Specialists in Winx Club: WTF Are They Again?

Intro:

So… what is a specialist? Winx fans tend to take it for granted, but when you speak to… well, normal people, and you tell them about the three magic schools at the series’ forefront, note the confusion in their eyes when you mention how the third school Redfountain teaches not wizards, but… specialists? What do they specialize in - dating?

Winx Club is quite unconventional in terms of worldbuilding, and the specialists are a prime example. With all their tools and technology, they’re arguably the strongest reminder of the show’s sci-fi, space opera vibes, but is that enough to justify their inclusion? Are they more than just arm candy for the leading ladies? And where are the magical men?

Today, we’re gonna talk about the specialists. What do they do, are they worth including, and what does Winx Club do with more conventional roles like sorcerers and wizards?

What Is A Specialist Anyway?:

Most of the series takes place in the Magic Dimension: an endless assortment of worlds that, you guessed it, are all filled with magic. Think Star Wars, but with magical creatures. Everyone born in the Magic Dimension has magic within them, but not everyone taps into it. For most folks, it’s just used for everyday conveniences, like powering their technomagic phones or devices, or warping reality to make themselves a parking spot on the fly.

There are many magic schools and colleges across the Magic Dimension, but three stand above the rest: Alfea College for Fairies, Cloudtower College for Witches, and Redfountain College for Specialists, all found on the planet of Magix, the capital of the Magic Dimension. Alumni from these colleges will go on to protect the realms, though to be real with you, the show only cares about fairies.

Fairies get all their worldbuilding fleshed out, with an assortment of different transformations, a… less flimsy syllabus, and a game plan for becoming Guardian Fairies of their homeworlds. Witches and specialists, meanwhile, get none of this. They’re basically just there to provide love interests and conflict.

Specialists don’t rely on magic like fairies and witches. Instead, they use technomagic weapons, which, you guessed it again, are advanced technology powered by magic. They primarily use phantoblades: holographic weapons of any kind, and they have a shocking variety. From every kind of sword, to bolas and guns, and even Wolverine claws, if you can imagine wielding it, there’s a phantoblade equivalent. Again, think lightsabers from Star Wars, but more varied… and gayer.

The Cinelume dub did confuse me a bit on this, since they refer to the Redfountain students as magicians, but it turns out this is a mistranslation. In the original Italian, Faragonda refers to them as, “maghi cavalieri,” which means “wizard knights.” Though the wizard part is a bit of a misnomer. I’d say they’re more “magic knights,” cuz really, that’s kinda the best way to describe specialists. They’re knights, but with a… futuristic fantasy flair.

While they can definitely help in combat, especially in the first three seasons, the specialists are mostly useful through their transportation. They’re sci-fi Uber drivers, basically. Because the Magic Dimension is filled with different worlds, we have to use either magical items to teleport between them, or travel across space in starships.

There’s a whole system here for the specialists. For simple travel, we’ve got hoverbikes, called wind riders. Large starships, meanwhile, are named for birds, such as the Hawk, the Owl, and the Crow. The Hawk is the largest of the starships used for transporting a large number of people. The Owl is mid-range, better for dangerous missions that require more agility, and the Crow is a single-person fighter ship.

In the first three seasons, the specialists routinely come in clutch for our transportation needs. If we’re in a situation where Stella can’t teleport us with her scepter, the specialists can take us to other worlds - or other parts of the world - on one of their ships. And they’re incredibly useful for missions requiring the whole crew.

The specialists also have dragons, because why not? There are many types of dragons in the franchise, and the Redfountain ones seem to have a more eastern influence, being a bit more serpentine in design. Naturally, each specialist’s dragon is color coded, they can breathe fire, and they’re good for monster fighting… please don’t make this weird. Oh, also there’s a weird psychic link between the specialists and their dragons? Neat.

They’ve got a few other gadgets that come in handy, such as bombs, or thingies that let you phase through solid matter. All of this often gets forgotten since the specialists are kept on the backburner, but I’d argue that’s a good thing, as it keeps them from overshadowing the real stars of the show: the fairies. The specialists aren’t here to save the fairies from danger - they’re here to provide some backup. Make sure their glittery girlies have all they need to save the day.

