Heart of Kandrakar

"This is the Heart of Candracar which contains the elementary forces of nature. One of the five binds the others. And with the Heart of Candracar, unites them, summoning and magnifying their powers."

Yan Lin explaining Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin's destines as the new Guardians of the Veil.

The W.I.T.C.H. girls with the Heart of Kandrakar

The Heart of Candracar, (changed to the mighty Heart of Kandrakar in the comic and graphic novel series), is a fictional magical pendant from the Italian Comic book W.I.T.C.H., and the French animated series of the same name. It is bestowed to the leader of the Guardians of the Veil, and enables the Guardians to transform into their superhero alter egos by channeling the great, five elemental energizes of the Aurameres into them.

Background

Although the Guardians have some power without the Heart, their strength is greatly increased by it. Without the Aurameres, the Guardians' powers would be drawn from their life force instead.

In the comic book, the Heart is a unique magical jewel that merges with its keeper's own physical body and vital essence when it is not in use, and retains a shade/ghostly of them when it is passed on to the next holder. In the animated series, the Heart remains distinct from its owner, and each world had a Heart of its own, some of which are jewels like the Heart of Kandrakar, and others of which are people with tremendous magical power. In Season 2, it is revealed that Elyon is the Heart of Meridian, and Lillian Hale is the Heart of Earth. It is also revealed that the holder of one Heart can merge it with another world's Heart, but only if that Heart is given willingly. Nerissa had to resort to trickery to acquire Elyon's increasingly strong powers instead of direct confrontation or stealing it from her. This means that the Heart of Kandrakar is literally the "Heart" of Kandrakar, and possibly its central power source, or perhaps vice versa. In the comic book, the Heart is the very essence/spark, and core of Candracar itself, which explains the reason the Oracle's head is marked with its symbol. Also, even the Oracle does not have the power to demand the Keeper hand it over, and the Keeper must decide to return it, which is the reason why Endarno does not simply use his powers as the new Oracle to take the Heart from Will, which would enable him to succeed in his evil scheme and greatly weaken the Guardians.

Origins

According to the animated series, in ancient China, there once was a mighty empire that was suffering from a prolonged drought. Feeling pity for the people of the kingdom, the Jade Emperor's four dragons' came together and used their magical abilities to bring rain to the land. However, in doing so they enraged the Emperor himself.

Angered that they had acted without his permission, the Emperor ordered that the dragons be confined in the hearts of four mountains. The Emperor's own daughter, however, realized that the dragons were right in helping the people. She argued with her father and when he refused to reverse his decision, she released the dragons herself by utilizing her own brand of magic and combining her innermost self/spirit with those of the dragons.

After being freed from their mountain prisons, the dragons then spiritually became one with the Emperor's daughter, and she left. All that remained of her was an orb-shaped crystal pendant, which was none other than the mystical Heart of Candracar.

In the comic books and graphic novels, the dragon were personally liberated by the mighty nymph Xin Jing (meaning 'Heart of Crystal' in Chinese), who absorbed their own vital essence and turned them into the four great rivers of China. Afterwards, all that remained of Xin Jing's own inner spirit/soul had then entirely transformed and took on the shape and form of an orbicular/spherical crystallized pendant; therefore making the Heart a somewhat partially sentient and autonomous magical artifact; that is has its very own mind and will, conscience, feelings, emotions, and consciousness.

Chosen Keepers

Nerissa, the original Guardian of Quintessence and former leader, receiving the Heart of Candracar many decades ago.

Notable that have been "chosen keepers/holders" of the Heart are Nerissa, Cassidy, Yan Lin and Will, with the comic book pointing out that there have been many others before them.

In the animated series, it is implied that the Mage may also have been a previous owner of the Heart, temporary or not is unclear.

Mystical Abilities

When first introduced, the Guardians are told that the Heart possessed two powers. The ability to channel the power of the Aurameres into them – enhancing their elemental abilities, transforming them back into their normal selves, and allowing them to transform into their alter egos – and the ability to close holes in the Veil. However further powers are either revealed, or added to the Heart, as the series progresses.

Original Guardian of Water, Cassidy, receives the Heart from the Oracle himself after Nerissa's defeat.

