Irma Lair

Pet:
A turtle called Leafy. In the special "The Year Before" Irma follows a trail of puddles to a pet shop and discovers the turtoise. She takes him with her and tells him all her secrets!
In one picture the turtle enjoys the company of a small statue that looks very much like Ariel. Later in the comics Irma discovers Leafy is actually a girl and laid eggs. She soon has 2-3 baby Leafies. When Irma meets Shinobu, she decides to cheer her up by giving away her two baby turtoises.

Home:
Irma's family lives in an old house in eastern Heatherfield, not far from the coast. The small garden is mainly made of grass and a tree here and there and used for grilling and sun bathing in summer. The house itself has at least 7 rooms, potentially more, and an attic.

School:

Same as the other girls, Irma goes to Sheffield Institute. Irma is in Class 2B (7B in Germany) when the comics start, together with Hay Lin and Taranee. She sits left of Hay Lin and in front of Taranee. Her favourite subject is art and she hates French and math. She likes to sit in the back of the class, favourably behind a giant of a boy and next to Hay Lin. This way she can't be seen when cribbing or eating chips in class. Irma tends to doodle in her books or on the table, usually small hearts or flowers.

Traits:

Irma is a funny and extroverted girl, lively and quick-witted. She's sassy and likes attention but appears very romantic and surprisingly naive when it comes to boys. She can be very childish when she has to study or do something she doesn't want to and is a little too straight-forward sometimes; her mouth is faster than her brain. In general, Irma talks a lot and has to comment on everything which gets her into trouble more than once. That way she more than once blurts out things she later regrets. Irma also has a knack for drama. She's really good in the kitchen, bakes or cooks. While it's never stated whether or not she enjoys it, her birth mother is said to having been good at baking, too. She's brave and loyal to her friends and has a special kind of humour. Apart form that, Irma likes to use her cheeky attitude and sharp sense of humour to get what she wants.  

Style:

Irma is throughout feminine but practical with some occasional flower patterns and ruffs, in a general look that could be described as "country". While at the beginning of the comics she wears young and unique fashion, her later outfits become more trendy and mature. At the beginning she styles her hair occasionally, whereas later in the comics her hair gets a little longer and fuller and she rarely wears it other than plain open.

Hobbies:

One hobby that keeps appearing a few times is horseback riding. The first time, Irma sits on a horse is in issue 33, which didn't exactly go well. She can't even properly get off it and is angry. In issue 97 Irma unwanted participates in a rodeo and needs ice to cool her back and butt after the experience. Despite both these rather negative experiences with horses, Anna claims in issue 112 she finally fulfilled Irma's wish and sent her to learn horseback riding. Irma's very excited about it, too. While at first, Bessy - calmest horse of them all - gives her a really hard time and is untameable, the two later become friends. Irma seems to enjoy her ride out but after the issue, the hobby is never mentioned again.
In the later half of the comics and some specials Irma also participates in different disciplines such as circus acrobatics, aqua gymnastic and soccer. Most of these activities last for only one issue, maximum two and are never again mentioned.

Later, she joins the girls in dancing but seems to enjoy rapping all the more.

Habits:
Irma likes eating a lot and sometimes forgets her manners over the yummy taste of sweets and snacks. Also she has a quick mouth and sometimes says things she regrets later. Irma spends half of her home time in the bath. Either she makes water gymnastic or takes a long and arm bubble bath to relax or forget sorrows.

Likes:
As already mentioned under "Habits", Irma enjoys eating a lot and lounging or hanging out in her room or on the couch. It's why she's a little chubby compared to the other girls which doesn't seem to bother her at all. She adores Camilla, the singer of a rock band and is in Ms. Kelly's acting class. She generally likes to sing and jump on her bed and imitate famous people. She raps to the dance performance of the girls and in one special becomes the singer/rapper of a band. This is revisited in two Danish W.i.t.c.h. books where Irma for example attempts to win a contest with her band.
Her favourite colour is turquoise but she also has many things in pink. She likes all kinds of bags and backpacks both of which she owns several, though it's not shown in the comics directly.

Dislikes:

Irma hates getting up early. She has several alarm clocks but somehow she still manages to oversleep. She's said to dislikes all kinds of sports, though in the later comics she's seen frequently doing some kind of physical activity. She's also terrified of spiders and the dark, though this is never thematised in the comics.

Friends:

Apart from the WITCH girls, Irma has many acquaintances and friends. It seems to come naturally, befriending people and she often hangs out with guys.  On several occasions, Irma sees someone who's down and walks up to them to cheer them up or ask what's wrong.

Love interest:

Irma, in contrast to her friends, has many different love interests and crushes through the course of the comics. She generally loves to flirt and be courted. At first she's in love with Andrew Hornby, an older boy from school for whom she tries to become more mature. In issue 38 Cornelia calls one of her old friends, Hugh, and she and Taranee arrange a date between him and Irma. Sadly though, he's a bore and there is no second date.
Later she somewhat dates Joel. The two of them are really good friends, mostly because they share love for the same music. They go to concerts, have dinner together, occasionally hold hands and it's indicated several times that they have feelings for each other. However Joel only appears from time to time and the relationship never really makes it to the boyfriend-girlfirend stage. Then she moves on to Stephen who first appears in issue 79. Apparently he and Irma know each other from some kind of camp where he gave her a ring that she cherished until she lost it. Stephen is part of some underground teenage operation and the only one who gets to know about Irma's magical self. The relationship with Stephen feels like Irma's first real love and lasts for several issues, however Stephen moves away in issue 98. After that he's only seen occasionally, like in issue 101 until he completely disappears out of the series. It's interesting that all of these guys are blonde.

