"Y’know what, Vyncent? Things are starting to look up for me–!" –William mere moments before going intangible through the helicopter and falling 50 feet down into the ocean.
William Wisp is a human boy with unstable supernatural ghost powers and is one of the four members of the Prime Defenders. He is played by Slimecicle, aka Charlie.
Description
Appearance
William Wisp (Hero Name "Wisperer") is a man that is typically seen wearing a zip-up black hoodie over a t-shirt with dark denim jeans and sneakers. He has dark brown eyes and black messy hair. He has a slender build, soft face, and pale skin.
He has the ability to turn his body intangible, which causes him to look semi-transparent. (This power in particular, later on, seems to act up in conjunction with his fear). Additionally, he has a "Wisp" form in which his soul leaves his body and he becomes temporarily more powerful; in said form, he retains a relatively similar appearance, but his hair turns snow white and eyes blue. This form is additionally semi-transparent, on account of it being his soul separated from his body.
In the start of S2, he is seen wearing a black tank top with a skull on it, and gym shorts while training. He has additionally put on a bit of muscle definition.
On Fauna, he temporarily becomes fully decked out in a too-big black robes with sections that have lighter blue trim that trails to the ground, with giant shoulder pauldrons with metal skulls on them. He wears a crooked wizard's hat, the top of which looks like the tip of a flame, and carries a black gnarled wooden staff with a crystal ball at the end that has a blue wisp flickering within it. He still wears his sneakers under his robe. His appearance returns to normal once returning to Prime.
Official art of William Wisp's super suit by JageRage7[Art 2]
As of S2 Episode 12: They've Been Watching, he is described to have a single white streak through his hair (presumably from the subway incident, though not explicitly stated) and black fingernail polish. He also now wears an unzipped hoodie with an oddly specific graphic tee that reads “I fucking died at the ripe age of 16 - literally fell off a cliff - and now I can’t stop solving mysteries”.
As of S2 Episode 22: The Heart of a Hero, he is described to have black decay on the tips of his fingers, along with a scar over his heart from surgery. There are visible veins popping up from under his skin, especially near the scar.
Hero Outfit
William's hero outfit is an all-black black jumpsuit with a hood, long boots and gloves. When the outfit is put fully on, the entirety of the gloves and up to the calf of his boots light up with dark blue flames. There are more light blue markings on the suit across the belt and arms, and across the front and back of the suit is two big "W"s of blue flame, connected. Additionally, when fully adorned, the hood of the suit ignites and forms a mask out of blue flame in front of his face, leaving only two pure white eye-slits visible, which are able to emote and are described as "expressive."
Personality
William is an introverted, generally closed off person. He walks with his head down and hood up, oftentimes. He is extremely socially awkward and has trouble navigating interactions, even with his own friends early on. People generally do not like or, typically, even notice him -- the latter likely more due to him giving it his best effort to fade into the background as much as possible at all times than anything else. He can come off unnerving by behaving "strangely", such as standing behind people creepily or staring unblinkingly. It is genuinely unclear whether he does these things on purpose or if they are unintentional behaviors. William is easily embarrassed and gets nervous easily, as well, it seems. When he can't find his own sentence or stutters, he often just stops talking, giving up. He becomes shy and often awkward when a conversation is sappy. He has a tendency to behave mischievously, as well, and seems to like playing tricks or just being a little bit of a bitch from time to time, as evident when he tied Dakota's shoelaces together while a ghost,
Official art of William Wisp's late Season 2 design by JageRage7[Art 3]
He has an obsession with solving mysteries and investigating, and cannot leave questions unanswered -- he must uncover the truth. If there is an open-ended hook, he will follow it. This can either be a blessing or a curse, depending on the situation, for the rest of the Prime Defenders. His curiosity can cause him to be reckless; his biggest weakness. He can, will and must snoop -- and he's really good at it, too. He is also horrible stubborn when he wants to be, such as if anyone ever tries to take the wheel of the Winnebago but him, even though he's the worst driver in the history of humanity.
