Glimmer

Summoning of a Glimmer

Recreated by magical ink, Elsa found herself in an entirely new world. Fortunately, ice works the same way everywhere.

Elsa - Snow Queen

The First Chapter 『41/204·EN·1』

Glimmers are physical summons of Disney characters, items and locations created from magical ink and based on a Story Star in the realm of Lorcana. All Glimmers are the recreations of tales given life by summoners called Illumineer, who can alter the chosen Glimmer however they see fit. Multiple Glimmers of the same character can exist at the same time. Glimmers can naturally be Storyborn or Dreamborn, depending if they are an exact copy of the Story star or if an Illumineer reimagined it. The release of a chaotic Flood of ink brought about for either kind of Glimmer to take Floodborn characteristics. In order to summon a Glimmer, an Illummineer requires an Inkcaster, a Lorebook, and a Story Star's light.

Nature

Glimmers are "sentient snaphshots" of fables from story stars gathered within Lorcana. Glimmers are a combination of the light of story stars, magical fragments of these stories, and magical ink; the joining of the two elements serves as the final step in the Glimmer's creation. Many elements from these fables can be manifested as a Glimmer, including its characters, items, and locations. Glimmers are often created within Inkcasting rooms.

All Glimmers are sentient and maintain a degree of awareness of their nature: they understand they are a copy of the entity they portray and know they are separate from other Glimmers. The Glimmer will nonetheless share a strong connection to the character they are based on--in this case, the "core" of their character--including their personality and moral alignment. A Glimmer is magical in nature, as they are not the actual character themselves, but a magical version of them. It is because of this that multiple copies of a single character can exist as different Glimmers. As a result, Glimmers are independent of each other and generally accept this coexistence, although a Glimmer would have their own reactions to their individual counterparts. Furthermore, Glimmers of characters connected with other characters can form relationships with each other, particularly for individual glimmers who were created specifically to be paired with each other, such as a specific pair of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Glimmers will be together than other Glimmers of them.

Glimmer's nature is subject to alteration; due to there being multiple versions of a Glimmer, many Glimmers can differ from each other. Glimmers will generally come as Storyborn, though there are "subsets" of this type--Dreamborn and Floodborn--who appear as modified versions of classic characters. This form of inkcasting depends on however the Illumineer wishes to summon them influences the type of Glimmer they conjure, with them becoming a Storyborn for an authentic version and a Dreamborn for a version with the Illumineer's creative touch. In addition, due to being made from the enchanted inks of Lorcana, a Glimmer's purpose and disposition are based on the ink used to summon them. For example, a Glimmer created from Steel ink will have sturdy and diligent attributes. Storyborn Glimmers with these qualities appear to correspond with moments where the character exhibited these traits in the film, while a Dreamborn Glimmer may introduce twists on these traits. A Storyborn or Dreamborn Glimmer caught in the Flood turns into the Floodborn type, in a process known as a "Shift". As opposed to Dreamborn, Floodborn Glimmers amplify an aspect that has been in the character all along. Due to this, a newly shifted Floodborn may differ from the original character or there may be little change in appearance, as seen with the traditional sorcerer design of Mickey Mouse - Playful Sorcerer. They can also change the ink of the original Glimmer to a different ink type.

Item-based Glimmers can be summoned as an individual object or as part of a character Glimmer. The latter type of Glimmer is summoned with an item depending on if the character wielded one in their story. Although the two ways are similar, they remain distinct from the artifacts of the item found in the Great Illuminary and will not be genuine like the Illuminary's item Glimmer. Like character Glimmers, item Glimmers can be summoned as a Storyborn or Dreamborn.

All Glimmers cannot die or be killed, effectively making them immortal. The only way to truly incapacitate a Glimmer is to banish them back to the Lorebook they were summoned from as a temporary solution. Despite banishment, Glimmers of any type will retain their memories in Lorcana and being recast afterward. A Dreamborn or Floodborn that is banished to a lorebook and recast will still be the same glimmer before they were banished.

If a location Glimmer is cast, it will remain a permanent part in Lorcana until it is sent back to the lorebook.

