Spring-heeled Jane (from Wells)

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Spring-heeled Jane image above is from my talented friend Michelle Penny. So kind of her – it makes me happy every time I look at it :).

Spring-heeled Jane (11)

Project: Television mini-series (“Wells”)

Known as: Spring-heeled Jane

Real name: Cassidy Reid

Group affiliation: None

Physical description: Spring-heeled Jane is a striking figure. She has completely unique skin color (deep indigo) and eye color (light purple). Her hair is pure white, and usually braided. Her hands are razor-sharp talons. She looks both demonic and eerily beautiful.

History: Cassidy Reid was only 12 when she and her twin brother (Cameron) were stolen away by minions of the fearful witch Baba Yaga. Known for snatching children, Cassidy and Cameron would soon find out her hideous purpose in doing so. Baba Yaga, while her magic was fearsome, yearned to be a queen and rule over humanity. Without an army she could destroy but would never truly rule. But what army would be loyal to the horrible Baba Yaga? She decided to make one.

She used children as they were more physically and mystically malleable. Most of her creations simply did not survive. But she had her greatest success, and failure, with the Reid twins.

Cassidy became something akin to a demon. She had hands that were essentially five ridiculously sharp daggers and was much more strong, fast, and durable than any other human. An ideal soldier for Baba Yaga, needing essentially no armament yet more than a match for many foes.

Cameron, as we will discover tomorrow, became something else entirely.

Cassidy was not perfect for Baba Yaga’s purposes, however. Though Baba Yaga had taken steps to shape Cassidy into a killer (see Abilities), for the most part Cassidy retained her personality and free will. Though Baba Yaga would easily emerge victorious in a direct confrontation, she worried that Cassidy might take advantage of an incautious moment and harm Baba Yaga. Worse still, Baba Yaga could not have an army of independent thinkers.

Still, Cassidy was a breakthrough. Using Cassidy as a template, Baba Yaga was able to create more biddable alternatives, though they did not match Cassidy in raw power. Baba Yaga dubbed these lesser creations the Morlocks, and she started to build her army. Unfortunately for Baba Yaga, Cassidy eventually escaped. Lacking her template, Baba Yaga had to make due with the army she had.

Fear not in two days we shall learn of the fate of Baba Yaga and the Morlocks.

Cassidy, believing her brother to be dead, made her way as best she could. Unable to integrate into society, she hid and stole for what little she needed. Occasionally she’d find a place with unusually kind people, but her need to kill would keep these moments short.

She ended up in London in the mid 1800s. The size and population of London meant she had many hiding places, many opportunities for theft, and many victims when she was overcome with her bloodlust. While she attempted to limit her killing to the evil and unsavory, she sometimes had encounters with all sorts. Ultimately reports of a cloaked, demonic figure stalking the night and frequently escaping with unusual leaping skills hit the newspapers. No one had gotten a good enough look to realize this figure was female, and thus the legend of Spring-heeled Jack spread.

Wells, knowledgeable of what would become Baba Yaga’s War of the Worlds (magic vs. mundane), had his suspicions of the real identity of Spring-heeled Jack as Baba Yaga’s lost template. Not knowing the template’s true name, he at least corrected her new alias in his journals as “Spring-heeled Jane.”

As the story of Morlocks and Baba Yaga was retold but transformed by Wells into “War of the Worlds,” Jane was one of the beings bound to Wells and swept into 2018. Modern times have made things still more difficult for Jane, and she begins to despair that she will never be free of her bloodlust nor cursed existence. As victims begin to appear, a certain detective will inevitably be on Jane’s trail.

Role in the narrative: TV shows like this tend to balance cannon stories with “monsters of the week.” I first thought Jane would be a one-episode foe, but when I started writing her her history became intertwined with Fiddler Angel and Baba Yaga. Now I’m not sure what to do with her until I figure out the other two. She’s a tragic character as written so far, which means I could take her in many directions (noble end, redemption, slide into full evil).

Abilities: Jane is an amazing physical specimen. Her skin is akin to Kevlar, and she is largely bulletproof (an elephant gun might do the trick, but otherwise most bullets may only bruise her or break a bone). If she is injured, she has regenerative healing and can even regrow limbs. Broken bones will knit in a day or two, and even severe injuries she barely survives will be healed within a week.

Her talons are tougher and sharper than anything in the animal kingdom. They are not indestructible however (though they will regenerate like the rest of her if damaged). Combined with her strength flesh and bone is no match for her claws, but a steel door would thwart her without sustained and considerable effort.

She is also incredibly strong. She could flip most cars over with one hand. She is superhumanly fast and dexterous, and her jumping skills are indeed phenomenal. From a crouching position she can spring vertically 25 feet or more.

Her greatest limitation is that, thanks to Baba Yaga’s machinations, the longer she goes without killing the more feral and vicious she becomes. She might be able to avoid killing for several weeks, but eventually without a human kill she will have such bloodlust that the first person that crosses her path will die. This is utterly heartbreaking to Jane, who given a choice would never take a life. The only way to avoid inevitably taking an innocent life is to instead consciously decide to kill someone who seems more deserving of the fate. She loathes consciously killing but stacked against regaining her senses after killing an innocent, she feels forced.

Inspirations: Saruman from Lord of the Rings was the sort to twist people into a monstrous army. I’ve always found Universal’s Wolf Man a pitiable character. While a savage killer, he is also someone who doesn’t want to kill (unlike vampires who kill to selfishly continue their own existence those jerks). There are also shades of Wolverine here. The legend of Spring-heeled Jack and War of the Worlds are obviously direct inspirations.