He is known to be exceedingly prone to being jealous and petty, to the point he can be vindictive. This has been showcased on multiple occasions. When bullied by Jimmy in Episode 1: The New Generation, he almost immediately retaliates by making him fall out of his chair. There are also multiple instances where Vyncent has aggravated him - such as when he unintentionally became involved with Shauna - that William has become snide and even cruel in response; driving away and leaving him behind, and later crassly pouring a large amount of alcohol on his open wound. On the flip side, he has been shown to be equally sympathetic, often making efforts to cheer his friends up in moments where they are down in ways the others wouldn't, such as making his hair invisible when Vyncent was bald or buying pizza for Dakota after his and Vyncent's fighting upset him. He is often inclined to help people (even in a mundane sense; with menial tasks or needs) in need, as well, and while more passive than, say, Dakota, he is still heroic in that way. He is, additionally, a naturally concerned and protective person when it comes to those he cares about. He is the first to ask for the risks in situations his friends will be put into, or will bring concerns up to them if he feels they could be in danger in any way. He is more likely to consider his friends' needs above his own, as well, and doesn't tend to let his emotions cloud his judgement when it comes to giving them advice (and just in general, frankly).
William is very intelligent, having an eidetic memory, and is generally a logician. He is easily the brains of the Prime Defenders, acting often as a voice of reason, logic and the impulse control. Though, they do have a tendency to influence him into their chaos. Regardless, Dakota and Vyncent often look to him for input and guidance -- even direction, often times. While he is very smart, he is the physical equivalent of a noodle. He seems painfully aware of this and is maybe a little self conscious of it, training with Vyncent and Alphonz to get even slightly stronger.
Additionally relevant is William's anxious nature. As mentioned, he's often nervous and awkward in general, but he also struggles with a lot of fear (he's easily unnerved, it seems) and anxiety in general. Despite having died multiple times, he still greatly fears death and his own dubious mortality due to his experiences with it, seems to dissociate at times when confronted with this fear or reflecting on his deaths, and tends to compartmentalize these anxieties as a result. This fear seems to have ramped up especially after seeing the Spirit World and being told by Mallard Conway that it's where people go when they die, as well as after finding his body to be actively decaying in Prime Defenders S2 Episode 13.
Official art of William Wisp from Episode 2 by osidinum[Art 4]
Powers
William has, primarily what are known as "Ghost-Shaping" powers, which allows him to create tangible or intangible objects and structures from Will-O'-Wisps. (WIP)
He was also born with the ability “Truesight”, which allows him to see supernatural entities and creatures, excluding ghosts.[1] (WIP, needs citation)
Background/History
William Wisp was born and raised in a faraway small town called Deadwood. Very little detail is known about William's background as of now, since he is reluctant to talk about it. He is known to have a few friends from back home that he was in a paranormal investigators-type group (known as the "Un-Witness Protection Program") with, since disbanded. He has a mother and father who still live back in Deadwood and have only once visited William in New Haven in Episode 16: The Hall of Elements, though it is clear that they care about him very much. It seems he was raised religiously, as he makes a comment about his parents going to church on Sundays in the same episode. He additionally mentions that he stopped going to church at one point or another, making this even more likely, and it's even quite possible he harbors some fear surrounding it as he shouts for Satan to "stay back" when he awakes from unconsciousness in S2 Episode 13: Maximum Security.
William has the ability to harness the power of Will-O'-Wisps ever since an accident (the intimate details of which remain currently unknown) before the events of PD. He is hesitant to bring up aspects of his past to even the other Prime Defenders, especially his "initial" death at age 16, which is likely simply due to the inherent traumatic nature of thinking about it. As far as he says and seems to remember (as he admits the details of this are fuzzy, again likely due to trauma), William tumbled off a cliff while hiking and chasing one of the aforementioned wisps back in the Whispering Woods (a forest) in his hometown and died from the fall. It is unknown exactly what forces were at play thereafter that caused him to come back to life and granted him his superpowers; whether it was the wisps directly, something else, or both. Regardless, it is likely that gaining said powers wreaked havoc on his life. He has mentioned that he cannot return to Deadwood because ever since gaining his Will-O'-Wisp powers, "creatures" (monsters, other ghosts, etc.), which were a common problem in Deadwood, became attracted to him and this inconvenience would often put his loved ones (and himself) in danger. It's unknown if the Ms. Gilbert and WATCH recruiting him was his ticket to leaving home, or if he was already out of town by the time they scouted him.
