Cornelia Hale
Normal Life
Full name:
Cornelia Hale. Sometimes called Corny. Some calling names are: ice queen or blondie
Age:
Like Will, Cornelia is 14 when the comics start. She was born on May 10th.
Family:
Elizabeth Hale is a conservator and Harold Hale the director of Central Credit, an important bank of Heatherfield. Harold's parents apparently fought a lot until his father left. There is only one picture showing the scene where Cornelia's father could be around the age of 10.
After that no one has heard of him again until in issue 90 where he follows Cornelia to give her the
address of his hotel in Heatherfield. He wants to meet with Harold. It is said that Cornelia's grandmother was also followed and watched by him which caused her to visit her son and stay with
him. Elizabeth says she is "afraid" of her former husband. Despite these rather dark suggestions, the grandfather makes a friendly impression and in the end Harold and him seem happy to see each
other again.
Then there's Lilian, Cornelia's sister. It's hard to determine her age though most in the fan community take her for around 7-8 years of age. She wants to play and spend time
with Cornelia who - being a teen and all that - doesn't tolerate any children in her room most of the times. The two end up fighting a lot and Lilian plays the card of the youngest, alerting
their mother form time to time. Like most younger siblings, Lilian likes to spy on her big sister, listening in to phone calls, reading her diary or just being in her room or testing her clothes
or make up. Lilian also likes to play pretend and would love to be a witch or rock star when she grows up. Despite all the fights the sisters have, they are very fond of each other. Lilian's
birthday (issue 27) appears to be somewhere in the cold half of the year so either end or start of the year. There is no specific date.
Another info that is given on the side is that the Hales apparently have at least one servant. We never see the person in the comics though.
Pet:
Cornelia receives a black tomcat from Will in issue 13. At first she despises him and it's Lillian who names him Napoleon. After saving flower-Caleb, Napoleon is in Cornelia's good graces, though
even after that she's not often seen with him. Napoleon is either roaming about the apartment randomly or plays with Lillian.
Home:
The Hales live in the nice and rich part of town in a big appartment building with good security systems. To enter the premisses, one must ring the bell at the gate
and through a video camera the different resident can open it for the visitor. There's also a guard or porter of some kind who appears at the gate as Will wants to deliver Napoleon to
Cornelia.
School:
Same as the other girls, Cornelia goes to Sheffield Institute. She loves... class and hates ... class and likes the seat ...
On rare occasions she takes the bus or bike to school. Usually she's picked up by her dad by car.
In issue 102, Cornelia is sent to Duvall College, the top school of Heatherfield. While the extravagant interior is much to Cornelia's liking, she uses her magic to create
several incidents, setting students and staff alike on edge. At the end of the day she explains to her father that she wants to return to Sheffield so she can be with her friends and he
agrees.
Traits:
Cornelia is very rational and a practical thinker. When Hay Lin claims having seen Elyon at Yan Lin's funeral Cornelia explains that it must have been due to the tears that turned the world
blurry and made her see things. In fact Cornelia doesn't seem to have much empathy or tact at all. This leads to fights with Will and Irma constantly. She's direct and strict.
Later in the comics the group of girls has a strong bond and Cornelia's cold heart melts more and more. We get to see her weak sides and how warm and loving she can be.
Usually she's calm and elegant and feels more mature than her friends. She acts as the big sister for the group.
Style:
...
Hobbies:
Cornelia's biggest hobby is ice skating which she has been doing for many years now. There are pictures showing her as a very young child on her skates. Apart from
that she enjoys reading fashion magazines and hanging around her room.
Habits:
...
Likes:
Fashion magazines like Madame Mode or Mode Mood
Dislikes:
Cornelia is afraid of big and furry dogs, including Flea, Taranee's dog. Small dogs don't seem to bother her. The blonde doesn't like water and can't swim in the first half of the comic series.
Irma later teaches her but still Cornelia stays suspicious of water.
Cornelia spends much time and money on her hair care so if something happens to her hairstyle it's equivalent to the apocalypse!
Love interest:
Caleb, later Peter ... more details to follow.
Guardian Life
Guardian Role:
Cornelia is a down-to-earth girl and the one who's searching for a reasonable explanation when first their role is being introduced to the girls. While before
she seems proud of her abilities, a little arrogant even, afterwards she claims not to believe in supernatural or magical things and says Yan Lin must be crazy.
She's the doubter of the group, expecting a negative outcome or at least fearing one. She doubts Will as the leader for a long time, doubts her abilities or the oracle. However she mostly
complains and accuses. Taranee on the oposite, only accuses when she feels someone attempting to control her personal life and future. But instead of complaining, she acts, trying to solve the
problem.
