Sunday, May 30, 2021

Character Analysis: Star Butterfly(Feat Lousy)


Background


Age: 15 (14 at the start of the series)

Height: 5’2 (157 cm)

Species: Mewman


-Has demonic ancestry

-Inspired by Sailor Moon and various magical girls.

-Likes kicking in doors.


Once, in the magical land of Mewni, there existed the royal Butterfly family, led by Queen Moon and King River. The Butterfly lineage had ruled Mewni for generations, creating countless magical spells while fighting back monsters. The Queen and King’s hopes were that their daughter, Star Butterfly, would carry on that rule. But like most teenagers, Star was a little weird, and a little wild when it came time for her to inherit the royal wand.


Normally this would get her a one-way ticket to St. Olga’s School For Wayward Princesses, where she’d get all the fun and individuality removed from her. Instead, her parents decided to send her to a little dimension called Earth as an exchange student, where she would learn to better control her magic. It was there that she met and befriended an awkward Earth human named Marco Diaz.


Star wasn’t the only one making trips to Earth though. Constantly pestering her was the monster kappa, Ludo, who wanted her magical wand in order to conquer the universe. Inevitably, their conflicts would lead Star on a series of misadventures across various dimensions. All while dealing with the pesky feelings and emotions that every teenager has.


Aside from Ludo, Star also faced off against the much more competent septarian nemesis of Mewni, Toffee, the deranged former Mewni soldier, Mina, the HeadMistress of St. Olga’s, and many other odd, supernatural foes. Over the course of it all, Star slowly realized that monsters weren’t all bad, and attempted to unite them and mewmans. The generation-spanning resentment between mewmans and monsters made this difficult.


But as it turned out, Star and her mother weren’t the true heirs to Mewni’s throne. Long ago, Eclipsa, one of Mewni’s former Queens, eloped with a monster named Globgor. Despite intending to unite monsters and mewmans, her actions were seen as treasonous, and she was crystalized. The Magic High Commission then removed Eclipsa’s child, Meteora, from the royal records, instead replacing her with the child of a peasant family, who Star is a descendent of. This would come back to bite the Magic High Commission when St. Olga’s HeadMistress, Heinous (real name: Meteora) learned of her heritage, and tried to reclaim Mewni.


Fortunately, Eclipsa was freed from crystallization, and infantcided (more or less) her evil child. After which, Star relinquished the throne to her. The problems were far from done though. Tension between mewmans and monsters continued, escalating to an all out war. The former mewman soldier, Mina Loveberry, recommissioned hundreds of magical armors, and planned an insurrection against Queen Eclipsa with the backing of the Magic High Commission.


Backed into a corner and seeing how much trouble magic has caused for everyone, Star decided she might as well stop Mina and the entire conflict by destroying all magic in existence. She, Moon, Eclipsa, and Meteora used a silencing spell in the magical dimension to do exactly that. This decision had the slight downside of killing every magical creature across the multiverse. Or at least, magical creatures whose existence depended on magic. 


But that sort of gets brushed over, because in the finale, as the portals between worlds are closing, Earth and Mewni (somehow) get merged, reuniting Star and Marco (presumably) for the rest of their days.


Experience


While inexperienced with magic throughout most of the show, Star does pick up some tricks and progress as it goes on.


-Star received some training in magic from Glossaryck, the magical entity that inhabits the Butterfly family’s spellbook. (Season 2, Episode 1, 3:50)

-Star was noted for being particularly gifted in magic, being able to use magic without a wand at the age 14 (Season 2, Episode 1, 10:15). For comparison, Star’s mother first learned to do so when she was 19.

-A magical inspector/tester even states Star is far beyond where Moon was at her age. (Season 2, Episode 16, 10:48)

-Star was very briefly ‘trained’ by Mina Loveberry, though this was mostly a lark that showed how crazy Mina had become. (Season 2, Episode 5, 3:18)

-The Book of Spells states Star has read some of her family’s spellbook. Star says she ‘skimmed’ everything past the first chapter, but it shows she has some formal understanding of magic.