William has a history of being extremely embarrassed and/or ashamed by his powers and did not like talking about or using them in general. While he does so with a little more confidence currently, he still is hellbent on not turning into his Wisp Form at all. By Season 2, he stops using his Wisp form entirely. The Wisp Form has always been his most blatantly disliked of his powers, as evident by his repeated shooting down of Dakota's insistence that it's cool or impressive as well as the reluctance to use the power overall.
Relationships
Dakota Cole
William and Dakota are very close friends. Though Dakota's high energy severely contrasts William, this hardly stops them from being friends. In early episodes (while still attending Centurion High) when William was bullied, Dakota would stand up for or defend him readily, even going so far as to suggest taking revenge on Jimmy for being mean to him. He is quite protective of William, specifically, in this way. Dakota trusts Will's judgment and capabilities wholeheartedly, in a general sense. He has blatantly asked for and/or waited for Will's guidance/direction or recommendation on what to do in various situations and sings his praises. He especially finds Will's "ghost-powers" to be extremely cool, complimenting him and talking with awe about his powers to others (i.e. Chip in the JRWI What If: Otherworldly Summoning). Despite Will's heavy dislike for his own Wisp form, Dakota finds it impressive and has asked him about it more than once, trying to get Will to feel proud of it. William seems totally comfortable around Dakota (save for when his Wisp form is brought up), as he rarely, if ever, gets tripped up or uncomfortable while talking with him. He has also mentioned that he only ever cared about getting stronger was because he met Dakota (in Episode 1: The New Generation). On multiple occasions Dakota has tried to set William up on a date with Summer, all times of which Will has made moves to avoid. They often engage in friendly banter or bicker back and forth, but have a mutual understanding of each other and remain close nonetheless. William and Dakota have rarely gotten into actual fights -- though Dakota did become extremely upset with him after William lied about Ashe's pages, first trying to fight him, then storming off and crying. After returning from his 10 month absence, Dakota is welcomed with open arms by William especially, who was not upset with him at all, simply happy to have him back and not wanting to lose him again. William and Dakota also seemingly share a close enough of a bond to allow Dakota's soul to enter William's body. It's not clear whether this is just a power of William's he can do with anyone or is made possible due to the bond he and Dakota share. Regardless, they have this twice in S2. In the JRWI What If: Otherworldly Summoning, Dakota admits to Chip that he feels like a third wheel between Vyncent and William and is seemingly self-conscious about his role in the group at times, feeling left out. Despite this disconnect he clearly feels, he hasn't brought it up to either of them. He additionally remarks that he hasn't brought other issues he's had with both Will and Vyncent up to them, such as them almost "betraying" him, suggesting that while he feels very close to them, he has a lot of trouble voicing and talking out his feelings (something we have seen before, with him saying it's easier for him to write his feelings down in order to process them better).
Overall, it is clear that Dakota cares about William an immense deal. In S2 Episode 22, he was willing to give up his second heart that granted him his powers in order to stop William from decaying further in death. William has stated Dakota to be his personal hero because of this. As stated by Bizly and Charlie in the Just Rolled With It for S2 Episode 12: They've Been Watching, according to Charlie's character notes on William and Dakota's relationship, there is apparently no one that William respects more, superhero wise, than Dakota.
