Animus

Animus magic is magic wielded by animus dragons allowing them to enchant inanimate objects, plants, animals, and other dragons. Animus dragons have been recorded in five of the seven Pyrrhian tribes, and none of the Pantalan tribes. IceWings, SeaWings, NightWings, SandWings, and SkyWings have all previously had animus dragons.

Animus magic cannot bring back the dead.[citation needed] It may take animus dragons some time to discover their powers.

A list of all known animus enchantments may be seen here.

As of The Poison Jungle, animus dragons cannot cast new spells. Previously enchanted objects still work.[citation needed]

Effects Edit
It was thought that using any animus magic could cause insanity, though it has been heavily implied in both Darkstalker and Talons of Power that this only happens if an animus dragon uses their magic for evil. In The Brightest Night, Stonemover states "I turned the magic on itself. The curse appears in my scales now instead of taking my soul." Both Darkstalker and Anemone attempted to prevent this through enchantments, but this did not seem to have any bearing on their later actions or the deterioration of their souls. Darkstalker had also tried this two thousand years ago with his Talisman. However, no effects were physically showing.

IceWing Gifts Edit
IceWings developed a system for using their magic to prevent dragons from being driven mad by the power. Each animus would cast one spell, for the good of the entire tribe, known as their gift. The IceWing animus would cast this spell on their seventh hatchday.

Trivia Edit

 * Tui has stated that there was no first animus dragon; the powers originated from multiple dragons.[citation needed]
 * The actual definition of the word animus is motivation to do something, a hostile or ill-feeling. The term animus is also Latin for mind or heart or soul.
 * Animus power can be sensed and felt by a "faint tingling in [the] claws."
 * Princess Sunset confirmed that SkyWings had animus dragons in the past, but they tended to be killed as soon as they were discovered.
 * Animus genes formerly ran in the IceWing royal family. The tribe purposely bred their animus into the royal family in order to gain power.
 * SeaWing animus dragons can enchant objects using Aquatic, as confirmed in Talons of Power.
 * In an interview at the Rochester Children's Book Festival, when Tui was asked for the inspiration for animus magic, she replied: "So with animus magic, it started with thinking, I needed some kind of magic in this world, but I didn't want it to be like anyone can have any magic at any time, I wanted it to be sort of specific, and have it be pretty rare. And then, especially with Book Two, the more I started thinking about what I could do with it, and how it could fit into the murder mystery, that's how sorta started developing like, the backstory of what it does to you and all of that."

Gallery Edit
Anemone using animus magic, by Mike Holmes

Albatross using animus magic, by Mike Holmes Add a photo to this gallery

References Edit

 * 1) ↑ Talons of Power, page 136
 * 2) ↑ Darkstalker, page ? (Chapter 22)