-Several flashbacks show Star being taught combat by her family’s royal guard at a young age. She also claims she was taught how to use a sword. (Season 3, Episode 20, 4:06)

-While Star generally relies on her wand and magic, she has shown herself capable of fighting without it. (Season 1, Episode 4, 17:30)

-Star spent some time learning different magic poses to better control her powers. (Season 2, Episode 7, 20:02)

-By season 4 Star no longer has her wand, and has learned to use magic without it. (Season 4, Episode 1, 0:45)


Arsenal


Royal Magical Wand: Star’s primary weapon throughout most of the series. Created by Glossaryck, the wand is a family heirloom Star received from her mother. Its appearance alters depending on its owner. For example, when Eclipsa had the wand its form was an umbrella. In Star’s hand, it’s more akin to a traditional wand with a vibrant, toy-like aesthetic. Star’s specific version of it is made of rare ‘ameratized starglass’ and is durable enough to parry sword strikes. 


-Underneath the wand is a miniature ‘mill-horse’ that powers the wand by running along a tread-mill. (Season 1, Episode 13, 18:06)

-The wand also has a charger that needs to be used to keep it powered. (Season 1, Episode 4)

-The wand was partially broken and corrupted at the end of Season 1, which would cause it to go haywire if Star tried to cast magic while feeling negative emotions. However, this has since been fixed.


Of course, the wand’s bread and butter is in its magical spells. Originally Star needed the wand to perform spells, but she has since gained the ability to use magic on her own.


Dimensional Scissors: Magical scissors that can create portals to other dimensions. Normally these can be used to go to any point across the multiverse. Though as demonstrated when Star and co. tried to sneak into St. Olga’s School For Wayward Princesses, the user can be prevented from going to their exact desired location if there is some kind of anti-magic or interference. (Season 1, Episode 10, 6:05)


Abilities


Aside from superhuman strength, speed, and durability, Star’s status as a mewman with Butterfly family heritage gives her several benefits.


Butterfly Wings: After undergoing ‘mewberty’ Star gained a tiny set of wings on her back. In her normal form they don’t do much, but can give her a brief burst of pseudo-flight. (Season 2, Episode 3, 6:40). In her Butterfly form, Star’s wings grow in full, and can be used for proper flight. (Season 3, Episode 10, 7:00)


Ultimate Magic/Butterfly Form: Star’s much more powerful magical form. The result of undergoing ‘mewberty’, a phenomena unique to members of the Butterfly family who are exposed to a large amount of magic. In this form, Star grows 2 extra pairs of arms, can fly, create portals to other dimensions, and gains a considerable boost in magical power.


-While it never comes up in the show, according to Glossaryck’s section in the Book of Spells, the Omatidia Eyes of the Butterfly form lets its user view more than one dimension at a time. Though he notes that ‘You probably won’t be able to comprehend it at the time.’ 

-He also claims in the Book of Spells that the eyes let the user read any language.

-Star originally could not control when she entered this form, but as of Season 3, Episode 12 (21:23), can switch between it and her normal form whenever she wants.


Magic and Mysticism: Through either her wand, or her own prowess, Star can perform a multitude of magical spells. I’ll be covering the important ones. The full list of spells can be found here. While Star hasn’t used every spell listed, and may not be capable of several such as Eclipsa’s body swap, she should be able to use most of them. Some spells were made up by Star on the fly, while others are ones she learned from her family’s book of spells.


Cupcake Blast: One of Star’s go-to attacks. Fires a beam filled with cupcake decorates. Star has a variant that fires poisonous cupcakes as well.


Blueberry Cupcake Bazooka: Star forms a bazooka that fires a cupcake-themed blast.


Kitten Bomb: Star creates several kitten-themed timebombs that explode after a few seconds.


Supersonic Leech Bomb: A series of time-bombs shaped like leeches that stick to surfaces.


Shooting Star Explosion: A blast of star-shaped projectiles.


Gravity Removal: A spell that stops the gravity by stopping Earth or Mewni’s rotation. 


Weapon Creation: Unnamed magic that Star can use to either transform her wand into or create weapons. (Season 3, Episode 15, 9:05) (Season 1, Episode 2, 17:00)


Mega Explosive Crystal Laser: Said to be one of the most powerful spells and capable of ‘neutralizing planets’. Naturally, Star uses it as a glorified laser pointer for cats.