Vyncent Sol
Main: Relationship between William Wisp and Vyncent Sol
William and Vyncent are very close friends (it's complicated). They hit it off early on to Vyncent's arrival and get along pretty smoothly overall, save for William picking fights with him whenever Vyncent flirts with someone/is flirted with. Before leaving both previous Prime Defenders bases, they regularly watched movies together as it has become a shared hobby between them. They have a mutual trust for one another and, it seems, desire to see/keep each other safe. They compliment each other irregularly, both to one another and to other people. Vyncent has said that William helped him develop a semblance of impulse control, as well, and to plan more in general. He has, on multiple occasions, stated how he finds Will quite intelligent. On the flip side, William often states how cool or badass he finds Vyncent to be. The two of them spent 10 months alone together at the old, now destroyed, Prime Defenders HQ while Dakota was missing. During this time, it's stated that they trained together (along with Alphonz's help) regularly, and that they often workshopped different unique strategies for combat and other situations. It can be assumed that their bond & trust in one another became stronger over this prolonged period, as even Dakota states that they bonded in the JRWI What If: Otherworldly Summoning. Additionally, William genuinely has Vyncent's best interests at heart over his own desires, urging him to return home to Fauna when given the opportunity, even though he said he would really miss him and, after talking him into it, visibly was not happy seeing him go, and asked him to return quickly.
Ashe Winters
William and Ashe are very good friends. From the start, they had things in common that Vyncent and Dakota did not, both sharing a music taste, style and even power types. (WIP)
Following Ashe's disappearance, William began feverishly searching for him, trying to make sense of the pages left behind from his book, doing everything he could to try and locate his friend again -- even keeping in touch with local police that could potentially aid him in the investigation. Like Vyncent and Dakota, William carries guilt surrounding losing Ashe, but he also very blatantly (also like Vyncent, though Dakota not so much) additionally blames heroes including Ms. Gilbert and Harlem Shade for not arriving to the scene on time and generally being irresponsible regarding their fight with Overlord. It's Ashe's disappearance and the negligence surrounding it that pushed William over the edge when it came to trusting the hero industry and gave him the shove to break away from being an "official" Prime Defender.
Tide
Tide clearly views William as the most, at the least, responsible of the Prime Defenders. On more than one occasion he bestows the responsibility of keeping the other two in line (or at least out of trouble) upon him, leading William to feel pressured. Regardless, William seems to view Tide as a father figure similarly (though not as strongly) to Dakota, just as Tide views him as a son.
Janet & Mr. Wisp
David Bell
(WIP) David is William's older step brother, of whom he doesn't seem to like much. In S2 E14, he mentions believing that David is capable of doing bad but never that he'd stoop so low as to what he's been currently doing with Bell Tech currently. He doesn't speak to him often, as he mentions the last time he spoke to him was on his last birthday over the phone. When they speak again in the same episode, Bizly notes via insight check that "it's clear [David] doesn't want to talk to [William]", so it's safe to say their dislike for one another is mutual.
Trivia
- William's legs are uneven, with his left leg being 1 ½" shorter than his right, as canonized in Episode 17: A New Look.
- He is described as "for sure" deficient in multiple vitamins by Charlie. (Needs citation)
- In Episode 1: The New Generation, after Vyncent says he used to fight dragons, William responds that he once "saw God" implying that when he died, he did actually encounter some sort of higher power before coming back to "life."
- William is canonically bisexual, as confirmed via a post on the official JRWI twitter account.[1]
- Post death, William did not bleed, have a pulse, nor heartbeat, nor need to breathe, nor sleep properly, and his skin was constantly cold. The doctors at the prison in S2 Episode 13: Maximum Security also tell William that his body seemed to be decaying akin to a corpse, slowly, which is notably similar to that of Mallard Conway.
- William writes his own poetry -- something that comes up multiple times throughout PD, often including metaphors about wolves. He keeps a book on him of his work, which he has shared with multiple people throughout the campaign, including Vyncent (who likes it), and Dakota. He also read it as a form of torture to Doug and Cantrip while they were held captive. In S2 Episode 14: The Fall, he ripped some pages of the book out to give Wordsmith to use for his powers in the future.