"There was no long-term, and trying to cling to one would only spoil it all."
This article contains spoilers regarding the ending of Worm and plot of the sequel.
| “ | That Woman in Blue is not equipped to lead. As far as I can tell, that’s a woman who was younger than I am now when she took over her planet, and nobody was strong enough to stop her. She didn’t know how to lead, she just… things work out because she keeps everyone united in fear, if they’re unpowered, or united under her banner if they’re powered. She’s spoiled and unhinged. | ” |
| “ | Some were still angry, still looking for revenge. The woman in blue seemed more angry than protective, furious at me, silent as she was. But she had less backup now. | ” |
Bianca, known to most by her preferred name Goddess, is the dictator of Earth Shin.
Personality[]
By the time she appeared in Worm, she was a powerful parahuman who had a world that answered to her for around a decade. According to Citrine, a parahuman with access to a large number of information resources, claims 'Goddess' is a title Bianca chose.[14] Her inveterate reign came to an end with Gold Morning when a then unnamed force usurped her and her court for the army. Afterward, in the ruins of New York, her shouts and calls spoke to an authority figure trying to come to terms with her loss of command.[15]
Two years later while in The City she retained her sense of command. When speaking she incorporated gestures into her speech.[16] She further showcased a well thought out strategy and skill in negotiation.[17] She believed in information hygiene.
Relationships[]
Cauldron[]
The organization originally relocated Bianca, against her will; and left parahumans for her to find.[16] The full nature of their relationship and the extent of their collaboration, if any, is unknown.
Marquis[]
As a ruler, she seemed to appreciate those with a code of their own.[16]
Teacher[]
An enemy and harasser, one of the primary reasons she wants to take power again.
Appearance[]
While her ethnicity is not fully known, 'Goddess' wears a blue costume with a gauntlet emblem, white fur on the collar, and a heavy cape.[18]
In Ward, she appears as a blonde, with a more modest attire, although keeping blue-white motif.[19][20]
Abilities and Powers[]
- Main article: Goddess' Cluster
Bianca's cluster had a structure that was defined as a 'carousel' by its members. Every day, one member of the cluster would have full power, while the rest would be very weak.
Due to having a full or nearly full connection with six shards[21], Goddess has an almost unheard of variety of powers.
Her primary[22] power is a Master power that lets her influence anyone in her vicinity,[13] which realigned parahuman cognition into being her subjects.[23] This allowed her to effectively turn her organization into a hive mind with her 'lieutenants' carrying out her orders.[6][24] It is not infallible however as it can be interfered with, inoculated against, and reasoned out of.
Her second power is her most obvious one, telekinesis;[13] as a powerful long-range expression of this ability she can fly, have super-strength, and manipulate objects and people, given how Khepri used her during Gold Morning.[7] Her telekinesis manifests as fractal patterns in the air, and although she is only capable of moving inorganic objects, she is capable of seizing people by their clothes.
Third, Goddess has a touch-based Trump ability that lets her tune abilities and defenses in a manner akin to Scion.[13]
Fourth, she has a danger sense.[25] Her danger sense will alert her to the strength and direction of any danger that she faces. If the danger is overwhelming, such as in the case of Scion or Contessa, she will feel danger with a distinct lack of direction.[26]
Her fifth power is a personal power battery, that she can tap to strengthen her abilities for limited amounts of time.[13] When used in conjunction with her Master ability, her influence can spread between capes like a virus.[27]
Her sixth and final power has not yet been revealed or was mistakenly labeled as part of one of the other five powers by fans.
History[]
Background[]
Bianca triggered a few years before mid 2008[28][29][*] during the quarantine of White Rock.[30] A portal between Bet and Shin was found and used for smuggling. Problems arose when people became sick and started dying. The portal was shut, and people were trapped on whichever world they were left on. This caused trigger events for many people around.
