A time ago, I did an essay on Riff with the intent to plumb the depths of his personality and character. There, I found many mysterious and interesting facts as well as new perspectives and insights - as well as greater still respect for Pete as a writer and crafter of tales. However, to study Riff, one eventually ends up studying Gwynn as well. Of our primary four human main characters, Gwynn is perhaps the least developed, being that she was introduced last. This doesn't make her any less of an interesting character to examine, however, for once again Pete shows his writer's talent and reminds us why his wonderful comic has been running for so many years.

Gwynn can be described with one word - control. Wheras Riff's problem was a lack of trust and personal insecurities, Gwynn instead fears that she simply doesn't control enough of her own life. She's often right, considering how many times she's been possessed. It isn't that she can't trust people, and it isn't that she thinks herself incapable, but anything that threatens her independance or limits her ability she will utterly destroy.

There are countless events that Pete has painted for us as to why this is so - the possessions, the failed relations, being kept out of the loop and manipulated by others - but let's try and see past these. These are events that have shaped her, wheras I want to see where the core of her character comes and then see what has made her evolve into who she is today.

Look back to her earliest appearances, at the first new year's party if I'm correct. Her thought bubbles and words at that time period were simple, almost air-headed when compared to the Gwynn we now know. She admired Riff and encouraged Zoe to look for a cute guy, a little shallow for one of Pete's characters, but then she hadn't yet settled into main character status. We don't know much about her family or her past, but she seemed to work well for Dr. Lorna for some time. All in all, she entered the group as a normal person, without the emotional baggage of Riff, the twisted and fractured world view of Torg, or the stresses and anxieties of Zoe.

I do believe that is the core of her character - or at least was, or would have been. Go back and read her first few appearances, before relation issues drove her to the dark arts and demonic possession, and although there is little to see you may well agree.

More evidence of this can be found by studying Alt-Gwynn, as seen in the Dimension of Lame, because if you compensate for the natural effects of the dimension on a personality she is an excelent example of what Gwynn would have become without her life evolving as it had - controlled, confident, possessed of strong beliefs. Her subsequent disillusionment during the invasion by the Dimension of Pain also give us more clues into the personality of the regular Gwynn, since we see a more graphic version of regular Gwynn's shift in personality. Alt-Gwynn suffered a massive breakdown when she found her usually impressive power suddenly useless in the face of a threat she couldn't even understand (violence) and in turn we see echoes of regular Gwynn's turn to any power - even evil power - to retain control when her relation with Riff goes down the tubes (Yes, I know, there were other things at work in this too).

Considering how much trouble the book has caused her, I'm surprised she isn't angrier with Riff for having acquired it and leaving it for her to get. I know it's hardly his fault that she chose to get it, but then again it may just as easily have chosen her - something which could have been avoided if Riff had disposed of it correctly. But anyways, on with Gwynn.

So what changed her from this confident, independant person? Nothing, really - she still is that person, only one who has been subjected to constant hardship and trials. She wants to be confident, she fights to be independant, but she has not achieved this yet because of how much has been standing in her way. She's been possessed at least twice and still has lingering issues with the book of E-ville. She's often been powerless to stop rampaging monsters or demons, or had to stand by while one of the others saves the day (Riff's famed comment "Sorry, but I'm Union" before saving the day instead of Gwynn when dealing with the monsters and Raythes) and once again leaving her as no longer the master of her own fate.

It's changed her - no doubt. She's harsher, somewhat self-centered (but not in an airheaded way, more in a survivalist way), and always more focused. When the house is lost to the cloners she reacts with terrible rage. She's even starting to show signs of Torg and Riff's behaviour, by being bought out of this anger with a game system.

Now, what does all of this mean? I've stated something about her initial state, I've drawn comparisons from alt-Gwynn, and I've tried to look at those incidents that have shaped her, but how does this ammount to who Gwynn is now? To know who she is at heart, we have to try and put ourselves in her mindset and apply these changes, and we find that she is a highly evolved character indeed.

Pete has written her well, and her transition from innocent to individual, bystander to master of her own fate (even if that control is challenged from time to time). She is an individual who has become stronger not by overcoming challenges - she has become stronger by weathering them, by surviving the demonic possession, by lingering on feelings for Riff, by going on with her life despite the ensnaring darkness that flows from her accursed companion, the book of E-ville. These experiences have made her flinty, sharp, sometimes inconsiderate but never heartless, because these qualities have become necessary for her to live with these long-term problems overshadowing her life.

