The Collector

character information

Character information Other names Grand Huntsman (Titan Trappers) Child from the stars (Kikimora) Mr. Collector (King) Little space cherub (Camila Noceda) Squirt (Eda Clawthorne) Age 400+ Species Collector Occupation Collector (formerly) Affiliations Titan Trappers Goal To be freed from his prison (succeeded) Helping Belos to bring about the Day of Unity (formerly) To play the Owl House game with King (formerly) To make friends who wouldn't deceive him (lie to him) (succeeded) To grow and learn Home In Between Realm (formerly) Emperor's Castle, Boiling Isles, Demon Realm (formerly) Archive House, Boiling Isles (formerly) Cosmos, Demon Realm (formerly) Relatives The Archivists (siblings) Allies Titans Emperor Belos (formerly) King Luz Noceda Eda Clawthorne Willow Park Gus Porter Amity Blight Hunter Camila Noceda Lilith Clawthorne Raine Whispers Hooty Minions His spies (formerly) His Puppets (formerly) Odalia Blight (formerly) Francois Enemies The Titan Emperor Belos Terra Snapdragon Owl Beast Luz Noceda (formerly) Eda Clawthorne (formerly) Willow Park (formerly) Gus Porter (formerly) Amity Blight (formerly) Hunter (formerly) Camila Noceda (formerly) Lilith Clawthorne (formerly) Hooty (formerly) Likes Collecting Rhyming Playing games Making friends King Francois Pizza bagels Dislikes Boredom Being unable to rhyme Being tricked People not playing with him Liars Being alone The Archivists Killing titans Powers and abilities Nigh-omnipotent magic Umbrakinesis Levitation Supernatural strength and durability Shape-shifting The Puppet Spell fate Returned to the stars so he can learn and grow by himself while occasionally visiting the Boiling Isles

the collector

The Collector is a former antagonist of The Owl House, acting as the secondary antagonist of the second season and one of two central antagonists of the third season. A mysterious, god-like entity known as a "collector", he[note 1] was originally trapped inside the In Between Realm where he spent centuries awaiting his release. When assistance arrived in the form of Emperor Belos, the Collector helped the emperor with the Day of Unity in exchange for his freedom. Once the event proceeded as planned, Belos went back on his word and abandoned the Collector in his prison, only to be freed from it later by King. Upon his release, the Collector defeated Belos, and took over the Boiling Isles, turning it into his personal playground, with King as his bound companion. During his takeover, the Collector resided in the Archive House with King, together partaking in a game with the transformed citizens acting out the adventures of King's life. After Luz helps him understand his wrongdoings, he helps protect the citizens during Belos' attack and helps bring the Boiling Isles back to usual, including reversing the effects of the Puppet Spell on citizens of the Boiling Isles. He chooses to return to his home among the stars for introspection, occasionally returning to the Isles to visit his new friends.

appearance

The Collector is a short humanoid being with child-like features. He has tan-yellow skin, bushy white hair and eyebrows, an upward-pointing nose, and a large pale blue blotch that eclipses the left side of his face, giving the right side the appearance of a crescent moon shape. The Collector's eyes are yellow and have narrow pupils with scarlet irises. His left leg also appears to be pale blue. When the Collector plays his games with King, Eda, and Luz, he briefly takes the form of a Pac-Man-like creature with a rounded head and a wide, toothy maw. In this form, he still wears a nightcap over his hair. Clothing The Collector wears full-body clothing resembling robes or pajamas with an oversized collar and sleeves. His clothes are split between dark blue on the right and periwinkle-gray on the left. The sleeves have these colors switched, with the right sleeve being periwinkle with blue suns and the left sleeve being blue with periwinkle crescent moons, as well as a magenta border on the rims of the cuffs. He wears a dark purple nightcap with magenta trim and a light star-esque spotted pattern. He wears dark blue shoes with light gray pom-poms on them. Additionally, he wears a light pink pendant with a purple crescent moon face around his neck. Additional features The Collector has three small, dark blue stars on his left cheek. On some occasions, usually if he is using magic while experiencing strong emotions, such as anger or excitement, his eyes emit a bright glow.