The exception is Kader. In issue 67 and 68, Irma meets the brother of Erin and falls for him instantly. The two have a special connection and for once, Irma's flirts are answered by a true romantic. Sadly Kader has to leave with his sister, back to his own world. She would like him to return but he doesn't make any promises and never appears again in the comics.

Travels:

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Basic Powers:
Irma's powers allow her to be the natural swimmer and she can almost infinitely hold her breath under water or create a bubble to breathe. She can create or stop rain and command most types of water, including swamps. Rarely she's seen evaporating water or rising entire waves.
Her powers appear blue like her element and are usually floating fluids or in the shape of a ray of blue energy. Later in the comics she can create ice as well.

Communication Powers:
Most of the girls have a way to communicate with their element. Irma's element sometimes shows her pictures, like the mask of the Singyu that appears in the water before her in Kandrakar. In the special "The Year before", Irma follows a trail of puddles in search for her soul mate and meets Leafy, her turtle. The puddle trail also leads to Martin, who she already knows. In one of the early issues Irma claims she "asked" the waves to move away from the shore to prevent her friends from getting wet.

In issue 66, Irma says she will listen to the "voice of the sea" to hear the whispers and secrets people have entrusted it with over time.

Since the puddles lead her to Leafy, which Irma loves very much, I wonder if this hint towards Martin suggests they will become a couple someday after all. This thought is supported by the encounter the two have in Himerish's possible future.

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. Irma uses this once to sneak into the police station and her dad's office to find out the address of a private detective, involved in the blackmail of Thomas Vandom.
• 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:

Irma notices the gift of Xin Jing after being hit by Ari. The wound heals within minutes, hours max. Later she passes her gift onto Maqi in order to save him.

Other Powers:

Irma claims she can control the questions asked at school. If she concentrates enough on a topic and it's the only topic she knows, the teacher will ask her exactly that.

Also in the first issue Irma transforms her clothes to create her later costume for the Halloween party. It is said she transforms them mostly in color but also in shape. There are 2 known cases where she transformed a boy into a frog, too. Usually it's her current flame.
Apart from that, she has the practical trait to stay in the water for hours without her fingers getting wriggled.

Personal Nemesis:

Irma doesn't have a foe in that sense. The only ones who attacked exclusively her are Erin and Dark Mother and Ludmoor.

Erin abused Irma's friendship and took over her mind, controlled her without hesitation. She threatened to leave it empty or harm Irma otherwise should the other W.i.t.c.h. girls not do what she wants. After many back and forth, Taranee and probably Irma as well, are able to look into Erin's memories and find out what drove her actions. In the end, Irma seems to have forgiven her, at least there is no talk, no anger or other indicator that she would hold a grudge against Erin in the comics. Still the incident didn't go by without leaving a scar.
Ludmoor might be counted as personal nemesis because Irma was the first to feel the presence of the book or rather its eye which had unhappy side effects like nightmares and sudden and intense fear or chill (issues 51 and 52). Irma used the words "haunted by visions" to describe this phenomenon. There is no explanation why Irma of all the girls feels the book approaching. She sees it through a puddle or when she's in the water which could be her element warning her. But there is a hint. In issue 52, Irma says the eye was "reading inside her" which, together with the attack of Erin and the incident of the water fairies forms a pattern. It seems Irma's mind is either easy to invade, or she has fallen victim to this particular type of danger several times by accident.
Finally in issue 79, a root of Dark Mother made its way into Irma's bedroom at night, strangling her. She bore a mark from it and had trouble breathing afterwards. None of the other girls have suffered from such a personal and vicious attack.

Traumata:

There is no official statement so what follows is a theory by me what might be the most likely trauma Irma has received during all her fighting. If she has one, it is most likely the whole mind invading thing. She's experienced someone reading or taking control of her mind three times shortly after one another. First by the eye of the book of Ludmoor in issues 51 and 52, who reads in her mind and makes her fear and have nightmares. Then she is influenced, partially controlled by the water fairies in issue 58. This time Irma notices how she's being controlled and she struggles hard against it but fails. She appears quite broken and confused until she finally overcomes the control and saves her friends. At the end of the issue she cries in a releaved manner but it is not yet over. In issue 67 the mind controlling returns with Erin and this time Irma is being taken over completely. Erin speaks for her, makes her move and threatens to wipe out Irma's mind completely. While Irma doesn't hold a grudge against Erin personally, she's deeply troubled by what happened to her. One issue later she's awake at night, wondering if she has a dark side somewhere and this wonderment is directly linked to the hate she felt towards the other W.i.t.c.h. girls while Erin was controlling her.

Still, this topic is not taken up again in the later comics.

Irma was still a toddler, when her birth mother died. It is unclear how but sometimes Irma remembers. It wasn't long before Anna became her new mother and the two get along very well, still sometimes, when Irma's unhappy or angry, she points out that Anna's not her true mother. Over all it still seems as if Irma had a good childhood. She was well taken care of by Anna and her father.

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.