Entrusted Artefact:
Breath of Time
Element:
Earth
Basic Powers:
Cornelia can manipulate earth and plant life. That means she can break through walls, create holes in the ground, crush objects with strong roots or plants,
make vegetation grow incredibly fast or revive dead or sick plants. Her power usually shows with a light green glow.
Communication powers:
Most of the girls have a way to communicate with their element. In Cornelia's case she's being called by the leaves and the trees in the special The Year Before. Though it's not clear whether this is a dream or actually happening. In the main comics, however she communicates with the grass and roots to find out who's been walking about lately. It is a power she rarely uses but seems to be capable of.
Guardian Powers:
Being a guardian seems to come with a set of powers all of the team can use:
- Transformation - at first triggered by Will through the Heart of Kandrakar but later on, each girl can transform into a guardian without the Heart of Kandraka. When in guardian form, the five girls look a few years older. Irma uses this twice to look older and impress boys and suggests it once officially for a mission the girls have.
- Dislocation - Will first learns it from Caleb. Dislocation is being done by putting both forefingers facing each other, left on top, in front of the body. A small ball of white-blue magic will appear and literally dislocate the person performing the magic to a place they focus on. Later in the comics the girls even learn to use dislocation to exchange their powers.
- Invisibility - The girls can become invisible at will.
- Speed - It is easily forgotten but the very first time the girls transform, Will notices that she's a lot faster than usual. I presume that this goes for all the girls.
Nymph Gift:
Healing...
Other Powers:
Cornelia has telekinetic powers. She can make her room clean up itself for example simply by demanding it or snapping a finger.
Also she can manipulate the school bell to end class early for example.
Nemesis & Traumata
Weaknesses:
Everyone has a weakness, most people have several.
Personal Nemesis:
...
Traumata:
...
Childhood
From everything we get to see and hear about Cornelia's childhood it must have been 'sugar sweet'. Her father loved to treat her like a princess, giving little
Cornelia whatever she desired. She seemed to be happy about her sibling and there are no indications of Cornelia ever having experienced anything dramatic in her past except for being lost in a
forest when she was very young.
It's not exactly clear when Cornelia truly discovered her magic. In issue... it is said she discovered it few years ago (so around the age of 10-12) when a plant
died. She was so sad and hoped with all her heart the plant might live again that it triggered her magic.
However in issue ... she must have been somewhere around the age of 3-5 when she got lost in the
forest and small rocks started floating around her.
Cornelia might not remember the incident since she was very young or in the actual incident no magic was involved and what Cornelia saw was something between memory and magic to lead Cornelia to
her magical centre or self.
Either way: From all we get to know in the comics about the girls and their early experiences with magic, this makes Cornelia the first to discover it. Irma is the only other one who seems to have tested her powers already when the five girls first get together at Sheffield in issue 01 but unlike Cornelia, we don't get the origin story telling us when exactly Irma first found out she could use magic.
Possible Futures
Every oracle gifted the readers with a vision of the future. While Will was the only one to see Endarno's (who was really Phobos at that moment), all of them watched Himerish's possible future, the first one and they even had a choice with Yan Lin's, the last one.
Himerish's Future
Himerish shows the girls not only a possible past, but the first possible future. They are in the Hall of Spirits and watch their future selves on a kind of mirror or screen.
In this possible future Cornelia has stopped studies mid-way and became a park ranger. She has constant disputes with her father who wants her to run a bank like himself. She drives a jeep and is
quite dirty for little miss perfect like she is usually known, not to mention that her driving style is rather drastic. She chose the job because it brings her closer to her element. Also, she's
betrothed to Peter.
Endarno's Future
Endarno's version of the future is actually a trick.
He forces Will into a vision approximately 4-5 years ahead where her life has taken a lonely path. While she is the only one seeing this possible future, the other girls do play a role in this.
In the vision, Cornelia is holding a small party to celebrate her acceptance into college. She is portrayed even more arrogant than usual with stylish clothing and her "servants" Irma and Hay Lin doing her hair and make up. She's very displeased when hearing of Will's arrival and tells her mother to send her away.
Cornelia is the only one of the 5 to being mentioned to go to college. Though of cause some of the other futures show them performing jobs where a degree is
needed. But since she is so very fashionable and snobbish in this version, I wonder what kind of study she'd be enrolling in this future.
Yan Lin's Future
At the end of the comics Yan Lin offers the girls another glimpse of a possible future, exactly 10 years. Each one receives a key to a door. By stepping through, Cornelia finds herself in a vampire movie as glamorous actress! Too bad she isn't the lead part and instead has to put up with the diva of a Dracula. The man annoys her so much she uses her magic to scare him and then leaves for Kandrakar where she pushes over the door to this future.
I think it's interesting that Cornelia, of all the girls is shown using her magical powers in the future. After all she is the one complaining over and over again that she wants to be normal, that she doesn't want her powers back and so on and so forth.