personality

The Collector is depicted as a childish and mercurial entity. He is motivated by simple desires, wanting to have fun and play games with others, which he shows in his interactions with Belos, but much like a child, he gets quite emotional and impatient when his wants are not met. He partakes in theatrics often, speaking riddles and rhymes, although he will quickly give up on harder words. Despite his childlike attitude, the Collector has proven to be cruel and heartless when crossed. With a temperamental nature and great power at his fingertips, the Collector is a dangerous and unpredictable force that will not hesitate to punish those who upset him and terrify others into obeying his demands. Initially, the Collector was nonchalant about the world around him, as he used his powers freely to manipulate reality to suit his needs. This casual indifference caused him to see others as toys for his amusement, such as viewing the catastrophic events the Day of Unity would unfold as a fun activity or casually killing Belos by likening his payback for Belos' double-cross as a game of tag. Despite his god-like power, the Collector understood little about mortals, failing to grasp that his warped perception of fun has dire consequences and thinks little of the lives of others. When King tried to show him how harmful turning people into puppets was at one point, the Collector innocently reasoned everything was still a game of pretend, dismissing the people as little more than part of his game. It was also revealed later on that the Collector did not know the fragility of mortal life or what death means to them, showing that everything he did in the Boiling Isles was never under malicious intent and always been under the impression he could just bring people back as easily as fixing a broken toy.

personality

Despite all his flaws, the Collector has an honorable side, as he offers the heroes a head start in the game of tag keeps his word, and stops the Draining Spell after King freed him from his prison. The Collector also values what King has to say, and King seems to be the only being he listens to. He also displays some affability with Odalia Blight, whom he sees as a maternal figure, despite making her his servant to his whims. Due to his childlike nature, he is quite naïve to the point he will take someone's word that they are telling the truth, a trait that has been exploited by others in getting the Collector to help them. As a result of being taken advantage of, the Collector loathes deception, especially when the person turns back on their promise. Despite their overwhelming powers, when Luz, Eda, and King beat him in all the games, the Collector goes to a corner to sulk instead of retaliating, and opens up to Luz when she approaches him. He tells her how disheartened he is that everyone lies to him and manipulates him, even his siblings. The Collector confessed how he just wants to make friends, even if it is just pretend. For all his callousness, the Collector is not inherently malicious. At heart, he is just lonely and only wishes to make friends. However, having spent a long time imprisoned to be sought after for his magical power, the Collector fears being alone and is wary that people will use him and leave him. A passage in the Collector's storybook further implies that, due to the Collector wanting to use his powers for his amusement, he viewed his race's observance and vindictive ways with disinterest. Coupled with his wish to be friends with King and make him happy, it is shown that the Collector yearns to have a companion like him who understands him. However, he is alien to how friendships work, at one point he asked if they were formed by forcing someone others to be with them.

personality

Another consequence of this desire for companionship is the Collector getting bitter and resentful when those he befriends express strong attachments with other people. This is displayed by his feeling envious of King's friendship with Luz. He initially believes that King is his friend and would never turn against him, but after Belos, comes to believe King is planning to stop him, and becomes vengeful of King's double-cross and decides to trap Luz, Eda, and King into nightmares to teach them a lesson. Yet even his envy does not seem to supersede his interests; after they break free, the Collector still desires to befriend them, going against Belos' suggestion of wiping them out, showing that despite any animosity he might have against people who might betray them or feel jealous of, the Collector would rather befriend people than destroy them. He wants friendship so much that he’s willing to befriend even Luz, despite being manipulated into thinking she’s there to stop him and take King away. Upon a new suggestion, the Collector goes to play with her, Eda, and King, wanting to show them how much fun he can be and blissfully unaware of how dangerous and potentially deadly his games are. He's unable to understand why his new playmates are hurting him when they start to defend themselves from the mortal games. It doesn't take long for the disheartened Collector to open up to Luz as soon as she approaches him, showing his desperation in wanting someone to understand what he’s been through. When she, along with Eda and King, shows him how they became friends and takes him on a trip around the isles recalling their adventures, the Collector starts to open up more and bonds with them, starting to see a new dimension to friendship he never realized before.