Dagger Heart Blast: Fires a series of heart-shaped daggers.


Bulla Spiro: A special bubble that allows Star to breath underwater.


Forcefields/Barriers: Star can create magical force fields to block attacks. (Season 3, Episode 21, 16:42)


Rainbow Battle Armor: Star can form a giant humanoid mass of rainbow-colored energy around her to act as battle armor. (Season 4, Episode 19, 6:48)


Rainbow Blast: Star fires a rainbow colored beam.


Radiant Rainbow Bridge: Creates a rainbow that can be traversed.


Levitato: A basic telekinesis spell that wraps objects in a barrier, and levitates them towards or away from the user.


Lightning Blasts: Star can fire blasts of lightning (Season 3, Episode 8, 8:12)


Jellybean Hallucination Mist: A blast of mist that temporarily hypnotizes the opponent.


Winter Storm Hyper Blow: A blast of ice that can freeze foes in place, and in mid-air. (Season 4, Episode 17, 1:42)


Bunny Rocket Blast: Star creates a small blast of magic that propels her at speeds fast enough to catch up with a car. (Season 1, Episode 3, 17:18)


Raspberry Panzerfaust: A long-range magic missile.


Raspberry Ribbon Lasso: Creates an energy lasso that can grapple things.


Transmutation: Star can use her wand to transmute individuals into weaker, less threatening forms. Such as squirrel frogs. (Season 4, Episode 1, 14:02)


Unarmed Stretchy Arm: Star creates a giant sticky hand that can grab foes.


Black Widow Calamity Cobweb: Star creates a mystical spider-web that can be used to ensnare foes.


Magic Bubble Double Diffusion: Traps foes in a special bubble.


Starfish Tsunami: Star summons a giant tsunami filled with star-fish.


Syrup Tsunami Shockwave: Star creates a giant tidal wave of syrup that harms and sticks foes to surfaces.


Life Creation: Star can give life to inanimate objects, such as beanbags.


Releaseo Demonius Infestica: A spell used to heal broken arms… While also transforming said arm into a sentient tentacle.


Turbo Nuclear Butterfly Blast: A large explosion capable of levelling houses. (Season 1, Episode 2, 8:30)


Easy Peasy Time Freezy: A spell that completely stops the flow of time across the universe for everyone except the user, and at least one person of their choosing. In the episode  ‘Freeze Day’, where this was first used, the spell achieved this by knocking Father Time off the Wheel of Time. But he has since started operating the wheel of time using several magical creatures. Star also promised to not use the spell ever again. Making its applicability in combat questionable.


Whispering Spell: A silencing spell that is designed to destroy and neutralize magic. Star used it to (temporarily) destroy the magic within her wand (Season 1, Episode 13, 15:15). However, she can theoretically also use it to silence others’ magic. In the show’s finale, Star, Moon, Eclipsa, and Meteora all infamously destroyed all magic across the multiverse by using the Whispering Spell within the Realm of Magic.


Other


Summons: In addition to her spells, Star can summon a variety of creatures. Often these creatures are used as singular projectiles, but others have different uses. Note that these creatures aren’t created or materialized into existence every time the spell is used. It’s shown in multiple episodes (such as Season 2, Episode 11, 12:40) that these creatures live in their own pocket space within Star’s wand, where they hang out until being called upon by Star’s magic. And that they all have their own personalities, dreams, and aspirations (which makes the series finale all the more messed up, but I digress).


Interestingly enough, the wand also houses the creatures summoned by past queens (Season 4, Episode 12). Though Star has only ever used the ones relegated to her domain. The various creatures within this domain include...


Cloudy: A sentient pink cloud that Star will sometimes use to fly to different locations. It can, however, be impeded if it has to fly through polluted air, or is fed contaminated or undesirable food.


Honeybee Tornado Swarm: Creates a swarm of honeybees that seek out opponents.


Narwhal Blast: Star fires a stream of narwhals at the opponent to damage them. Interestingly, these narwhals can also use echolocation (Season 4, Episode 12, 19:10), and fire magical energy beams (Season 4, Episode 12, 19:55)


Warnicorn Stampede: One of Star’s signature moves. Originally invented by the 1st Queen Skywynne, the spell summons a herd of warnicorns that stampede through anything in their way.


