Fairies, in the
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
series
''Artemis Fowl'' by
Eoin Colfer
Eoin Colfer (; born 14 May 1965) is an Irish author of children's books. He worked as a primary school teacher before he became a full-time writer. He is best known for being the author of the Artemis Fowl (series), ''Artemis Fowl'' series. I ...
, are
fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...
al beings, usually shorter than a human, who possess
magic
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
properties. The average height of a fairy is exactly one meter, one centimeter. All the fairies have retreated below the Earth to escape the destructiveness of the human race. Their underground civilization is centered on the capital city of Haven. Fairies are vernacularly known as the People, and live a life according to
the Book of the People
This is a list of fictional concepts in ''Artemis Fowl'', a novel series by Eoin Colfer.
Fairy concepts
Bio-bomb
A high-tech, fairy-manufactured guided missile, also known as a "bio-bomb" or a "blue-rinse" because of its blue colour. Once deton ...
. There are eight recognized families of fairies – Elves, Dwarves, Pixies, Gnomes, Gremlins, Goblins, Sprites and Demons. However, the centaurs have been mentioned several times, as with trolls, and the centaurs' cousins, the unicorns, were killed off, yet they are not recognized.
Races of Fairies and the eight families
The Eight Families
In ''
Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony
''Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony'', known in America as ''Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony'', is the fifth book in the ''Artemis Fowl'' Series by Irish writer Eoin Colfer. The book, originally expected to be published in the UK and Ireland on ...
'', it is said that 10,000 years ago, there were eight families (or species) of fairies. It is possible that Centaurs and Trolls used to live not underground but above ground, and were recruited by the fairies for the war against the Mud People (the term used by fairies to address
humans
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
). This would explain the links between many
animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...
s these two species have, and would explain why they do not have magic. Centaurs are also cousins of unicorns, so they could not be in the fairy family without the unicorns. The fairies, however, are mostly
humanoid
A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and ''-oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20t ...
.
Warlocks are also part of the fairy world. They are extremely magical fairies that originate under unknown circumstances.
Elves
An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...
Elves are similar in appearance to humans, but are around one meter tall. They have pointy ears and tanned skin, and it is mentioned in the first book that one theory of their evolution is that they evolved from the pterosaurs, which may explain their apparent love of flying, as well as the small nub of bone located on their shoulder blades. However, such a drastic evolutionary leap is unlikely, and therefore it is more likely that they, as well as many of the other fairy species actually evolved from a shared common ancestor, possibly even from an offshoot of human evolution. Elves have the gift of tongues, which allows them to speak any language. Elves have several types of magic. They can heal themselves and others, can shield themselves (which makes them appear invisible by vibrating at high speeds so the human eye cannot see them), can create positive magical vibes, and they have the ''
mesmer
Franz Anton Mesmer (; ; 23 May 1734 – 5 March 1815) was a German physician with an interest in astronomy. He theorised the existence of a natural energy transference occurring between all animated and inanimate objects; this he called "anim ...
''. It is also hinted in the first book that some Fairies have the power of
telekinesis
Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...
, but this may only be the case for warlocks. Captain Holly Short, the late Commander Julius Root, current Commander Trouble Kelp and his brother, Corporal Grub Kelp, are all elves. Elves are the first of the eight families of fairy People.
Dwarves
Dwarves look like small humans, but are 50 inches tall and are less proportional than elves. Dwarves have many abilities. They can unhinge their jaws to chew through earth extremely quickly. When digging they shovel the dirt into their mouth, digest it to remove any useful minerals, then (sometimes for self-defense or as a weapon) excrete the remnants. Their spit glows in the dark and hardens once it leaves their mouths. Dwarf spittle is also a sedative, as seen in
the fifth book, and is used to ward off evil spirits, as seen in the eighth book. Their hair can be used as keys because
rigor mortis
Rigor mortis (Latin: ''rigor'' "stiffness", and ''mortis'' "of death"), or postmortem rigidity, is the third stage of death. It is one of the recognizable signs of death, characterized by stiffening of the limbs of the corpse caused by chemic ...