Early in Season 1, the Heart is shown to have an unusually strong and close telepathic bond with whomever it is bestowed upon, allowing the Heart to track the holder, or the holder to track the it, if they are separated from each other. It is also discovered that the Heart can be used in conjunction with an enchanted section of a map, once part of a much larger map, located in Phobos's castle, to find holes in the Veil (in the comic book, there are only twelve portals; in the animated series there are many more). The Heart is also the key to go to Kandrakar.

In the animated series, the Heart possesses the ability to display images of people and items at their present state and location, even through other realms such as Meridian, and the Guardians use this power a number of times.

In the episode "Ambush at Torus Filney", it is revealed that the Heart has the power to create Astral Drops; physical duplicates of the people who summon them, but with limited personalities.

It is also revealed that the Heart can force a beast in disguise to reveal his/her true form upon contact with him/her. Later, in Season 2, in the battle for Zamballa, the Heart emits a beam of light that revealed the true forms of Nerissa and her minions when it shone on them.

According to Prince Phobos, with the Heart's power, his powers, abilities, and strength would be greatly heightened and amplified to innumerable levels.

In the episode "The Seal of Phobos", the Heart is merged with the Seal of Phobos, a mystical rhombus-shaped gold-colored item that is said to be a universal key. This also proves that the Heart has the ability to absorb or merge with magical items. After the merging, the Heart gains the ability to open portals in the Veil, between dimensions, not only close them. In the second season the Heart lost this power and ability as the Veil was no longer needed.

In the episode "The Stolen Heart", Will applies the Heart's ability to create multiple copies of the crystal pendant to deceive others from the original one. However, these duplicates were completely ordinary and possessed no mystical or supernatural abilities whatsoever. Hence forth, this rare ability was not used again in the animated or comic series.

Yan Lin, former Guardian of Air, is presented with the mystic Heart upon Cassidy's tragic and untimely demise.

In the comic book, the Heart retains a shadow of the spirit of each of its former holders, allowing Will to ask it for advice. It also is capable of transporting its user to anywhere desired, even if its user does not know the precise location of the desired destination, and making its user and those whom the user is in contact with invisible. It can also create an image of anyone the Keeper desires it to, quite unlike an Astral Drop, which can talk, feel and think.

In both the comic book and the series, the Heart also shows a number of other, less specific abilities, including the ability to let of a flash of energy that can blind or disorient an enemy and free the user when he/she is imprisoned or trapped, and a limited ability to act on its own when the Guardians are in danger. The Heart has only acted on its own twice, and that was when Phobos sent a giant bug-like creature to kill Elyon's adopted parents. It shot a ray of light at the creature, shrinking it down to the size of a normal bug, revealing another one of its abilities. The second time was when Cornelia sneaked into Elyon's palace to pay her a visit, as she believed there was still good within her, and stole the Heart from Will, for reasons unknown, though perhaps she believed it could somehow help her, even though she was not a Keeper of the Heart. Elyon, her mind still clouded by Cedric's lies at the time, imprisoned Cornelia in a bubble, but the bubble was shattered by the Heart, which suddenly activated without warning and freed Cornelia.

The Heart is able to protect its Keeper from dark forces, like the time it shielded Will from the dark magic of Phobos's poisonous Black Roses.

The Heart of Kandrakar was also used to break the deadly spell of Phobos on the Crown of Light, a crown of the rightful ruler of Meridian to help the rightful heir to achieve her full powers.

Long ago, when Elyon was not even born and her mother Weira was still a young girl, the Mage, residing in Meridian, was apparently somehow in possession of the Heart and used it to create the Star of Threbe. This may imply that the Mage was, at one point, the fifth Guardian and thus possessor of the Heart.

In the comic book, Nerissa, armed with the Heart of Kandrakar, is able to penetrate through even the powerful magical defenses of Kandrakar, withstand the combined assaults of the Oracle and the Congregation, rival the Oracle's power, who is literally "God of the Universe", and would have conquered Kandrakar had the Guardians had not intervened, showing the Heart's great power. Nerissa also causes the Heart to explode, thus creating some living black goo (which the Oracle says is the purest form of true evil) that nearly consumed all of Kandrakar, the Oracle, the Congregation, the Guardians and Caleb. Nerissa also claimed that possession of the Heart of Kandrakar would make her Queen of the Elements, and manages to even deflect the formidable elemental attacks the Congregation of Kandrakar bombarded her with.