Later she was transported to Earth Shin by Cauldron[24] and quickly rose to world domination.[11]
Because of Professor Haywire's activities, the PRT became aware of her and her influence over her group of parahumans.[6]
The Timeskip[]
On December 19th, 2012 the Simurgh was sighted in Paris, though eventually driven off by Scion, the data file referring to the event specifically references "The Woman in Blue" and the "United Capes". It is unknown what connection, if any, ties into Goddess.[4]
Gold Morning[]
Goddess resisted Khepri's control after the Doormaker to open a portal into her council chambers on Earth Shin. She used her power to throw off Khepri's control over herself and the others in the room.[18] Khepri attacked again with an enhanced version of Canary's song, and Goddess fell underneath Khepri's sway.[31] Khepri briefly wondered at the nature of her abilities and where she had come from before she directed Goddess to the battlefield.[13]
Later, Khepri had Goddess stand alongside other telekinetics by portals and used her to move capes further, faster, or out of the way while fighting Zion.[7] Presumably, Goddess was unharmed or at least resistant to damage.
After Doormaker was left incapacitated and Khepri's subsequent loss of control, Goddess was stranded in New York completely at a loss over what was going on and shouting to find her compatriots. After Zion's death, Goddess went after the girl who had brought her into the fight flying around barriers and more.[15] She looked on with silent fury as the girl who was Khepri was allowed to leave.[32]
Post-Gold Morning[]
The general public believed that she returned to her world after the event,[11] since at that point Goddess was content to stay in the background and recollect her parahuman-lieutenants, which were stranded alongside her.[33]
She was being surveilled by Foresight and the Wardens,[34] as well as Teacher and, probably, multiple other sides, which made her feel hounded.[35]
Early Ward[]
Mentioned as one of the main villainous influencers in the new multiversal human society.[36][14]
Demonstrated a continuous interest in parahuman prison inhabitants. Although bureaucracy and a threat of open conflict with the whole of Gimel were still able to hold her off at this point.[33]
Post-Fallen fall[]
With the Portal Widening, new Fallen prisoners being up for grabs, and general reactivation of major players she was becoming impatient.[33][35]
Goddess' Takeover[]
Using the moment when her observers were distracted, she met with Marquis and Amy, ensuring their assistance on unspecified terms. Shortly after that, she directed her attention on Breakthrough.[35]
Together with Breakthrough, Bianca attacked the parahuman prison. She mastered every cape there and set out to take over the rest of Gimel.
Before she could accomplish this, Breakthrough broke free of her master effect and started to fight back. She ultimately lost her life to a surprise attack by Cryptid. Her position as Empress of Earth Shin was usurped by the Red Queen, and her clustermates fled to March.
Chapter Appearances[]
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Trivia[]
- While Goddess was called many names in her short appearance "the Blue Empress" was not originally one of them.[37] The name was later incorporated into the canon,[14] a not uncommon phenomenon.[38]
- Bianca, before being adapted to mean white as seen in blanc, means "bright" or "shining" in the original Latin.
Fanart Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “We’re here and we’re open to talk,” Capricorn said. “We’re a novice group but have information and we have connections. Are introductions in order?”
“Bianca,” the Lady in Blue said. “This is Luis, and I hope you know who she is. I already know your names.” - Excerpt from Gleaming 9.2 - ↑ 2.0 2.1 “This woman I’m dating is… she’s beautiful, she’s smart, not- not educated, but she’s had to learn about a lot of things, and she picked it up fast. She’s passionate and stylish, she’s interesting, and… it’s like those television dramas.”
“Numb, you said,” Jessica interjected.
“It’s enjoyable, it has its moments, don’t get me wrong. But those moments pass, and… it feels like there’s a bit less of everything to everything. We started it off as an experiment, I was upfront about things, and maybe we’ll taper it off, I don’t know. I think we could remain friends.”
[...]
“Of course it is. But it’s not wrong either. The bullet points are the same. It’s romanticized because I fantasize about it a lot. How things would have gone. How things could go. There are weeks I work twelve hours every day and when I’m not working I dream of what could have been. There’s more life and feeling in that than in anything else. Than in B- In B, the woman I’m dating.”
“That doesn’t sound healthy.” - Interlude 16.y II - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 “There’s a cape by the name of Goddess. Also the Blue Empress, Blue Lady, the Woman in Blue. Once situated on Earth Shin, she was brought here for the fight against Scion by a strange, unnamed player who has since been classified as a threat on par with any Endbringer. Or with Goddess, as it happens. Unfortunately, this anonymous figure didn’t put her back.”
“A strange, unnamed player?” I asked. - Excerpt from Pitch 6.8 - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Paris, December 19th, 2012 // Simurgh
Notes: Victory by Scion.