sets in once they pluck it off. When the hair is still attached to the dwarf, they can be used to detect vibrations. Since dwarves can drink water by absorbing it through their pores, if they go long enough without drinking, their pores create a vacuum effect, allowing them to stick to walls. Dwarves can use gas consumed in tunneling to flatulate with colossal power (enough to knock out
trolls
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
). Their flatulence also is a by-product of a gas used for deep sea divers to prevent 'the bends'. They also have the gift of tongues. Dwarves are extremely sensitive to sunlight, and can burn after three minutes in the sun. They also hate fire and ice. Dwarves despise goblins as a general rule, and often erupt in
turf war
A turf war is a fight over territory or resources, or may refer to:
Music
* ''Turf Wars'', a 2007 album by the Canadian band Daggermouth
* "Turf War", a song on the 2001 album ''Filmtracks 2000'' by American composer Bill
Television
* ''Turf Wa ...
s against them. Another ability was shown in
book six, where
Diggums touched his beard to a deep cut on his head, which resulted in the wound "sewing" itself together with only a scar left in its place. They are also shown in the seventh book with the ability to "trim the weight, or as the more disciplined Dwarf yogis call it, the "once in a decade detox" in which they rapidly mobilize their body fat as dwarf gas to rapidly escape dangerous situations. Dwarves can only use this ability every ten years, and it is usually triggered by great stress. Dwarves can do a trick called a cyclone where they let out a bunch of dwarf gas and charge in a spinning motion.
Goblin
A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...
s
Goblins are reptilian fairies, often described as upright, raptor like creatures (minus the claws and feathers). They are quite stupid as they have brains the size of rats, but they can still talk and (to a certain extent) work machinery like lasers and sometimes even computers. They have the ability to create fireballs in their hands, or shoot them through their nostrils (sometimes by inhaling fireballs created in their own hands). Groups of goblins are involved in an ongoing turf war with groups of dwarves. They make their clothing from their own shed skin. In Book 3, Holly describes goblins as "Evolution's little joke", with the reasoning, "pick the dumbest creatures on the planet, and give them the ability to conjure fire". Notable goblins include General Scalene who was killed along with Julius Root in book 4, also a general in the goblin revolution and public enemy No.2 (after Opal Koboi). Also there are Generals Sputa and Phlebum, leaders of the triad, and captain (now lieutenant after killing D'Nall and Aymon) Nyle, a young, cocky goblin captain also enlisted in the goblin revolution. Another notable goblin is Lieutenant Poll. He was the leader of the goblin hit squad who nearly killed Root and Butler in book 2. After straying too close to an avalanche to inspect the "bodies" of Butler and Root, a one-ton pane of ice put "some big hole in Lieutenant Poll. I could see right through 'im. An' I don't mean that like he was a bad liar." in the words of Aymon.
Gnome
A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...
s
Gnomes are seen and mentioned in every book, but we are not told very much about their race in general. They are described as being about 2 feet tall. We know that some of them are professional wrestlers (fairy wrestling is done in zero gravity chambers). Gnomes have been described as slightly stupid and very argumentative, and that they have massive backsides. It is not mentioned on whether or not Gnomes are a family of the fairies. There is more or less one notable gnome mentioned in the Artemis Fowl series (
Ark Sool
This is a list of characters in the ''Artemis Fowl'' novel series by Eoin Colfer.
Overview
* A dark grey cell indicates that the character was not in the property or that the character's presence in the property has yet to be announced.
* ...
) as the successor to Julius Root.
Jerbal Argon
This is a list of characters in the ''Artemis Fowl'' novel series by Eoin Colfer.
Overview
* A dark grey cell indicates that the character was not in the property or that the character's presence in the property has yet to be announced.
* ...
is also a gnome.
Pixie
A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas arou ...
s
Pixies like to play tricks like stealing horses at night and bringing them back in the morning with their manes tangled. Pixies appear more childlike and grow the same height as a young child, with their giant heads being largely disproportionate to their bodies. These fairies are regarded as 'walking therapy' by other fairies, due to their innocent faces and usually sunny exuberance. Pixies have the gift ''mesmerize'', the gift of tongues, and, like elves, have the ability to heal most wounds. They have large brains, fragile skulls, small lungs, and short legs. However, pixies that live in Atlantis have been known to grow bigger than a normal pixie due to a pressurized environment and an algae-based water filter. These pixies are called jumbo-pixies and the Lower Elements Police (LEP) have been known to use jumbo-pixies as guards in Atlantis. The size of jumbo-pixies makes their brains very small so they are not very smart. Many pixies are extremely cheeky; However, their thin skulls and large brains makes them susceptible to several neurological maladies, such as catatonia, amnesia, and narcolepsy. Doodah Day, Opal Koboi, and the Brill Brothers are members of this family.