In the TV show, in the episode "V is for Victory" Will uses the Heart of Kandrakar to seal a binding oath Prince Phobos made for getting the Seal of Nerissa back to the Guardians and not using its immense power for himself in exchange for his freedom.

In the Endarno saga, Will screams, "Save him!" when Matt falls from a roller-coaster when the two are under attack from Cedric, and the Heart of Kandrakar emits a beam of light that forms a sphere that protects Matt. Matt also sacrifices himself to save Will from Cedric's deadly attack, which rekindles the Heart's magic, because love is the most powerful magic of all.

In the Arkhanta saga, it is revealed that the Heart of Kandrakar was given the power of regeneration by the nymph Xin Jing, which is the reason why Yan Lin managed to serve Kandrakar for so long, and the Guardians' continual transformations do not exhaust them, as the power of regeneration ensures a balance between the body and the mind. Every time one of the Guardians touch the Heart, they become stronger. The power of regeneration even cured Taranee's blurry eyesight.

Abilities

These are the abilities that the Heart bestows upon the Guardians, as well as its own powers and abilities:

• Wield absolute energy (with the Heart)
• Projects a force-field of pink energy
• Release blinding light from the heart
• Produce destructive pulses, blasts, rays and beams of Energy
• Channel the magic of the Aurameres into the Heart and enter the Guardians
• Reveal the true form of another magical being.

Quintessence

• Create lightning bolts to electrify her victims
• Bring electrical appliances to life through Quintessence
• Open and close holes in the veil
• Open folds in time and space
• Track down the other guardians via the Aurameres
• Superhuman Strength
• Creation of Astral Drops
• Patch into radio signals
• Reveal the true form of another
• Creation of powerless copies of the heart
• Semi-invulnerability
• Bring inanimate objects to life with their own distinct personalities
• Create shields out of pure lightning
• Life-based abilities

Water

• Create water out of thin air
• Manipulate water
• Use water to grab hold of objects
• Create force-fields through water
• Create shapes that can manipulate at will
• Freeze objects
• Create water bubbles that can travel underwater
• Create physical embodiment of herself
• Evaporate beings at will
• Mind Control
• Change the color of fabric
• Create snowflakes and hail

Fire

• Create balls of fire
• Create large wild-fire
• Produce blasts of heat energy (Heat Waves)
• Extinguish fire
• Breathe fire
• Throw whirling discs of fire and heat
• Absorb the heat of her opponents
• Use pure thermal energy as a defensive barrier that vaporizes nearly all projectiles
• Shoot pinpoint flames
• Sense sources of heat
• Manipulate temperature by thought
• Melt objects by multiplying it's heat
• Contact the other guardians through telepathy
• Contact ex-guardians through telepathy
• Read, Project and Perceive thoughts of others
• Create blazes

Earth

• Control plants, trees, grass and their growth and structure
• Throw bolts, blasts, and rays of green energy
• Manipulate the earth and all related materials such as paper, wood, silt, minerals, crystal, gems, sand, mud, etc.
• Create earthquakes
• Create trenches in the ground
• Form avalanches and mudslides
• Levitate and throw rocks
• Green-Speak with vegetation
• Communicate the location of vegetation
• Manipulate metal
• Telekinesis
• Hold telekinetic barriers
• Manipulate aspects of said element

Air

• Convert breath into weapons (in Hay Lin and Taranee's case)
• Move objects at will
• Conjure clouds
• Create soundproof rooms
• Create windstorms and tornadoes
• Control temperature of air
• Freeze people and objects
• Create air bubbles for traveling underwater
• Super-Hearing abilities
• Recall other peoples memories
• Read the history of an object by touching it and closing her eyes
• Become invisible
• Use empathy (Also seen as Premonitions)
• Create cyclones and hurricanes

Gallery

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the heart between Nerissa and Will

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Yan Lin presents the Heart of Candracar to Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and her granddaughter in the show's premiere, "It Begins."