That said, I do wish the franchise wasn’t so… cisnormative. Like, if you’re a man, you’re not gonna be a fairy or a witch, and if you’re a woman, you’re not gonna be a specialist. And if you’re nonbinary, you don’t exist, I guess. Personally, I’d like if anyone of any gender could be anything they like. Give us some boy fairies, some lady specialists, and some enby witches.

So the specialists are pretty neat. Could use a bit more work, but they function well enough, and definitely deserve more respect. At least, in those first three seasons, before they become totally irrelevant. But what about wizards, or paladins, or any of the other magical men of this series? What about them?

What About Wizards?:

So, that whole thing of Winx Club not caring if you’re not a fairy? That goes doubly so if you’re anything other than a witch or a specialist. Wizards are never really defined in the show, and there’s not many of them. Aside from Saladin and Nabu, they’re mostly villains, like Valtor or the Black Circle… and other terrible villains I refuse to acknowledge. And for the sake of our sanity, let’s just assume the terms wizard, sorcerer, and magician are interchangeable.

So, a lot of this is gonna rely on my own interpretations, so please take all this with a grain of salt, and don’t get mad at me… unless you’re gonna sit through the ads. I think the main point of confusion is what, aside from gender, separates a wizard from a witch? And are there any sorceresses? Well, yes, in the comics I haven’t read, but fundamentally, how is their magic different from each other?

Witches, like fairies, have unique sources of power. Icy is the Witch of… well, Ice, Darcy is the Witch of Darkness, and Stormy’s the Witch of Storms. Like fairies, witches can do general magic, but for the most part stick to their very specific power source. Wizards, meanwhile, don’t seem to have this. They’re more… jacks of all trades.

Valtor may be made from the Dragon Flame like Bloom, but he doesn’t appear to be the Wizard of the Dragon Flame. Nabu isn’t shown to have a specific power source, and neither is Saladin. The Black Circle each have their own unique power, but I don’t think Gantlos having super strength and the ability to make shock waves is the same as Musa being the Fairy of Music.

I’m assuming this is, again, to keep the focus on fairies. Plus if you keep it vague enough, you can pretty much have your one-off wizard characters do whatever you want without contradicting yourself. And there are colleges for wizards in later seasons and supplemental material, but none with the same prestige as the three main schools.

“Wait,” I hear you ask, “What about paladins?” To which I respond… do you mean season 2 paladins, or season 6 paladins? Cuz those are very different. So, for the sweet summer children, season 5 and onward of Winx Club is… corporate fanfiction, to put it nicely. The fandom tends to not consider them canon because Rainbow treats canon like a roadblock to break through for the sake of lazy writing and merchandising tie-ins.

In season 2, we only have one paladin: Professor Avalon. He can do magic, which seems to be incredibly advanced, reciting incantations which use presumably ancient magical languages. For the most part, his magic seems to be light-based, and he even has retractable angel wings made of light. Aesthetically, this helps him fit in with all the other holographic magic seen in the show, while still carrying a clear angel motif.

So paladins are light-based magic wielders. I’d say they’re holy knights, but holy would kinda refer to a god… like, Abrahamic God, and as we all know, the true god of the Magic Dimension is the Great Dragon herself hey how are you. But you catch my drift.

But in season 6, we meet two new paladins: Thoren and Nex. And… they’re basically just specialists in red. Same hoverbikes, same technomagic weapons. Well, in this case, they’re nature-themed weapons? They’re just low-budget, generic-brand versions of the phantoblades, let’s be real. They don’t even say what school they attend, they don’t use magic or have wings, and they’re always hanging out with the specialists, so there’s really no difference between them. So… why call them paladins?! So, let’s just ignore paladins in season 6 altogether, yeah?

But hold on… if Redfountain teaches specialists, then why the fuck is their headmaster a wizard? That… I do not have an answer for. Maybe it’s to make Saladin more impressive, and also have his magic be cohesive with that of Faragonda and Griffin? I guess Codatorta being the second-in-command makes it less egregious, since he’s a specialist.

Maybe we could’ve avoided this by finding a different name for specialists. 4Kids kept the name, but also called them… heroes. Okay, sure. I guess that’s not wrong, and I do dig the cheesiness. But I think magic knights would’ve been the best route here. Makes it a bit clearer at a glance what they do, and how they fit into the world of Winx.