Dawn Stillfield

Dawn Stillfield is a child who moved to South Park relatively recently in the town's history. She is described as a "half-awake Dreamer", an inexperienced but still semi-omnipotent entity who is able to bend reality to her will as though lucid dreaming. Dawn is directly, if not consciously, responsible for the supernatural abilities that the children (and sometimes adults) of South Park display during the various town-wide games they play, subconsciously bringing the rules of the games to life with her Dreamer abilities. She is not yet able to directly control her own power, but has already begun to figure out how to exploit it to her own advantage the way people like Cartman have in the past.

Background

History

Dawn's history is shrouded in mystery, though throughout the events in South Park a cohesive narrative can be put together. Apparently, Dawn was born under similar circumstances to Kenny McCormick: while her parents were members of the Lovecraftian Cults. As such, she has abilities tied to the Elder Gods, in her case, a natural affinity for becoming a Dreamer. When she was born, her parents fled the Cult, and went into hiding, but Dawn's abilities became quickly and devastatingly clear when she began bending reality to her infant whims. In order to stop her from destroying the universe around her, her parents began dosing her with stimulant drugs in order to interfere with her Dreamer powers. It worked at first, at least until she grew older and her powers became stronger, but her life was constantly followed by the shadow of her abilities.

Identity

Grounded Moments

Dawn lives by the philosophy that respect is earned, not given based on station, and as such has very little for most adults in her life, especially those she feels are abusive bullies like Stephen Stotch or Sheila Brovlofski. She even goes so far as to encourage other kids to be disobedient to such adults, and will typically physically fight any who attempt to impose consequences on them for it. Eventually, this manifests within the Dream as Dawn being an "ungroundable darkling", who is unaffected by the status, and can erase it from other kids as well.

Classes

In South Park: The Stick of Truth, Dawn is initially recruited by the elves rather than the humans, and thus is presented the choice between their four classes: Fencer, Anti-Mage, Ranger, and Druid. Dawn ended up picking Druid, a magic-based suport class focused on buffing allies and ensnaring enemies.

In South Park: The Fractured but Whole, rather than choosing one of the base classes the Coon lists, Dawn invents her own sub-class of Plantmancer known as "Emomancer", which she described as follows:

"When a Plantmancer makes the horrible mistake of bonding with a parasitic plant known as an Emo, an unholy abomination is born, known as an Emomancer. With the parasite writhing just beneath the skin, the Emomancer is empowered by breaking that thin barrier, and releasing the Emo and its spores during battle."

When Cartman insists that she choose a second class later on, she again creates a new sub-class, this time of Psychic, which she calls "Dreamwalker".

You have awakened... by falling asleep. The Dreamwalker's power comes from those distant lands we only visit in dreams, manipulating the battlefield as though they were in a lucid dream.

Because she is not as taciturn as other New Kids, Dawn does not end up with a third or fourth class from Cartman. Instead, her third class comes during the rescue mission at Casa Bonita. Though she is initially given the Netherborn class alongside Adam, by the time the group reaches the inner sanctum, she can no longer stand to ruin the Vamp Kids' party over them being "uncool", and is instead accepted into the Vampire Society, gaining the Vampire class.

Her final, crowning class comes when she encounters Shub-Niggurath, who takes an interest in her due to her natural affinity for being a Dreamer, and twists her abandoned Netherborn class into a new subclass. This fourth class is known as "Dark Young", which she uses to defeat the police cult and feed them to the All-Mother, gaining her favor.

Ultimately, she chose to use the skills Sharing Razors, Maddening Bleat, Wine Tap, and In Somnis Veritas. Although there are no defined "classes" in Snow Day, she carried on the essence of her previous choices in her use of the Goth Sickles and Cheesing power.

Appearance

When Dawn first moved to South Park, she was only just figuring herself out as a person, and didn't have much in the way of feminine clothing. Her initial outfit consisted of a brown jacket with gray undershirt, a pair of dark blueish-green pants, and a matching scarf. Her hair was long but messy and tangled, and she constantly had bags under her eyes.

While playing Stick of Truth with the other kids, she chose the Thief class, and would typically wear a combination of the Assassin and Thief outfits to maximize the amount of money she collected. In her down time, or just when she got tired of putting up with the other kids, she would also often dress in her Goth attire and hang out with the Goth Kids (even though she personally identified more as an Emo).

A major turning point for her self-expression came when the girls gave her a makeover for the mission to the abortion clinic. Until that point, she'd never worn anything feminine in her life, and each outfit she tried on progressively awakened the realization in her that she was a trans girl. In the end, she chose an outfit that was almost the same as her normal one, a brown jacket with light blue undershirt and blue jeans, and the rest of the girls worked their magic with the hair and accessories. By the time she left the girls' secret base, she was already one of them, and she would frequently return to them to try new cute clothes, or just to hang out.