Target/Consequence: see file The Woman in Blue. See file United Capes. - Excerpt from Scarab 25.6 - ↑ “I got part of it,” Ashley said. “I had words with Monokeros. She mentioned this woman – must we call her Goddess?”
“We mustn’t,” Sveta said. “The woman in blue. The Dictator of Shin.” - Excerpt from Beacon 8.7 - ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "According to the PRT's most classified files," the man says, "This would be Earth Shin. Earth S for short. A Professor Haywire first raised attention to its existence. The number of parahumans are low in numbers on this alternate Earth, but they operate under a very subtle hive mind, all in allegiance to a Queen. For this reason, it is exceptionally dangerous for a parahuman to visit this world. They would quickly and inevitably fall under the woman's thrall."
"Obviously," the woman says, "We aren't parahumans, us three."
The man continues, "The PRT higher-ups remain aware of this threat, among others. It’s part of their reason for being paranoid about breaching other worlds. Part of what -we- do, my colleague and I, is study the threats and try to weigh viability and potential. This is a threat that our organization has decided to leave alone, because it has potential." - Lausanne RP - ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Telekinetics stood by portals. The Blue Woman and Parian were among them. When I saw opportunities, I used them to move capes further, faster, to get them out of the way.
[...]
Portals opened wider, telekinesis pulling the attacking capes through if they couldn’t move fast enough. Forcefields and other measures flew up to surround Scion, mitigating the damage. - Excerpt from Speck 30.5 - ↑ Capricorn
Age: 17 - Visual notes: Team Therapy - ↑ “Maybe,” Byron said. “But I’m not sure that’s true. That Woman in Blue is not equipped to lead. As far as I can tell, that’s a woman who was younger than I am now when she took over her planet, and nobody was strong enough to stop her. She didn’t know how to lead, she just… things work out because she keeps everyone united in fear, if they’re unpowered, or united under her banner if they’re powered. She’s spoiled and unhinged. I can’t see a good outcome from that. If I don’t take a stand here, there’s going to be more ruin and devastation. This whole thing needs to stop now if we’re going to keep this from ruining Breakthrough, hurting the other heroes, letting Teacher or Goddess win, or letting both win while everyone else loses…” - Excerpt from Gleaming 9.3
- ↑ “This was easier the first time,” Goddess said. “A decision I made as a teenager, to take over, solve all of the problems. Eternal youth, through my cocoon man, beauty, endless wealth and power. It was fine.” - Gleaming 9.15
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 ► AtoLo
Replied on August 23rd
[...]
refugees of Earth Shin say a parahuman took over their Earth a decade ago. one woman. she went back home to continue ruling them. - Excerpt from Glow-worm P.8 - ↑ “Follow the protocols,” he said. “You’re compromised. You know you just interacted with a strong Master. Your team’s at stake. Master stranger protocols.”
It was such a subtle effect, wasn’t it? I felt like I’d barely been influenced. - Excerpt from Gleaming 9.3 - ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 An attack from two directions. She wasn’t immune, only resistant. I felt myself assert control. I understood her power, even if I didn’t understand a thing about her. A personal, point-blank trump power, allowing her to tune abilities and defenses much like Scion did. A powerful long-ranged telekinesis, a compulsion power like Canary’s, presence-based rather than voice based, and a personal power battery that let her be stronger, for limited times.
Where the hell had she come from?
No powers that really made her amazing against Scion, but it was an asset. - Excerpt from Speck 30.4 - ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 "... There are monsters like the self-styled Goddess out there.”
“The Blue Empress of Earth Shin.” - Excerpt from Interlude 5x II - ↑ 15.0 15.1 The uneasiness reached a peak. I gave them one final look, watching for any trouble, then took to the air, crouching on a forcefield. The members of my swarm followed, flying around any barriers I erected. A man in blue and white who zig-zagged around anything I put up. A regal woman in blue.
[...]
There was a small army after me now. Some were in the lead, and I made a point of blocking them, stalling with forcefields and directing ranged fire their way. The man in blue and white was chief among them, as was the blue woman in a regal costume. - Excerpt from Speck 30.7 - ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 “An ally,” Bianca said. “I like people with their rules. Discipline. It’s a good mindset to have.”
“Including Monokeros?” Swansong asked.
Bianca pressed two fingers to her lips, kissing the knuckles halfway down.
“That doesn’t tell me anything,” Swansong said.
“Silence is golden,” Amy translated.
