willing and able to use their powers, and perhaps even innovate them, in any manner in order to ensure their own survival.
An aspect commonly accepted as Life’s logical counterpart is Doom. Like Time players, all canon Doom players (who may not be considered viable examples seeing as they are mirror versions of one another) have a strong association with death and endings. This means their aspect may be one that is translated literally, but in such an intricate and in-depth game like Sburb, it is unlikely that any aspect can be pinned to such a one-dimensional definition. That Doom is tied to endings is perhaps an irrefutable fact, but leaving it there seems an injustice. One could also consider it a counterpart to Light, which takes advantage of luck and good fortune, but rather than submitting themselves to bad fortune, Heroes of Doom could find themselves benefiting from the bad fortune of others.
Doom is something that is inevitable and inescapable, and thus this aspect can also embody the systems and rules that are impossible to buck. Unlike Life, which is about adapting to rules and bucking the system, Doom players could find themselves bound or binding themselves to well-known constructs and guidelines, using those guidelines to their advantage. Our well-explored Doom player, Sollux Captor, had a knack for systems and rules, which he used to his advantage many times and, in his universe’s instance, used this ability to ensure Sburb’s creation in the first place. Doom players may keep their party very aware of their own limitations, but can also find ways to use those limitations to gain favor in seemingly unfavorable conditions.
A final note on our canon Doom player before we depart to our next aspect is that though he perceived his situation as being doomed and hopeless, it was in fact he who saved them from being just that. In that regard, Doom players may not be a walking avatar for their aspect, but may in fact be their party’s key to warding it off.
And now we are going to move on to an aspect we have mentioned quite a bit over the course of this essay: Light. This is definitely an aspect that has not been shown to be interpreted literally and it is also possibly the aspect we know the most about. Though there are only a few canon players, we have seen enough of their powers, which are a wide range, to make an educated opinion on just what Light means in a party.
Rather than being about actual light, this aspect tends to more indicative of good fortune and good endings. The world is kind to Light players when they are in touch with their aspect, throwing good fortune and ample opportunity for success their way. Light players, like Doom players, may find themselves the turning point in a party’s development. It is an aspect in which, when paired with the correct class, could breed endlessly bountiful results. Light is also very grounded in reality and truth. In Sburb’s dark labyrinth, Light players may be a guiding point, not necessarily as leaders but definitely as a helpful soul who knows which way to go.
However, we have also seen what happens when Light players have a disconnect with their aspect (NOTE: A disconnection from one’s aspect is a characteristic of all canon Princes, so perhaps an exploration of a Prince of Light in canon may be informative). In this instance, their fortune becomes muddled, their words less likely to be truthful and guiding, and they are likely to find themselves spiraling into their worst traits or suppressed desires, spirals that now all canon Light players have succumbed to, with varying degrees of disaster.
Hope is an aspect that seems like it would be equally positive. Hope is classified as emotional11, meaning a Hope player’s strengths would not necessarily lie merely in shooting things with his magic Hope-y powers12. Hope has been shown and stated to be a very powerful aspect, even if we haven’t seen too much of a fully-realized Hope player’s powers. The central strength of a Hope player seems to be that player’s seemingly mindless devotion to a thing, which inspires hope within them and allows them to unlock their potential. One might initially wave off a growing Hope player’s announcement that if you believe in something “with enough gusto,” it will grant that thing with “a pinch more chutzpah,” or, in layman’s terms, that if you believe in something enough, that thing will become true13. This may seem a ridiculous thing to say, but given what we have seen of a Hope player’s potential, it is not unlikely that this is actually where their true power lies.
A Hope player’s strengths lies in their strength of mind and of will and of heart. They can potentially will a situation into whatever they desire it to be, and, as we have seen, are implied to have the ability to channel their very emotions into weapons capable of extreme destruction12.
Like Light, however, all Hope players thus far have been seen to lose touch with their aspect, but this has not robbed them of their power. Even if turned in the wrong direction, a Hope player’s emotions are their weapon, possibly literally, and losing their hope may not render them useless, only very very dangerous. Hope is an aspect with far more potential than one might expect, and thus it is very interesting that we have a Page of Hope, the very embodiment, then, of untapped potential.