personality

After this, the Collector makes an honest effort to be kind to people, once Luz shows him how she befriended people like Amity and Lilith through kindness and forgiveness and not through forcing them like he initially thought. However, the Collector took the lesson too much by heart and tried to do the same to Belos, naively assuming anyone could be forgiven. He could only act in shock and confusion when he saw Belos still tried to kill him, and when Luz took a blast meant for him and died in his hands, the devastated Collector finally understood what death meant when he was unable to bring her back, now fully aware of the destruction and misery he has caused. The revelation sees a change in the Collector, as he cries at the fact he hurt many people so carelessly that he shows sadness and empathy for the first time and is devastated for indirectly causing Luz’s death. Furthermore, he reacts in befuddlement to what tears are after his eyes begin producing them, completely at a loss of words for what the feelings mean, never feeling that kind of grief before. Following the revival of Luz, the Collector expresses a wish to save others to make up for his misdeeds. He volunteers to save everyone still left at the Archives while Luz, Eda, and King deal with Belos, and after he's defeated, an exhausted Collector is afraid Luz's friends will punish him and cowers, but is delighted when Amity helps him up. After the Boiling Isles is saved, the Collector turns everyone back to normal and decides to return to the stars to reflect and grow up on his own, signifying his adopting a more responsible mindset. With a new appreciation of life, he also becomes open to forming real bonds with the people around him. He is deeply touched when King gifts him Francois before departing and gifts Luz a portal door so she can come and go between the Human and Demon realms as many times as she wants. Despite living in the stars now, the Collector visits his new friends from time to time, put

background

Origin and imprisonment The Collector hails from a race of celestial beings who seek to archive and catalog all life in the Demon Realm. Although little is known about his nature, it is shown that the Collector's child-like interests stood out from other collectors, whose ways he held in disdain and went as far as to omit them in a Collector guidebook. At an unknown point in time, the collectors encountered another magical race, the titans. Fearing the titans' power, a group of the Collector's siblings, known as the Archivists, sent the Collector down to the Demon Realm under the impression that he would be playing with the titans. Upon arriving in the world, the Titans welcomed the Collector and quickly bonded with him, and he took a liking to their kids because of how cute they were. Unbeknownst to the Collector however, the Archivists slowly took out all the other titans, which left the only remaining titan furious at the Collector, believing he was the one responsible. Afterwards, the Collector was imprisoned inside the In-Between Realm by the last Titan, to keep the Collector from getting to his son, King. An ancient tribe of witches known as Titan Trappers would come to worship the Collector as the "Grand Huntsman" and slayer of the titans. Their leader, Bill, claimed to be working with or for the Collector and further proclaimed the Collector wants them to find the last of the titans, as only it has the power to free the Collector from his prison.

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During the 1660s, a human named Philip Wittebane sought the Collector, as he was said to have the information, he needed to construct a portal back to the Human Realm following his incidental transfer to the Demon Realm. To do this, he needed to acquire the Collector's tablet found in the ruins of the Titan's skull, except that it was guarded by a Stonesleeper. After a couple of times, including attempting to make Luz Noceda and Lilith Clawthorne sacrifice to the beast, Philip retrieves the mirror, although he is wounded by the infuriated duo. Philip later activates the mirror, which emits an animated symbol of the Collector, allowing Philip to communicate with the Collector. Philip made a bargain with the Collector: in exchange for Philip freeing the Collector from his prison, the Collector will help Philip with his goal of eradicating the inhabitants of the Boiling Isles. The Collector would appear to Philip in the form of a shadow so long as the tablet was intact and taught Philip all he knew about magic, which Philip would eventually master. As time goes on, Philip adopts the image of Emperor Belos, and together with the Collector, they concoct their complex plot of draining all life on the Boiling Isles on the Day of Unity.[4][5] Hollow Mind - 1115 The Collector talks with Belos in one of Belos' memories. In the present day, the Collector pays a visit to Belos to check on his progress with the Draining Spell. Belos assures the Collector the Day of Unity will come, right before Hunter arrives to deliver Belos the Portal Key after his solo mission at Eclipse Lake. Belos coldly dismisses the boy but takes the key. After Hunter leaves, the Collector comes out from hiding and jokes with Belos about his doubts about Hunter's loyalty, eventually questioning Belos if the false purpose he gives Hunter is another way of tormenting the boy as he has with previous grimwalkers.

