#next time i will drop my mooringtan sketches

[nervouswreckhere]

I did promise that I will be an annoyance so here I come:

Stone Monsters Headcanons

In general, the magic system in Knighton is a soft one (I say after I watch one too many world-building tik toks). What that means is that it doesn't have hard outlines as to how it works.

Let's change that, hmm?

Monstrox is a necromancer, Wanda has weather powers and Merlock is a technomancer. (I haven't read anything other than the wiki. Just watched the show, got obsessed and here I am..) Merlock's nexo magic is iconic - very useful and always appears when you need it to. Almost as if it's a plot device. Its ability to enchant weapons and armor is extremely helpful when faced with Monstrox's... everything.

Now, Monstrox is interesting. As a necromancer we would assume what he does is bad and evil as they love to repeat in the show. And he is - insane and ambitious to boot. While I have no idea what made the Wizards' Council / Merlock spare him, his knowledge and power were locked into the Book of Monsters. That knowledge was what allowed him to - from what I can comprehend - summon, create, manifest the monsters. They weren't strong monsters, after all, Monstrox was stuck in leather, between pages. He had limited power - that's what evoked the whole let's search for all the evil books scattered around the realm.

And even their collection failed to resurrect him, seeing as everything blew up in the end. But the ritual still worked partially - it was a ritual to grant him a new form; magic, energy can't just go away, disappear! - so it gave him a form that was more well-suited for his magic. Hence the cloud.

And that's when we arrive at what I call my favorite brain rot. Monstrox's resurrection spell. The one that breathes life into stone. I do think Monstrox's spell is a combination of a few different necromantic spells, but that's for later. The stone monsters are sworn to his allegiance in a way I doubt the lava monsters were. Some of them exhibit some intelligence but none have discernable personalities other than a select few. Why?

Seeing as that spell, erased Clay's entire moral system while keeping his tenacity and determination, his desire to serve a cause, I doubt it's just personality erasure. But a spell can't just turn someone evil.

That's stupid! Evil is such a subjective thing and it's so nuanced that a simple wave of a hand or I guess zap with lightning doesn't just- just- evilize someone! So I made a chart!

There are three types of monsters in my book. (I'm not talking about how they look or their functions. I'm not talking about bouldrons, gargoyles, harpies, etc. I'm classifying them into categories!)

Type 1: The statues, given life. The bouldrons, the gravellers, etc. The one that get zapped and start destroying everything in sight. The ones that we see zooming around in the background in most episodes.

Type 2: The magically imbued statues. The statues put there with a reason - like the gargoyles. Haven't you wondered why there are so many gargoyles? Only a few of them appear smart so those are the few that I put in this type. Harpies are here too. Why? Because I think they were demons or something similar summoned to do Monstrox's bidding before they got petrified by the wizards' council. (I have their whole backstory written somewhere, I will share it later.)

Basically, type 1 is just making a statue move with densely charged, magical energy that imbues them with malicious intent. Type 2 has to work with what little magic the statue has locked within itself. That takes more power out of the initial blast, which is why type 2 monsters don't have to be constantly on the move - more of the magic has to work to diverge the energy channels within the vessel.

I love magical theory, guys

Now, type 3 is my favorite so far. That's the statue that was once human. Have you looked at how one brain works - it's all chemistry. Little electrical pulses send to and from different parts of it. In type 3 monsters, 3/4 of Monstrox's magic blast / ressurection spell go towards the mind. It has to change the being's priorities, to change the person's alleigence strictly to Monstrox. The other 1/4 goes towards making their body function in the way it has before - or as close as a living rock can get.

Ruina is a great example why this clarification works, Krakenskull, too. They were separate people, warlords in their own right before they got hit by Monstrox's magic, and then suddenly they readily follow his orders? And he doesn't worry about them betraying him? Sure, one can argue with Ruina ever being a warlord on her own but Krakenskull? He had his own army and then he was okay with someone else using it? Yeah right.

*takes a deep breath* I got a bit sidetracked. ...a lot sidetracked. But basically yeah. I have a lot of feelings about the magic in Nexo Knights and I am so sharing them with you. Just you wait!