Minotaur: A giant minotaur Star can summon to charge enemies and break barricades.


Giant Whale: An unnamed giant whale Star can summon to crush foes.


Spider With a Top Hat Blast: A seemingly harmless spider that actually has a laser minigun stored in his hat. This makes him Star’s trump card in various situations, and arguably her most powerful summon. In Season 2, Episode 11, Spider was the only summon of her’s powerful enough to put down the giant monster of the week.


All Seeing Eye: A summon that originated from one of the Dark Magic Spells Star learned from Eclipsa’s section of the Butterfly family spell book. It creates a tear in space, through which the caster can see and spy on anyone they wish.


Feats


Strength & Destructive Power


-Destroyed a house with Turbo Nuclear Butterfly Blast. (Season 1, Episode 2, 8:30)

-In her mewberty form, lifted a car. (Season 1, Episode 6, 10:02)

-Blasted a large hole in a magic temple. (Season 3, Episode 3, 1:30)

-Broke down a wall. (Season 3, Episode 5, 6:42)

-Created a large blast that destroyed most of a throne room. (Season 3, Episode 21, 17:08)

-Star’s Mega Explosive Crystal Laser spell is stated to be capable of neutralizing (destroying) planets. (, Star and Marco’s Guide to Mastering Every Dimension)

-Star’s wand is stated to be capable of destroying the universe. (Season 1, Episode 1, 1:35)


Speed & Agility


-Caught up with a speeding car using the Bunny Rocket Blast spell. (Season 1, Episode 3, 17:18)

-Dodged darts. (Season 1, Episode 4, 16:55)


Durability & Survivability


-Survived a large magical blast that leveled the top of Butterfly Castle. (, Season 3, Episode 4, 9:53)

-Star’s base durability should reasonably scale to her lower level spells, and the durability of her Butterfly form should scale to her magic.


Scaling


Who does Star scale to?


Star has either fought relatively even with, or defeated most of the top threats in her universe. She’s also noted for being exceptionally gifted in magic, learning to use magic without a wand at age 14, when it took Moon until the age of 19 to accomplish such a feat. As such, she should reasonably scale to any of the threats she’s faced, the previous Queens of Mewni, ETC.


Rhombulus


-Stopped a black hole by encasing it in crystal. (Season 2, Episode 18, 6:33)


Meteora


-Deflected a lightning blast. (Season 3, Episode 21, 11:26)


Hekapoo


-Ran around the planet in seconds


Skywynne


-Stopped and restarted the planet’s spin. ( Star VS. The Forces of Evil: The Magic Book of Spells)

-Destroyed Dimension 811. (Star VS. The Forces of Evil: The Magic Book of Spells)


It’s also worth noting Skywynne’s feat is pretty well corroborated with other stuff we see in Star VS...


-Queen Moon states in the first episode that Star’s wand could destroy the universe. (Season 1, Episode 1, 1:35)

-Omnitraxus prime has galaxies swirling around inside of him, and is the literal magical embodiment of space and time. (Season 2, Episode 17, 6:22)

-Toffee absorbs Omnitraxux Prime’s magic and kills him, along with the other High Commission members. Star’s Butterfly form one-shots Toffee after he does this. (Season 3, Episode 4, 19:35)

-Star, Moon, Eclipsa, and Meteora’s combined magic was enough to completely silence the Magical Realm, destroy all magic in the multiverse, and ultimately merge Earth and Mewni. (Season 4, Episode 21)

-Ludo states the universe is infinitely expanding. In case there’s any question as to whether or not the dimensions in Star VS. are universe-sized. (Season 2, Episode 1, 11:58)


Weaknesses


Star’s magical potential is great, but it’s slightly hindered by how eccentric and unfocused she can be. While her unpredictability can be to her benefit, and she isn’t completely incapable of strategizing, she isn’t going to be coming up with any genius strategies mid-fight. Her magic and stamina also have a limit (albeit, a pretty steep one with her Butterfly form), and though she is very versatile with her magic, she is just as vulnerable to many of the spells she can cast as anyone else. As evident in her wand being vulnerable to silencing spells.


Fun Stuff


-Star mass genociding every magical creature in the multiverse.

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