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Belos disagrees with the Collector and states that it hurts him every time the clones turn against him. Awaiting freedom Not long after, King begins to form a psychic connection with the Collector after the Titan Trappers perform a ritual with him on a second, albeit shattered, tablet belonging to the Collector.[6] King enters the In Between Realm in his dreams where he finds the Collector imprisoned inside an orb. The Collector goes into an insane ramble on how he's almost free and how he won't be alone anymore. When King calls out to the entity, the Collector's silhouette appears on the orb, where he notices King. King backs up only for the Collector to begin panicking and begging him not to leave, but King wakes up anyway. Later, the Collector accompanies Belos as the latter sets up the functioning Portal Door in the Titan's skull, exactly where he found the Collector's tablet centuries ago. The Collector sadistically asks Belos if he's nervous about returning home, bringing up the fact that the Human Realm must've changed drastically and that Philip himself is barely human anymore because of how he extended his lifespan. Angered, Belos tries to attack the Collector by morphing his arm but misses. The Collector rejoices at the fact he will soon be free from his prison, stating there are "so many games" he wants to play once liberated. He adds that, if he and Belos require a third player, another grimwalker could be made; Belos rejects this idea, saying he will only make another once Hunter is dealt with. The Collector then painfully begs Belos to release him early, whining that the human did promise. Belos also rejects this, saying that the Draining Spell must first work, which the Collector himself promised in the bargain.

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The entity grumpily remarks that Belos should have more faith in pinky swears. The Emperor reassures the Collector that his patience will be rewarded, stating that the Day of Unity is about to begin. The Collector watches with Belos as witches from all over the Isles approach the Titan's head, grinning widely. King once more hears the Collector's thoughts; he is talking to himself and expressing doubt that Belos will uphold his end of the bargain. The Collector desperately tries to convince himself that the Emperor is his friend, but notes that the two of them have spent centuries "playing [Belos'] game", and angrily states he wants to play a new game. As the Day of Unity begins, the Collector feels excited to gain freedom once more but Belos reveals that he won't be releasing him, both because he's only using the Titan's blood from the key to activate the Portal and because he doesn't want anyone else learning about their powerful spells, and instead drops his tablet down a pit in the Titan's skull. Later, while Luz and her allies battle Belos in his monster form, an equally betrayed Kikimora leads King down to the pit. There, he makes a deal with the Collector to free them and play a game of "Owl House" in exchange for ending Belos' Draining Spell. King uses his titan powers to break the Collector's mirror, allowing him to escape it and regain his physical form. Now free, the Collector manages to stop Belos' attack on Luz and her friends, stating he wants to play a game of tag with Belos. The Collector pulls Belos closer to him, stating he is "it" before launching the tyrant into the wall above the door to Belos' chamber, seemingly killing the Emperor. Noticing Luz and her friends, the Collector asks if they need a head start, though he is stopped by King, who reminds him that they need a lot more players if they want to play Owl House.