Glimmers are unable to create other Glimmers due to lacking the items exclusive to Illumineers. However, Glimmers can find ways around this by creating their own inventions in lieu of Glimmers, taking control of other Glimmers, or summoning Glimmer-like constructs. For example, Ursula, with the Hexwell Crown, utilized a form of "entangling magic" alongside Flotsam and Jetsam to corrupt Glimmers into her servants. Jafar accomplished a similar result when the Hexwell Crown was in his possession, where, instead of brainwashing existing Glimmers, he created clones of them out of sand.

Types

Storyborn

Main article: Storyborn

Storyborn Glimmers are Glimmers that are summoned as how they were in their story, thus they are nearly identical to their canon counterparts. A Storyborn Glimmer is a snapshot of a character's story, embodying a certain moment point in time that took place in their life or tale.

Dreamborn

Main article: Dreamborn

Dreamborn Glimmers are Glimmers that have been modified by the Illumineer's imagination and are reimagined versions of the classic characters. Dreamborn influences vary, as some can be a character depicting a different lifestyle the character could have taken, while others emphasize a particular skill of that character. For example, one can inkcast Tamatoa as a version of himself if he were still a small crab.

Floodborn

Main article: Floodborn

Floodborn Glimmers are Glimmers created from the magic of Lorcana, the consequence of the cataclysmic flood of the Great Illuminary that washed Glimmers with the excess ink and transformed in unpredictable ways. These Glimmers deviate greatly from their source material, where the ink has amplified a particular trait or talent they had as a Storyborn or Dreamborn. Floodborn Glimmers are the only Glimmer who can be created from a pre-existing Storyborn or a Dreamborn; in addition, a Floodborn can also have its ink changed from what it was previously.

Creation

The creation of a Glimmer requires a combination of an inkcaster, lore, and the light from a story star. In the event of an Illumineer's induction, they are taken to an Inkcasting room, where inkcasting stations are, upon which, they receive a book and a unique inkcaster. As they receive it, the Starcatcher captures a story star and projects it into the pages of their lorebook to create an image of the character.. As this happens, the light pathways in the Great Illuminary, ley lines, move the ink to the lorebook as a conduit to empower the star. Using their tools, the ink, and the lore of the story star, the Illumineer can then bring the image to life as a Glimmer.

When conjuring a specific character, the Illumineer uses their Inkcaster and provided Lorebook to draw out this character using the magical Ink contained in their tool. In order to successfully create a Glimmer, the Illumineer needs to interpret the tale represented by a Story Star from their Lorebooks. Depending on the Inks used for the summoning, a Glimmer will typically have characteristics associated with each ink, such as an amber Glimmer displaying leadership qualities. Conversely, the design of the summon does not always reflect the Inks that conjured it. For example, a Glimmer created from the amethyst inks may have armor conjured as well, contrary to what an amethyst-type Glimmer would posses.

Although the artistic skill of an Illumineer is not necessary for inkcasting, an Illumineer's imagination plays a key role in the Glimmer's appearance, as the user can conjure the Glimmer into reality as however the user chooses them to look. Results can range from being an identical recreation of the Glimmer's original self in the story, a version of the Glimmer where a specific change caused them to deviate from their original role, and, in unexpected circumstances, can become a drastically rewritten character. A Floodborn Glimmer is the only type that is not created by the Illumineer, as they are created from pre-existing Glimmers changed by the magic of Lorcana. However, they can still be banished and inkcast after their creation.

In the early days of the Illumineers, the purpose behind creating Glimmers was to learn about the stories of the past, understand the characters, and better record them.

Trivia

• The card depictions of a Glimmer in a particular environment, such as Hades - King of Olympus, reflect events and places that are happening within Lorcana, rather than a reflection of an alternate universe the glimmers could come from.
  • Action cards represent actions taken by the Glimmer or the Illumineer themselves.
• In gameplay, the mechanic of a Storyborn or Dreamborn character into a Floodborn is termed as a "Shift", and it can also be replicated by players.It is unknown if Storyborn and Dreamborn Glimmers can be interchanged, or if Floodborns can be restored or changed themselves.