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Reflection
Reflection Symbol
Fan art of the reflection symbol
Reflection
Magic Type N/A
Power A duplicate of a person, without any emotion
Notable User(s) Melancholia St Clair, Carol Edgley, Valkyrie Cain, Mevolent

A reflection is a complete, and almost perfect copy of somebody. As long as you can see the body in the reflection you are using (such as a mirror or puddle), you can summon a reflection using a magical symbol and the phrase: "Surface speak, surface feel, surface think, surface real." If you have a watch in your left or right hand, it will appear in the opposite hand. If you are wearing a logo or pattern, it will come out backwards. The only known reflections are Valkyrie Cain's, Melancholia St Clair's and Carol Edgley's. Valkyrie's reflection was created to continue with her normal life and go to school, while the real Valkyrie could go with Skulduggery on adventures. Melancholia's which Craven used to fool the Sanctuary, and Carol's, which Valkyrie's reflection created to prevent Carol's family from realising that Carol had been killed and been replaced with a fake. Remnants cannot possess reflections.

Personality[]

Reflections have no feelings, and are referred to as 'it', as they are not human beings. When one relives the memories of their reflection, they do not feel the emotions they should have, as the reflection did not feel them. Reflections behave the way the person they are reflected from does, but because they have no emotions, they will act slightly different. A reflection will become more convincing the more it is used. This progress is shown in Valkyrie's reflection, as she uses it almost every day. In Kingdom Of The Wicked Valkyrie's reflection makes Carol Edgely make a reflection; Valkyrie's reflection then kills Carol in order to silence her and obtain possession of the Sceptre of the Ancients after she uses Carol's magic to recharge it. The reflection of Carol then took over the original Carol's life to prevent her family or the protagonists from learning of her murder.

Rules and Guidelines[]

There are some rules in the usage of Reflections that should not be broken

  1. A person can only own one Reflection.
  2. Another rule is that a Reflection should only ever be summoned through its original surface. Valkyrie's Reflection was summoned from the surface of a puddle in the second book, resulting in some of the glitches as described below.
  3. The reflection cannot remove the clothes they are wearing when the reflection is formed, but they can put other clothes on over these.
  4. It is advisable to avoid detection of using a reflection by not wearing clothes that have logos or slogans featured or they will come out backwards.

Glitches[]

Reflections can sometimes have glitches. These things have been seen to happen when the reflections are over-used. Known glitches are:

  • Changing clothes of its own accord
  • Sighing/shivering/supposedly feeling an emotion
  • Talking out of turn
  • Gaps in memory
  • Sharing opinions
  • Experiencing emotions
  • Feeling anger towards their owner

Becoming Human[]

A reflection can develop into a being which is next to human in nature, by the continued long term use of a faulty reflection. The only known reflection to undergo this process is Valkyrie Cain's Reflection, although Argosy Pelt's reflection may be at the second stage.

Although no clear stage between a faulty reflection and a reflection becoming more or less human is hard to define, one of biggest early markers is the inability to shut off pain inflicted on the reflection, as the reflection is actually feeling the agony, not just stimulating this.

The second stage is developing a will of its own, however primitive, including formulating its own plans,lying and ensuring the memories are not transferred over to the owner. During this time, the reflection is aware but may not display a correct understanding of right and wrong,even if the original would know the difference. Even at this stage, the sceptre of the ancients is capable of recognising a reflection in this stage as its owner.

In the third stage, the reflection looses many of its qualities such as the ability to enter and heal in the mirror from which it was summoned. Instead, it must eat, drink, sleep and produce excrement like a naturally born human. At this point, the reflection can demonstrate regret for his/her previous actions and a much greater understanding of right and wrong and is capable of attachment to others outside its original remit. Often forming separate opinions or changing opinions of people inherited from the original individual whom the reflection is based on.

For all intents and purposes, the reflection at the end stage is essentially a mortal lacking any trace of magic, as a shock stick would not recharge in a reflections hands, it is unknown if a reflection possesses a real soul at the end of the process.

Known Reflections[]

Valkyrie Cain's reflection[]

This reflection appeared in the first book, so that it could carry on with Valkyrie's normal life while Valkyrie went on adventures with Skulduggery. However, since being shot in the second book, it started to develop some of the glitches mentioned above. Known possibilities for this are over-use and using the Reflection after it was 'killed'. Recently, the Reflection killed Carol Edgley, using her death to charge the Sceptre of the Ancients. Carol's reflection now poses as Carol, under order's from Valkyrie's reflection, while Valkyrie's reflection plans on how to kill Valkyrie. The reflection also begins to call itself 'Stephanie' as that is Valkyrie's name given by her parents and the reflection plays the role of their daughter. It also takes care of Valkyrie's little sister, Alice Edgley.

Melancholia St Clair's reflection[]

Melancholia's reflection only appeared once in Death Bringer. It was 'killed' by Craven in order to trick the Sanctuary into thinking Melancholia was dead. 

Carol Edgley's reflection[]

Carol's reflection was made by Valkyrie's reflection in Kingdom of the Wicked. It was created to resume the life of the real Carol as she had been killed by Valkyrie's reflection. 

Omen Darkly's reflection[]

Omen mentioned that he'd use his reflection to get out of class at Corrival Academy, but the teachers always knew it was a reflection.

Argosy Pelt's reflection[]

Pelt claims that he used the reflection too much when he was younger, and so it turned evil and began leaving the mirror at night to commit crimes, making sure to be noticed. It would then sneak back in and transfer the memories of the crimes only to Pelt, making the Sensitives examining his thoughts believe that he was committing the crimes himself. Pelt also claims that if he gets rid of the reflection, information on worse crimes will be sent to the Sanctuary. It is unknown whether or not Pelt is telling the truth, but Temper Fray tells Pelt that he will look into it.

Trivia[]

  • It is speculated that the symbol used to create Reflections could be improved by Gracious.
  • It is unknown whether this type of magic is part of Symbol Magic discipline or not, although they may be related.
  • Alongside symbol magic, this is another type of magic that can be used by Adepts and Elementals alike with no known side effects to the drawer and summoner,if used correctly.
  • Reflections themselves are not magical, but are created from magic.
  • Experienced Mages can recognize a reflection easily.
  • Normal reflections are capable of having biological families according to Carol Edgley's Reflection, although not verified, it is unknown if more human reflections retain this ability.
  • It is unknown whether any factors such as knowing one's true name, or another factor unique to Valkyrie contributed to her reflection gaining sentience.
  • The only rule not broken in the series is the one where a person can only have one reflection, although this may be a limit rather than a guideline.
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