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The Collector walks over to the exterior balcony, using his powers to enhance his vision, and spots the dying inhabitants of the Boiling Isles at the site of the Draining Spell. Using his powers, the Collector uses his finger to move the overhead moon out of its position, ending the eclipse and stopping the spell. With everything nearly ready, the Collector states that if they are going to play Owl House, they would need one before using his powers to rip apart the Titan's skull, forming a spiraling mass of debris around him. While he does this, Luz and her friends flee to the portal to the Human Realm, though the Collector stops King from escaping, reminding him that he promised to play with him. Nonetheless, King manages to ensure Luz and the others escape through the portal before it is destroyed and he is pulled back towards the Collector. After the Collector pulls King back, he creates the Archive House from the Titan's skull, a place for him and King to live. King explains the "Owl House" game to the Collector, saying it's kind of like playing pretend. He starts turning people into puppets, much to King's dismay, to help with the game and creates spies to help with this. He captures Eda, and stores her in a room guarded by puppets, under the impression that she's in Owl Beast form and can't change back, despite this not being the case. The Collector starts playing with King and his puppets, acting out scenes that very loosely depict events in the show. Luz describes it as "a twisted version of her life". At one point in time, Terra Snapdragon played Eda, but later got turned into a puppet due to not doing a good enough job. King tries to get him to stop, but he refuses and they head back to the Archive House where he has Odalia Blight put away the puppets and serve Eda pizza bagels.

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He and King then return to his room which appears to resemble a pocket-universe with stars and nebulas. They then float up to their beds, which are placed on a planet-like structure that is also floating in the middle of the room. He then suggests to King that they play a game of "Capture the Flag" with everyone on the Isles and put the losers on the moon. King is nervous about the idea, pointing out that people might have trouble breathing on the moon. The Collector dismisses this concern, saying they can hold their breath. The Collector then claps, causing a large storybook made from stone slabs to fall from above and land in front of King. He asks King to read him a story, and King obliges, pushing the stack of stone slabs to fall backward and wrap around the planet structure in front of him, and opens the book to read. King reads the first paragraph and looks at the second one, but the Collector hurriedly asks him to not read the next part and skip to where he "fixed it"; i.e. scratched it out and wrote a new one. When King eventually turns off the lamp, the Collector asks King if he could sleep with Francois, but King is hesitant, as he only lets one other person hold him. The Collector realizes whom he refers to and exhibits brief envy toward the human girl, before asking King if Francois could at least be left on the nightstand to watch over him, as he doesn't like being alone. King obliges, and the Collector is satisfied and goes to sleep. However, the Collector wakes up soon after to find Raine Whispers, whom he turned into a puppet, moving on their own. However, unbeknownst to him, Raine has not broken their spell, but rather Emperor Belos is possessing them. Under Raine's guise, Belos tells the Collector that they hadn't broken his spell, but had been brought to life from the power of the Collector's love and care, and was coming with a message that King is planning to betray him.

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The Collector initially finds this notion laughable, stating that King is his best friend and would never plot against him. When Puppet Raine insists otherwise, however, he spies on King to affirm and sees him planning something with Eda and Lilith, soon realizing the Clawthorne sisters want to imprison him again. At first, he sees King reject the idea of imprisonment, and regains his prior confidence, until he hears King aspire for a more "permanent solution". Unaware that King is referring to redeeming him, the Collector believes King is in favor of his imprisonment. Dejected by what he has seen, Puppet Raine informs him that Luz and her companions have also returned, and shows him the group. Upon seeing this, the Collector decides to play a "new game. The Collector takes Hunter, Camila, Willow, Gus, and Amity away, turning them and Lilith into puppets, and traps Luz, Eda, and King in nightmares. Luz manages to free herself and shortly after frees Eda and King as well. As he watches them reunite, he vents to Puppet Raine that their plan is not working. He reveals that King is a titan and that the Boiling Isles titan is still alive. After this, Puppet Raine convinces him to play with the three and the Collector does so. The Collector forces Luz, Eda, and King to play his favorite games, unknowingly endangering their lives, but becomes frustrated when he is beaten in all of them. Upset, he starts to cry and reveals to Luz how he was imprisoned and reveals that all of his previous friends have lied to and betrayed him. In an attempt to get him to see the error of his ways, Luz, Eda, and King take him on a tour of places that helped them bond. First, the group goes to The Owl House, and they explain how they grew close.