Sprites
Sprites are very much like elves, but they have wings and green skin. Most males are flirts, who believe that they are 'God's gift to women'. Their favorite pastime is flying and some have been recorded to try to fly to the moon, but it is doubtful that they succeeded. They have limited healing abilities, in book 2 it was said "Sprites can magic away a wart, but gaping wounds are beyond them.". They also possess the gift of tongues. Injuring the wings of a sprite can be potentially fatal, as the sprites main blood vessels are located there. Sprites have the fastest reflexes of any type of fairy, as mentioned in book 2 "Even if Foaly had the reaction of a sprite, there was no way that he could draw up all of his hooves before the plasma shock blasted him right out of his specially modified swivel chair". There is a type of sprite called the
water sprite
A sprite is a supernatural entity in European mythology. They are often depicted as fairy-like creatures or as an ethereal entity.
The word ''sprite'' is derived from the Latin ''spiritus'' ("spirit"), via the French '' esprit''. Variations on ...
which has bat-like wings. A notable sprite is Chix Verbil, a flirtatious, nervous character, who was present in the Fowl Manor siege, was injured by the goblins in book 2, and also allowed Mulch access to his starter chip in book 4. Another famous sprite is Unix, Turnball Root's right-hand fairy. Unix had his wings removed in a fight with a troll.
Gremlin
A gremlin is a mischievous folkloric creature invented at the beginning of the 20th century to originally explain malfunctions in aircraft and later in other machinery and processes and their operators. Depictions of these creatures vary widely ...
s
Gremlins have only been mentioned once or twice in the Artemis Fowl series.
We do not know anything about them, except some work in the LEP. We first heard of them when Commander Root "doused his cigar in the coffee cup of a passing gremlin" just before he saw the footage of Captain Holly Short's kidnap in the first book. Also, as Root was in the terminal on his way to Fowl Manor, the attendant is being mobbed by a large amount of gremlins. It's also possible that in the graphic novel a gremlin is seen attaching an arm patch to Root as they prepare to head to Fowl Manor. They have also been mentioned when Commander Root slapped at a paramedic gremlin who was applying burn salve to his forehead after being burnt on a whaling ship in book one page 123. Gremlin could also be another name for goblin as gremlins only appear in the first book. It Is also likely that they are related to goblins, but more intelligent.
Demon
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...
s
Seen in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth books in the series,
The Lost Colony
The establishment of the Roanoke Colony ( ) was an attempt by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in North America. The English, led by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, had briefly claimed St. John's, Newfoundland, in ...
,
The Time Paradox,
The Atlantis Complex and
The Last Guardian
''The Last Guardian'' is a 2016 action-adventure game developed by Japan Studio and GenDesign and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Players control a boy who befriends a giant half-bird, half-mammal creature, ...
respectively. They are born as small, elf-like creatures (
imp
IMP or imp may refer to:
* Imp, a fantasy creature
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Imp (She-Ra), a character in ''She-Ra: Princess of Power''
* Imp a character in '' Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony''
* Imp, a character in the '' Cl ...
s) with grey skin, stubby tails, while some of the warlocks have reddish runes on their heads and bodies. In the species,
warlock
A warlock is a male practitioner of witchcraft.
Etymology and terminology
The most commonly accepted etymology derives ''warlock'' from the Old English '' wǣrloga'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver" and was given special applicatio ...
s never transform into demons and remain in their imp form their entire lives, though they make up for this by having the most powerful magic of all fairy warlocks. This power allows demons to make time-travel possible, turn objects to stone, and even effortlessly remove the ancient fairy hex that had stripped the magic of all fairies who entered human dwellings without invitation, something other warlocks had been struggling to do for centuries. Other imps, when they achieve a certain level of bloodlust, transform through a cocoon process called "warping" into large beasts (demons) with horns, pointed ears, tough plates on their skin, and extreme physical strength. The warping is the end of any magic a demon may or may not have possessed. As of the great battle between the humans and fairies, they have resided on a moon-rock island floating in a space in which time does not exist. Since the time-spell was cast, the pack leader was Leon Abbot, who controlled the pack's council through magic he acquired in the time tunnel between Earth and their island of Hybras. Demons are the eighth of the fairy families. Notable demons are Leon Abbot (who sabotaged the warlocks' time spell, absorbing Qweffor in the process) Bludwin, whose energy was sufficient to taint the time spell, and Gristle. Notable warlocks are N°1 (pronounced number 1), Qwan and Qweffor.