At the beginning of the Fractured but Whole saga, Dawn's "king" attire is similar to her initial outfit, with a brown top, blue pants, and a dark blueish-green cape. She also has visible freckles, better kept hair, and her sunken eyes have gotten worse. When the game abruptly changed to superheroes, and she created her own Emomancer class, there was no prepared "official" costume for her to wear, so she ended up cobbling together her own over time. Eventually, her outfit ends up consisting of the Arcane Suit she summoned with the Goth Kids, the Plantmancer's Spiked Gloves from on top of Freeman's Tacos, and the Lumberkid's Beanie she found at the Lake Tardicaca camp, all of which were dyed dark gray or black to match the Emo aesthetic.

By the time of Phone Destroyer, Dawn more or less fully committed to the Emo aesthetic, dying any costumes she got black until she managed to get her hands on another proper nonconformist outfit. This choice also carried into Snow Day, her usual attire being the Emo Heart Rib Tee, the Nonconformist Cape, and the Cat Beanie. However, when she's feeling more in the fantasy spirit, she will occasionally wear the Sea Garb, Royal Mantle, and Tiny Crown, an outfit she calls the "Winter Queen".

Personality

Dawn is a relatively reserved person, preferring to listen rather than speak most of the time. When she does speak, it's obvious she doesn't think too highly of herself, and she very obviously suffers from depression. On the flip side, she has very little respect for so-called authority figures, and usually operates under a "kids are king" mindset, an attitude that seems to suit children in South Park rather well. With these two factors combined, it's hardly surprising that she often finds herself hanging out with the Goths, even though she can't stand the smell of cigarettes. Despite it all, she is actually a very warm and kind person to people she cares about, and always wants to make sure other kids are happy. She often acts almost as a big sister type figure for the rest of the kids in town, making sure they're always happy, safe, and having fun.

Talents

Dreaming: Dawn's most notable talent is her abilities as a Dreamer. At their peak, a Dreamer can possess power and immortality on the level of a Lovecraftian God, bending reality to their whims and even creating entire sub-realities of the Dreamlands all to themselves. Dawn's powers, however, are disrupted by a crippling case of insomnia, brought on by the use of stimulant drugs from basically birth as a way for her parents to keep her powers from distorting everything around her. Despite this, her ability is still quite powerful, and is able to warp reality to the extent that she and her friends gain additional powers and abilities derived from whatever game they are playing at the time.

Earth Magic: Having been recruited by the elves first rather than the humans, Dawn was taught the "art" of elven Earth "Magic". Where the humans' "magic" is based upon air and fire in the form of farts, elven magic is based on the elements of nature, water and earth, in the form of "mud". Unlike the humans' magic, which is fueled by "mana", elven magic is prepared in advance, with each "spell" consuming "components" from the caster's inventory, typically a Shit Nugget with other things added in.

Combat: Dawn is oddly strong for her size, with a vice-like grip that's even able to pin down a Sixth Grader for extended periods of time. She also seems to have a notably dulled sense of pain, consistently shrugging off blows and falls that would at least wind a normal 11 year old. Whether these are the result of genuine prowess, her abilities as a Dreamer, or simply a suicidal disregard for her own wellbeing, is up for speculation.

Flash Changing: Dawn has been shown to have a talent for flash changing, able to don her superhero outfit near instantaneously while spinning in place, and change it just as quickly any time she feels the need.

Crafting: Dawn has a talent for crafting various items, primarily sewing costumes, but also preparing snack foods and creating arts-and-crafts style artifacts, implying considerable, or at least versatile, home economics skills.

Family

Father

Dawn's father is a reclusive individual, partially due to what he and his family have been through, and partially due to his job as a software engineer, a job that tends to work out well for someone who may need to pack up and flee at a moment's notice. He was once a very warm and fun-loving person, but numerous encounters with the Cult's agents have chipped away at both his spirit and his savings, leaving bitterness and anger in their place. He doesn't always say what he means, and he doesn't always mean what he says, but he loves his child more than anything.

Mother

Dawn's mother seems to be the side of the family where she gets her Dreamer abilities from, as she herself is a low-level psychic. Where their family battle with the Cult left Dawn's father full of anger, it left her mother in a deep state of depression. She often puts on a brave face, and remains kind and spirited, but Dawn has more than once comforted her during a moment of emotional breakdown. This should not be taken to mean she is weak, or doesn't possess anger, however, as if anyone dares to harm her child, her fury can rival even that of Sheila.

Adam

Though not related by blood, Dawn and Adam share a bond as close as any siblings. Both moved to South Park on the same day, as though in an act of cosmic destiny, and met on the battlefield as two warriors, two New Kids, recruited by the Elves and Humans respectively. They fought each other to a draw, with Dawn managing to pin Adam even in his teenage form, and like Gilgamesh and Enkidu, came to respect, and eventually love each other as siblings.

Relationships

Trivia