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After this, while at the Hexside Grudgby field, the Collector sees students hiding behind the bleachers and tries to befriend them, but they run away in fear. At the Knee, their message to the Collector starts to sink in when he hears breathing in the distance and the group realizes Belos has possessed the Titan. They rush to the Emperor's Castle and, using Luz's words, the Collector tries to defeat Belos by befriending him. However, it fails and Belos tries to kill him. Luz intercepts the attack and dies. Unaware of the concept of death, the Collector tries to bring Luz back and is surprised when he cannot. He watches as Eda and King fly into a fit of rage and attack Belos. He tries to stop them and starts to cry. However, Luz returns in a human-titan hybrid form, and the four take on Belos. As the Archive House is about to fall, the Collector rushes over to save it, being hit by Belos' infection. He manages to hold it up as Luz's companions, who fixed themselves, save the puppets. After Belos is defeated, he falls to the ground and the infection clears and the others come over to him. At first, the Collector cowers, but Amity holds out her hand and he tearfully takes it. The six watch the infection vanish from the Titan. Shortly afterward, he returns everyone to normal. The Collector brings Lilith, Amity, and Camila to the Owl House and returns Hooty to normal in front of Lilith. He decides to return to the stars to do some soul searching and King gives him Francois as a parting gift.

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Four years later, the Collector comes back to the Boiling Isles to provide a light show for Luz's quinceañera. All of the attendees of the party bid him farewell when he leaves.

Powers and abilities

Magic: The Collector has demonstrated incredible magic potency. His aptitude for magic allows him to perform various feats, among the most notable was forming the powerful Draining Spell and stopping it by moving the moon itself. He holds arcane knowledge of magic, the same knowledge he mentored Philip on and thus allowed him to become the most powerful practitioner on the Boiling Isles, highlighting the Collector's level of skill. Shadow control: The Collector is shown to be able to manipulate shadows. He used this to project himself through living shadows from his tablet.[4] Levitation: The Collector can float around and fly as he pleases. He can also levitate other objects, lift and rearrange them into new structures, or move them at a high velocity that the object makes a powerful impact upon collision, as he did with Belos. Furthermore, with additional people, he can create a star-shaped platform for them to ride on. Supernatural strength & durability: The Collector is deceptively strong and durable, shown to be able to hold back heavy weights and objects much larger than him, which he demonstrated when he stopped Belos' transformed blade arm mid-strike by catching it between his fingers without taking any damage or even any visible strain. He also prevented the Archive House from falling by holding it up for a period of time during the battle against Belos. Matter manipulation: He can reshape the surroundings to his liking, as shown when he began ripping apart the Titan's skull to form the Archive House. Transmogrification: The Collector can create small blue-yellow crescent moon-shaped projectiles that transform the ones hit in the forehead into wooden puppets. He can enchant these puppets to act under his commands or control them directly.

Powers and abilities

Energy blasts: The Collector can project bursts of sparkling energy capable of destroying Belos' tendrils. Star meteorites: The Collector is shown to create small multicolored fallen stars that fall on a large scale, resulting in small explosions. Reality warping: He can spread large amounts of sparkling waves that bend The Boiling Isles into a child-like landscape. Teleportation: The Collector can teleport objects and people through his waves of sparkles, such as his puppets. Clairvoyance: The Collector can enhance his own eyes to view great distances or cover his eyes with his nightcap to observe other places outside his field of view. Creation magic: The Collector can create any objects out of thin air, such as several star-shaped creatures that follow his orders and a big floating blue star to serve as a vehicle for King and himself. He can also create entire rooms depending on what game they’re playing. Sizeshifting: When playing games, the Collector can change his size to gigantic, whether he’s just an enlarged head or the entire body. Shapeshifting: The Collector can change his shape as he wishes. Star Manipulation: When explaining his past, the Collector controlled the stars, forming constellations to create pictures to better show the story they are telling. He was also shown to create and control shooting stars from the sky. Quick perception: The Collector can quickly react to a stimulus near him, such as keeping Belos at bay while thinking he was Raine in "For the Future", immediately doing so when waking up from his sleep.