Demon Knights: Introducing... the Horsewoman!

[espanolbot]

An original character for the series, this character actually looks like she might be cool. Here are some character sketches from here.







Cornell describes her as,

“The Horsewoman is one of the seven Demon Knights, flung together by a desperate battle,” said series writer Paul Cornell. “She’s a mysterious rider who tries to stay apart, on a lonely journey across Medieval Europe. She can ride, but she can’t walk, supported in her saddle by magic and invention. She has an absolute affinity for all horses, and she’s the greatest archer in history. She tries hard not to care, but always ends up helping those who need her. And the little village Etrigan’s reluctant team end up defending from enormous odds is going to need her now.”

They have mentioned that she has a wheelchair for the times she's not in on her horse, but considering she's meant to be an inventor as well as an archer, it isn't entirely inconceivable that she didn't create a collapsing version of what Teo had over in Avatar: the Last Airbender,


So, there you go. She's both smart and badass! I'm looking forward to her appearing anyways.

Comments

[aaron_bourque]

Brandon Stark? What happened to you beyond the Wall?

[proteus_lives]

He found the Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo?

[icon_uk]

I like the fact they've included archery arm and finger guards into her outfit, and I like the overall concept.

[biod]

I do to. As an archer, I know from experience those bowstrings can hurt like hell, so it's nice to see someone with proper protection.

[sparkysharps.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to figure out how she controls the horse without a bridle or the use of her legs. Is it just going to be an "er, magic! That's it!" thing, or do we get a more in-depth explanation (ie. the "absolute affinity" with horses is some sort of psychic link)?

Otherwise, I do think I might end up liking her, even if some of the official statements about her make it seem like they whipped her up to placate people angry about Babs.

[espanolbot]

Hm, my guess is that she shifts her weight int he direction she wants to go, and has trained her horse to go faster when she makes certain noises or something.

[aaron_bourque]

The page art shows a bridle on the horse, so I'm guessing they just forgot it on the other pic.

[an_idol_mind]

That honestly sounds like a pretty cool character. I'm in.

[shadowpsykie]

oooh she looks and seems badass.... i'll bite. Plus Justine!

[shadowpsykie]

notice the Monk in the second to the las panel, he's all "YAY!"

[valtyr]

I think cavalry archers usually put the reins under one knee or even in their teeth... she looks cool, though.

[lucky_gamble]

She sounds badass. I'm in even if it only seems like a token fill in. Especially like the fact that her breasts aren't busting out of her shirt.

[espanolbot]

Having a shirt that's buttoned to the neck makes her more aerodynamic, I guess.

[greenmask]

Archeryyyyy

[icon_uk]

Never my favourite superskill in comics, if only because I've tried archery and it's incredibly tough and multiple arrow firing is all but impossible for practical reasons, so Ollie unleashing seven arrows to seven guns before they can fire always irks me, I'm hoping that a medieval setting might work a little better.

[star_of_airdrie]

On the sketch it says 'no bridle, it would get in the way of the bow'; I've done a lot of things off the back off a horse, why would it get in the way? Maybe they mean the reins but still.

I see why she doesn't need a bridle if she's got voice commands and a psychic connection and it looks cool, any other reason?

Becoming my new favorite character...

[greenmask]

Whilst shooting they'd have to be put down, and if you were in motion at the time they'd flap about like anything.

[feyandstrange]

The lack of bridle and reins seems a bit ridiculous even for a magical telepath whatever person, as every ancient world horseback archery culture seems to have used reins. (They appear to mostly get looped over the saddle when using the bow.)

The hand guards are nice. I'd have been tempted to go with a thumb ring instead as many of the earlier short bow shooters (like the Mongols) used those, but these are pretty. And yay for not having boobs flooping around while shooting. I could wish her arms had more muscle and that her costume looked a little less like PVC, but those might happen.

Why, O why must we have a wheelchair? Srsly, it's all kinds of wrong. There are plenty of historical cases of cripples who could ride but not walk or stand; most of them used carrying chairs or crutches, and often stayed on a horse as much as possible. Wouldn't this character do the same?

The Airbender wheelchair is not possible as a self-propelled model at all. Setting aside the question of how you would steer that fixed front wheel, and the arms being too much in the way to push properly, and the lack of wheel rims: there's no wood in the world that could make a chair sturdy enough for that to work and yet light enough for it to be pushed by the wheels. Okay, *maybe* you could do this with bamboo frame and solid wood wheels, but it would still weigh a freaking ton. (You could make a tolerable chair out of bamboo and a modern bicycle wheel, but that tech's a long ways off from her era from the looks of things.) And collapsible? Ha.

[mister_cairo]

While I agree with everything you've said, their level of technology may be higher than you've allowed for. One of the nations in the show has zeppelins, Metal ships and steam-punk tanks (granted these people can shoot fire from their hands, so they probably side-stepped most of the power issues that way) and a lot of them were built/invented by that kid's father.

Still, as you say, it looks like it's made of wood, so....yeah.

[icon_uk]

The Airbender wheelchair is not possible as a self-propelled model at all. Setting aside the question of how you would steer that fixed front wheel, and the arms being too much in the way to push properly, and the lack of wheel rims:

I think the balance is such that he could tip the chair back so could pivot on the two rear wheels if he needs a fast turn.

Otherwise it would depend on the degree of lateral friction the front wheel has, it may have a low friction level so can be moved from side to side easily, even without its own axle.

I may be missing my terminology here, but aren't those wheelrims there in the picture?

there's no wood in the world that could make a chair sturdy enough for that to work and yet light enough for it to be pushed by the wheels

Airbender isn't quite "our" world though, in terms of biology or botany, and given that it functions as the basis for a glider that Teo's father deisgned for him, it is intended to be VERY light.

[star_of_airdrie]

I've commented all over the place as a lifelong horseperson, but you can ride a horse without a bridle. You can stop a horse with voice and many are trained with a half-halt, which partially breaks momentum by the squeeze of the knees (which she can't do of course), but it would signal to the horse that the voice command is coming. You can steer by seat bones and looking where you want to go.

Actually you should be doing all that anyway, riding without relying on the need to mess with a horse's face. The use of the reins is much more subtle than people realize, or should be. For example, you don't pull back to stop from the walk, you set your hands still (because up to this point your hands have been following the horse's natural movement) and the horse will just walk into your set hand and stop.

Granted I have a ridiculously trained horse - I could put my son when he was 7 on him and we'd give him verbal cues and the horse'd just carry my son along.

[big_daddy_d]

I wasn't interested in Demon Knights but upon seeing her, I might just read it after all. Also see she's sporting a little green and she's an archer..might be awesome if she's an ancestor of Green Arrow..or judging by the red hair, an ancestor of Roy Harper.

[icon_uk]

Well, Roy is a descendent of Vandal Savage, who I believe is also on the team...

[blackruzsa]

Oh oh oh oh!
Well, here's something I'm surely gonna pick up.

[detective_deathman08]

I wanted her to have a womens body and horse head, or vice versa.