Gold is a loaded word. Idioms or gestures from strange earths might work better than running away with this.
[...]
“If you’ll help me get what you need, I’ll help you with our mutual enemies and I will reward you. Help me take power, and I have a world’s worth of wealth and resources. I can make you head of a state. I can give you power and influence here. I can tell you that people in my world were very interested in deciphering powers. They helped make me what I am, unwittingly, but they were happy in the end. The, ah, monsters who made you, painted Tress, that icon on your cheek-”
Sveta reached up, touching her cheek. I was caught between observing her and paying attention to the gestures that punctuated certain words. Monsters, index finger curled into a hook. By the faint change in her expression, perhaps something obscene. - Excerpt from Gleaming 9.2 - ↑ I knew just what arguments had struck home for which people. I worried some had been tailored to specific individuals. - Excerpt from Gleaming 9.2
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 I found another Earth with a mixture of capes, all incredibly beautiful people, all in what was obviously a global position of power. Every flag that flew in their world was the same flag, and the gauntlet emblem on that flag matched the icon on a particular woman’s costume. A blue costume, with white fur at the collar, and a heavy cape that would have done Alexandria proud.
I attempted to seize control of them as well, and the woman in blue resisted me. She spoke, and I lost my hold on everyone in her range. - Excerpt from Speck 30.4 - ↑ We found Goddess.” [...] The camera fixed on one individual. A woman, blonde, wearing a light blue jacket with a white fur ruff collar. - Excerpt from Beacon 8.8
- ↑ Goddess’ jacket was blue, with a white fur ruff, and she had black pants on, with boots worn over. The coverage didn’t seem exceedingly necessary, as she wasn’t touched by the rain. - Excerpt from Gleaming 9.2
- ↑ "What happened to the others?" Rain asked.
"Dead?" I guessed.
"Alive. Four of them, anyhow. A fifth killed themselves because they couldn't fill the void where the power and the feeling of power once were. None of them were left with more than whispers of power after.... Goddess taking all the power brought an end to it." - Excerpt from Pitch 6.8 - ↑ He was the monster but she- she had the strongest control power. - Excerpt from Interlude 12.z II
- ↑ - Excerpt from Gleaming 9.3
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 “So it happens,” Tattletale said, with a grin. “With only a select group of top Wardens and major players really tracking what really happened. But we were talking the woman in blue. She got powers and was relocated to Earth Shin before she could… grow to full potential. Relocated by a [cauldron] . [...] She proceeded to take over earth Shin, with all other parahumans acting as her lieutenants. All other parahumans on that world, mind. No exceptions. Which the organization deemed fine, because they got to keep her in their back pocket, even while they couldn’t control her. She is, or was, a grab-bag, she found a way to pull free of her cluster, and she came out of it with a set of powers that would each be world-class on their own.” - Excerpt from Pitch 6.8
- ↑ “The last time I made a play, there was a twenty minute delay before they came. This time, my danger sense suggests something closer to ten or twelve.” - Gleaming 9.3
- ↑ “We need more information than that,” I said. “What is your danger sense telling you? How does it function?”
“My power is a feeling,” she said. “It can come from a direction. It tastes of intent. It has flavors depending on the kind of danger. This tastes hollow, and it feels big. There’s no direction to it. The opposite, the lack of direction is the danger.”
“Have you felt anything like this before?” I asked.
“I felt something roughly this big once. It was when the world was ending. The golden man.” - Excerpt from Gleaming 9.12 - ↑ “I got that far,” Crystalclear said. “And then… it was like something major had happened. A turning point in history, you know?”
“I kind of know,” I said. I had a whole mess of mixed feelings as I realized what he was saying. Trepidation was about fifty percent of that mess.
“It came from you guys, but it bounced, because I get a feeling it started somewhere else. I can see it with my power.”
“She aligned you.” - Excerpt from Gleaming 9.14 - ↑ Maybe the insatiable curiosity was Flechette’s. Maybe the poor girl was enduring her first few months with the PRT, being expected to learn these things, and it was being raised as a talent or inclination, discarded because Flechette had other priorities. - Excerpt from Interlude 12.z II
- ↑ “They made a hole between worlds. And… some people here started using it. A few years back.”
“Me,” Tori said. “Jace.”
The guy raised a hand. - Excerpt from Interlude 12.z II - ↑ “Start from the beginning,” Jan said.