What does that tell us about her? What should we think of her, and how she treats others? Gwynn is a classic example of the adaptability of humanity, as well as the terrible costs that this sort of survival can bring. Though her changes have granted her power and made her more able to defend her independance, she has won the battle and lost the war - lacking a lot of what she wants in life, feeling dissatisfied, sometimes even bitter. Her tragic flaw is how steep a price she's paid to struggle out of the horrors of her past and yet still be trapped in them, to suffer for her mistakes for the rest of her life. Pity Gwynn, for she is the product of natural human pettyness, curiosity, and fear as well as admire her strength and commitment to survive.

Of course, there are many uses for this sort of perspective on Gwynn. Looking at her troubled relation with Riff, we see that what began as a regular kind of relation, and indeed ended as regular relations do, returned in the form of a strange recognizing of kindrid spirits. Gwynn sees that same desire for control over life that she has in Riff, the desire they share to be independant and free of overbearing influences and manipulating forces, wether they be demonic, corporate, or parental. She didn't have this sort of perspective on life until after her possession, which was after the relation fell apart, but it has perhaps risen from the ashes because of this experience because they now share a link, a bond of two people struggling against their own secret, hidden enemies.

In the future, and indeed in the end, I see Gwynn facing many hard choices. What she needs now more than ever are friends, friends that will help keep her from losing her humanity when she struggles against the supernatural within her. Of course, it wouldn't hurt if she had a celestial army to hunt down every last demon and element of the book of e-ville and eliminate it, but since she hasn't got that, she'll have to settle on her own mettle. She has the strength of character, developed as it has been in the crucible of her experiences with the group, but she might just need sheer strength when she is next confronted with the dark powers of demons, the book, or worse - and for that, she will need the help of her friends. We can only hope that they will themselves be in any state to help her.

If I read this thread I'm gonna be lost all night. But I had to comment because Dolash's work really needs to be shown.

Like here, here, here, over here, and here

Hell, you can't deny his likability, he's the first nominee for the next mod in this site....

I remember when, ages ago, I felt Gwynn deserved a thread like this

Here's what I wrote:


Gwynn is, quite basically, an interesting moral character. Her main conflict appears to be determining right from wrong in that existential way.

First of all, there's the book. Early on, the Book of E-Ville was an incredible source of power, and Gwynn used it as such. She used the book to gain revenge on Riff, and in the process nearly doomed the world to a terrible fate. This SHOULD have made her reconsider any use of magic, but she refused. After K'z'K was defeated in the past, Gwynn used the residual magic powers with only a small degree of caution. This, of course, led to the Second instance of possesion, and proves to Gwynn that Evil (capital E) can be extremely subtle.

Now we reach the present. Gwynn is deathly afraid of her magic. She still possesses a great deal of power, but she refrains from using it for fear of causing another demonic possession or hurting her friends. Nevertheless, the Book itself intervenes whenever she is in trouble. Twice the Vowelless-less book helped Gwynn during Halloween parties, and then appeared before her in that Kesandru's Well bit. So, the book wants to help, but Gwynn denies it's aid, because she is afraid of it.


Next, we have her basic character. She seems to WANT to rely on herself, but has a chronic problem of overestimating herself. Case in Point: Her glasses. She needs those glasses to see at all, but often does not wear them. She doesn't want to rely on glasses to be functional, but she overestimates her own ability to make do without them. Similarly, she wants to show others that she can rely on herself. In K'sWell, Gwynn tries to be a martyr for the others, leaving her stranded in the Butt of Heck (although protected) while the rest make it home. Fortunatly for us, the Other Hero (tm) Riff steps in and saves the day. Similarly, her forays into magic show an apparent misunderstanding of the powers of the book, causing her to be possessed TWICE, a record that has yet to be beaten.

So, Gwynn wants to be self-reliant, but shows irresponsibility in trying to get it. Thus, she fails.


That's all we can tell from the original Gwynn, but Alt-Gwynn might show us more (and not just the gratuitous fan service with that weird, translucent robe).

The DoL characters are strange distillations of the real characters. In them, their problems are grossly exagerated, with an overlying naivete tacked on. Alt-Gwynn was possibly the most stable of the crew. But she still had her own problems.

Alt-Gwynn took a MAJOR step away from Our Gwynn when she became "one with the book". Presumably, this ocurred after whatever Milquetoast Demon resided in the Book of Rothar-Noice was defeated, and the book itself convinced Alt-Gwynn to rely on it. This turns Alt-Gwynn into the wisest, most understanding, and most kick-bleep person in the entire dimension.

The only time she faces a conflict is near the end of TWR. She is paralyzed with fear, because using her powers could hurt Torg, but not using them could lead to even worse consequences. Throughout the end part, she is AWOL, mostly because the innate fear of her powers prevented her from doing anything.