Hybrids
In a section of
Artemis Fowl
''The Fowl Adventures'' is a series of eleven fantasy novels written by Irish people, Irish author Eoin Colfer revolving around various members of the Fowl family. The first cycle, ''Artemis Fowl'', follows Elf (Artemis Fowl), elf LEP Reconna ...
, when Commander Root and the LEP Reconnaissance were in a shuttle port, a fairy hybrid of an Elf and Goblin was being mobbed by tourists.
[Artemis Fowl]
Fairies have also been known to adapt to certain environments. For example, a sprite may adapt to living underwater and become a Water Sprite.
In the newly released book The Fowl Twins, Specialist Lazuli Heights was mostly a Atlantean Pixie and Amazonian Elf hybrid and five percent goblin.
Non-Magical Creatures in the Lower Elements
Swear Toads
A couple of college graduate
warlocks
A warlock is a male practitioner of witchcraft.
Etymology and terminology
The most commonly accepted etymology derives ''warlock'' from the Old English '' wǣrloga'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver" and was given special applicatio ...
gave common bloated tunnel toads the power to speak, of course only the power to speak profanities. Now, swear toads run around Haven and swear at its citizens.
Troll
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
s
There is a common misconception that trolls are stupid, but trolls are only relatively stupid. They can fashion crude tools, learn sign language, and grunt out a few unintelligible syllables. This being said, they are extremely stubborn and most of their decisions are based on their instincts. They are quick for their size and have large serrated tusks which produce a narcotic venom which renders the prey mindlessly—and defenselessly—happy. If they can, their preferred kill tactic is to slip their claws under the rib cage and pop the heart out before the muscles have time to tense up, rendering the meat mostly unharmed and tender. They have an extreme aversion to light, noise, and water. The largest pack of trolls were seen in the Eleven Wonders of the World Exhibit in a run-down part of Haven. Very few people have ever managed to single-handedly down a troll. Holly Short once did it with her helmet's eight-hundred-watt high beams, the shock of the light rendering the troll unconscious. Domovoi Butler became the only human ever to do so with a combination of medieval weaponry and modern combat techniques.
Centaur
A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse.
Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...
s
Half horse and half human creatures with hair covering their bodies. Centaurs don't possess any magic, but are the second largest and possibly the smartest of all fairies. Centaurs have the gift of tongues and they can hit hard with their hind legs. They are not very social, as
Foaly
This is a list of characters in the ''Artemis Fowl'' novel series by Eoin Colfer.
Overview
* A dark grey cell indicates that the character was not in the property or that the character's presence in the property has yet to be announced.
* ...
mentioned, and are regarded as vain and paranoid computer geeks. They are not very aggressive physically, although some exceptions use the martial art Nine-sticks. Centaurs are known to be the cousins of the now-extinct
Unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead.
In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...
s, which were killed by humans. The most famed centaur in the series is Foaly and other centaurs include Caballine, Foaly's wife.
Kraken
The kraken () is a legendary sea monster of enormous size said to appear off the coasts of Norway.
Kraken, the subject of sailors' superstitions and mythos, was first described in the modern age at the turn of the 18th century, in a travelogu ...
A large, barnacle-like aquatic creature, up to 3 miles long, appearing in ''
Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with Sel ...
'', of which only seven specimens remain. They are often mistaken for islands, like the Kraken of myth, however they lack tentacles and are docile. Kraken shed their shell usually only once in their lifetime, but when they do, under the shell is a huge amount of methane which is set ablaze, creating an explosion, and propelling the shell off. Although it is thought that Kraken shed their shells only once during their lives, one, known as 'Shelly' by the Kraken Watch and the oldest of the seven specimens still alive, blasts its shell off a second time while Holly is checking a red-lining sensor on it. The Fairy people initially believe only 6 remain alive, although Artemis personally discovers a seventh that avoided Foaly's detection, which was attracted to the coast of Ireland by the magical residue of Hybras.
References
{{Artemis Fowl
Artemis Fowl
Fictional fairies and sprites
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