“Did you hear about the quarantine at White Rock?”
Jan nodded.
“Do you know the reason why they quarantined White Rock?” Tori asked.
“Yes,” Jan said.
“No,” March said. “Quarantine?”
“Someone dug a hole,” the other woman in the group said. “I’m Megan, by the way.”
“Hi Megan.” - Excerpt from Interlude 12.z II - ↑ I created a portal, and I ensnared Canary, who was busy rescuing the wounded, flying here and there with her Dragonslayer suit, her arms full.
[...]
I brought her close enough to give her the benefit of the Yàngbǎn’s power enhancer. I had enough awareness of her power to know how to keep myself safe from it.
I tried again with these foreign capes, in this world where this blue-costumed woman ruled the world, portals feeding Canary’s song into their council chambers.
Those same portals let me attempt to reassert control. - Excerpt from Speck 30.4 - ↑ Some were still angry, still looking for revenge. The woman in blue seemed more angry than protective, furious at me, silent as she was. But she had less backup now. - Excerpt from Speck 30.7
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 “Goddess is interested in the prison. Did you read her messages?”
“No,” Tristan said. “There’s no written record. She’s doing it through her people, who call or visit, because her actually showing up would be as good as an act of war. There are some notes here and there, for paperwork, and we can see emails going out asking for arbitration or help. She’s been interested since before the portal debacle, and she’s been getting impatient.”
“I got part of it,” Ashley said. “I had words with Monokeros. [...] This blue woman reached out to Monokeros. It’s part of why she wants to come here. She wants her, and she wants some specific others- all of us, I’m sure, if she can get us, but she was apparently asking if the Mathers bitch was at this prison.”
[...]
“But she was pulled out of her world just like everyone else. Her lieutenants were pulled out of her world. No more capes to control things – we don’t know how the population reacted. [...] She can’t go back until she has the means of seizing control. She hasn’t come after Gimel to take that because…” Sveta trailed off.
“She’s missing something,” I said. “Or she was injured in the final fight, or… there’s some stipulation on how her powers work or how she maintains a balance where she’s a multitrigger like Rain but with top tier powers across the board.”
“Or,” Capricorn said. “She knows it would mean war between her world and ours, and we have more capes. Her civilians might outnumber our civilians, but they hate her. There’s no loyalty. She took over her world and it was a hostile occupation.” - Excerpt from Beacon 8.7 - ↑ “Foresight and the Wardens have been keeping tabs on major players. They knew she was interested in the prison- she didn’t make any secrets about it. Her underlings have been ringing in regularly. That interest of hers was reason enough to watch her. She sees them watching and scares them off, just like she disintegrated the camera. She doesn’t change her routine outside of that. She doesn’t use powers, they don’t think, unless it’s in situations like that just now - Excerpt from Beacon 8.8
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 - Excerpt from Gleaming 9.2
- ↑ “What about the ones who are hooked into bigger groups?” I asked.
“That gets more complicated, and it’s less about the places to watch and more about the names to keep an ear out for,” my dad said. “Marquis, Goddess, Lord of Loss, Mama Mathers, the Crowley brothers, Deader and Goner, Barrow.”
I knew the names and I knew where they were situated. No big surprises there. I nodded to myself. Marquis. So casually mentioned. - Excerpt from Glare 3.5 - ↑ Ridtom: Fanon also has the Blue Empress as being the leader of WB Supreme Earth Au
Ridtom: That he wrote a while ago
Wildbow: That's not fanon
edward: WB Supreme Earth?
Wildbow: Her being called the Blue Empress is - IRC conversation with Wildbow, archived on Spacebattles - ↑ Trusting:
Echidna , mother of monsters ! - First mention in comment on Migration 17.8
[]
| Subway Cluster | Flechette • March † • Homer † |
|---|---|
| Mall Cluster | Snag † • Precipice • Cradle * • Love Lost • Colt |
| Smugglers Cluster | Goddess † • Tori Heflin † • Megan • Jace † • Ysmine • Bill † |
| The Stable | Oxfair • Ramfair • Foulcock • Foulpig |
| The Graeae | Dino • Enyo • Pephredo |
| Unknown Clusters | Circus • Grace • Hoyden • Ixnay • Jotun • Mouse Protector † • Paris • Ravager † • Watch |