To me, the time when her breakdown occurs begin's with her inability to save Fred. This brings us back to the second conflict of Our-Gwynn. Since Alt-Gwynn became one with the book, she gained that self-reliance she wanted. Thus, she becomes a stable character, UNTIL she fails again. Fred was the first time she overestimated her ability. Despite her best efforts, she is unable to help others. Then, when the N.U.K.E blows up over Mosptopia, that is another loss for her. She predicted this with her cards, but was unable to intervene before the bomb went off with the comparitive force of a Nuke back home. Thus, she falls back to her old fears and becomes paralyzed when her friends need her most.


And relating it to the other essay above?

While it is true that Gwynn could be admired for her perserverance and pitied for her faults, that could be applied to ALL the sluggy main characters. Every one of them has faced just as many trials as the other, and they somehow make it through. It is less Gwynn being represntative of human survival as it is the Cast being a metaphor for the Human struggle to survive.

I could say Gwynn/Riff is inevitable, but that would be like supporting Robin/Starfire or Cyclops/Jean Grey. I mean, really, where's the fun in that?

and interesting point on pre-possision Gwynn. I never thought to examine her back then, but I thought that at that point, Pete was unsure what to do with her as a character. Really, she doesn't really start changing until after the first possesion.
Of course, this does put us in teh unique position of being able to examine All the important influences of Gwynn's character. As oppossed to Riff's mysterious father, Zoe's life with her family, or Torg's non-existent past.


and, If Gwynn wants control, does that include other people?

An interesting thread. But I would like to point out a few incidents in Gwynn's life: firstly, Vroomba. She managed - alone and without help - to defeat a manace which no-one else even so much as recognised. In that moment - when Vroomba was heading towards six months of unvacuumed rabbit hair and Gwynn was lying unable to move on the floor - that may have been the happiest moment of her post-demon-posession life. Because, for that moment she was in control with no negative consequences to her control.

Secondly, I would like to point out that she shares with Torg a willingness to "pay the price" herself for something that will help a friend - perhaps not to the same degree as Torg, and perhaps not quite so final a price - but she was willing to sacrifice herself to save the house in the Blight (as mentioned before) and Alt-Gwynn was happy to "pay the price" for Torg's healing.

On the subject of Alt-Gwynn, I would like to point out that precisely as she feared her every action in the DoP "helped Torg's doom". Her light provided a target for Horribus to hurry towards, her encouraging shouts pointed out to Horribus that climbing the mountain would not, could not help him leading to his decision to throw buildings instead, and only her blasting of the pillar-bridge actually helped (although it would not have if Mosp had not thrown the pillar-bridge into the depths.

Don't forget about her interlude as a host to K'Z'K. Specifically, her dream-journey. She didn't have control, and she hated it, but she managed a sort of single-mindedness focus on finding a way out.

And she never let the bug see her sweat. Sure, when he was gone, she might cry, but when he was around, Gwynn was as tough as nails.

But this was only so long as she didn't have to deal with the End. When Bun-Bun threatened to toss her in, she virtually collapsed. Non-existance — to use an old and somewhat inappropriate phrase — un-mans her, to a degree greater than I would expect.

Normally, I would say that such fear of not being shows a tremendous ego. But that's not accurate of Gwynn. How often have we seen her with her nose in a book, ignoring and ignored by the rest of the house, and content that way?

So, not ego, but survival. Gwynn fears her end. She needs to survive. And her quest for control is only a means to that end.

Maybe she views herself, and everything around her, as a tool to ensure her survival. Her magic was a great tool, except that when it started to backfire, she could not trust it anymore. And her friends could be relied upon, until she saw what happened in the dream-journey. Riff walled her out, Torg was unfocused, and Zoë was to have problems of her own.

So she realized that she, herself, is the only one she can depend on. When she succeeds on her own, it doesn't just make her feel good, it is a sign that she is safe depending on herself. But when she comes face to face with her own limitations, this is when she starts panicking, because she has nothing else to help her.

*coughMINcough*


As an aside, Trudy (from GPF) is Gwynn's cousin. It seems control runs in the family. See also here for some more talk about their family.

There is already a thread about Gwynnand I don't see how the two topics could be different enough to warrant two threads. All of the threads here would fit in the other thread just fine.

We try to keep discussion of one topic to one thread and the topic of each of these threads is Gwynn with no specific aspect being focused on (just because the other one says "Appreciation thread" doesn't mean you must appreciate her). So I am closing this thread in favor of the older thread. I cannot merge threads so you are welcome to repost you posts in the other thread.