Another emotional aspect, and one of the author’s personal favorites, is Blood. This is another aspect that is not to be interpreted literally. It is commonly accepted that Blood actually refers to unity and cohesiveness, as based on the term “blood brothers”. Blood could be associated with the emotions that typically bring people together, such as trust, faith, confidence and compassion. Whether a Blood player inspires these feelings or channels them is unknown and likely based on class. Blood players have an innate knowledge of the emotions of others, which allows them to either bring people together or tear them apart, again depending on their class.
Thus, a Blood player would have an affinity with emotion the way a Light player would have an affinity with fortune. They would be very familiar with how it worked and be able to manipulate it, consciously or not, to their own benefit. Blood players are naturally inclined to be leaders or those who at the very least inspire others when they are at their most chaotic.
In addition to being another emotional aspect, Heart can also be translated as the antithesis to Blood, as Heart is for players who “walk the path of the self”14. They have been stated to experience or inspire “splinters” in personality and once fully realized may be similar to Blood players in their understanding of human (or alien) emotion. It has been stated that this aspect is centered on your very essence, taking “heart” to mean “soul”. Heart players, as an emotional aspect, can inspire emotion in others, in this case strong passion or fervor, either for a person or a belief. They seem to be geared towards the development of themselves and others, emotional or otherwise, and may be similar to Hope in that they may be able to channel their emotions into power.
All canon Heart players have been shown to have an association with romance, meaning that this aspect could be taken semi-literally in this sense. They have all had moments in which they were intensely dedicated to the act of “shipping” other characters, and they have all been shown to have very intense romantic emotions.
The final emotional aspect is Rage. Where Light was the aspect we knew the most about, it is equally true that Rage is the aspect of which we know the least. Our two canon Rage players, Gamzee and Kurloz Makara, are both extremely capricious and anything they have done in game to hint at their possible powers has been either related to caste-related abilities or complete and utter insanity.
Now, as our other emotional aspects have been tied to specific emotions (Hope with devotion, Blood with camaraderie and compassion, and Heart with romantic feelings), it would make sense to similarly match Rage with a line of emotions that could be channeled in different ways depending on your class. This part of the process is relatively easy. Rage may simply be the opposite of Heart, associated with negative development and negative emotion. Rage could very well be simply about channeling one’s rage or the rage of another and using it to your own advantage.
One Rage player, Gamzee Makara, has also been shown entering a kind of berserk mode15, in which he crackled with purple lightning, purple being Rage’s associated color. Seeing as this is also the color of his blood, it is unknown whether this event was related to his aspect or not. If it is related to his aspect, this may tie Rage to gods who use lightning, who are known as angry and violent gods. Those who have had Rage inspired in them and those who have Rage as an aspect, have all been shown to be blindly following one line of thought, which is often a thought that is rooted in anger and leads to drastic action.
Taking all of this into account, Rage is likely about discord, violence and anger, and Rage players would find themselves able to understand and manipulate these forces just as well as any other emotional player. Another Rage player, Kurloz Makara, has an affinity with shipping, much like a Heart player might, but he has been stated to deal exclusively with black quadrants, the quadrants associated with hate.
Mind is the next aspect, and it is another one that can be taken as literally as desired. Mind is associated with decision-making and intuition, and Mind players are seen to act purely based on their own thoughts, without any regard to the thoughts of feelings of others. In their defense, however, their own thoughts are usually very logical and, from their point of view, beneficial to their party as a whole. It is more commonly linked with action and decisiveness than anything else, but Mind players also have a few useful quirks to go along with it.
As the aspect is linked with intelligence and thought, Mind players are a bit like the Seers and Mages of the aspect world, in that they have a knowledge that is not necessarily gained through any recognizable means, and have the abilities to understand other people’s thoughts. A Mind player has also been seen to be openly communicating with a “splinter” that, until that moment, we as an audience believed to be a figment of another’s imagination16. This hints at other powers allotted to Mind players that allow them to traverse the labyrinths of other people’s minds and see the truth where it may be hidden.
A very interesting aspect, and another that catches the author’s special interest, is Void. The Void aspect is exactly as it sounds, and has gotten a great deal of exposition recently with a Void player being catapulted to a place of great importance in the story. Void represents nothing, and this manifests itself immediately in the lives of those who embody it. Void players have a knack for being untraceable, and our human Void player has been seen to have “black-outs” at certain points of her life, during which she was unviewable by any third party. Void, thus, may also tend to lean more towards constructs given to a class, taking a page from the book of defensive classes such as Heir and Knight. Void players have the ability to make themselves “invisible” in one way or another.
Void players have all shown that they can use their class’s abilities to draw objects, powers, etc. from “nothing”, putting them near Hope when it comes to sheer potential. A fully-realized Void player would be able to use these powers for a great many things, and we have already seen what a barely-realized Void player can do19. Canon Void players have been seen using their aspect to protect themselves, creating a void around or within themselves with which they deny reality as the rest of us commonly accept it.
Our final aspect is Breath. First and foremost, Breath has been linked quite obviously to “air” more than it has to the action that we use to breath, and Breath players will likely have a connection to the air, manipulating it as we have seen John Egbert, the Heir of Breath, do many times. Being related thus to air, Breath is linked with freedom and direction, like the wind. It is also very strongly tied to flight. Breath players have been shown to have a great deal of emotional resilience. They have all overcome emotional and physical trauma with extreme and surprising strength, refusing to let it drag them down and continuing on their paths while retaining most of their original self.
It is likely that all Breath players will have some sort of control over air, regardless of class, and their class may simply affect how they use this manipulation. Breath may also be related to movement and, possibly, to life, which ties it more to its name rather than the air-like qualities it possesses.
Though Breath is mostly linked simply to air, if we explore it more we can understand why, knowing this, it would not simply have been named “Wind.” Breath players, with their strength, affinity for direction, relation to movement, and the afore-mentioned relation to air, may actually be representing what a person needs to stay alive: to live, to move, and to breathe.
That concludes this expository work of theory. These descriptions are, contrary to what our word count may argue, rather basic and are merely guidelines for any Sburb player wishing to know more about what their classpects offer them in-game. The author hopes you have found these definitions, crafted with the help of many logical canon and fanon sources, aid you in some way in your exploration of the world of Sburb and what it has to offer. With that, the exposition section of this work has now been quite skillfully wrapped up, the author leaves you to use this newly imparted knowledge to better your writing, roleplaying, character building, or simply your living experience.
Bibliography & Credits
1: Calliope, “==>.” Homestuck
2: Tumblr User Meulinn, “Class Key Phrases.” Tumblr. Original URL not found.
3. Tumblr User Shooshpapping, “Class/Aspect Shenanigans.” Tumblr.
4. Calliborn, “==>.” Homestuck
5. Hussie, Andrew, “Bard and Prince.” MS Paint Adventures Wikia
6. Maryam, Kanaya, “==>.” Homestuck
7. Maryam, Kanaya. “[A6A6I1] ====>.” Homestuck
8. Hussie, Andrew. “Cascade.” Homestuck
9. Hussie, Andrew. “[A612] ==>.” Homestuck
10. Hussie, Andrew. “Jack: Inspect torso.” Homestuck
11. Tumblr User Kohila. “Aspects Discerned: The Natural Categorization of Aspects Based on Abilities.” Tumblr
12. Ampora, Eridan. “==>.” Homestuck
13. English, Jake. “==>.” Homestuck
14. English, Jake. “==>.” Homestuck
15. Hussie, Andrew. “Gamzee: ENGAGE HERO MODE.” Homestuck
16. Hussie, Andrew. “==>.” Homestuck
17. That bit where Roxy says she is the Robin Hood
18. Megido, Aradia. “Tavros: Contact fellow Team Charge Member.” Homestuck
19. The bit where Roxy conjures the Matriobject.
Acknowledgements
I would like to, at this point, offer my gratitude to Andrew Hussie, for allowing me such a beautiful world with which to play pretend, to my brother Miles, for putting up with my constantly shouting aggravations regarding the difficulties this essay presented, to my sister Cassidy, for much the same and for getting me into Homestuck at all, and to my fellow Beforustuck roleplayers: if not for you leaving on my own with naught but a half-developed character, this essay would never have come to exist.
Additional, apologetically unsourced information used to develop these theories has been taken from the MSPA Wikia and various posts found on the Homestuck Resources Tumblr page (such as this one!), and both sources are thanked profusely and very sloppily for their contributions to this work. A very specific thank you is offered to Tumblr user infinitywhale…while I disagree with some of your conclusions, let it never be said that your words did not in some way come to inspire mine. From one fan to another, thank you and good job.