The Collector (The Owl House)

“	Hahaha! You caught me!
To you, who strayed,
So far from home!
To me, who's trapped,
Beneath these bones!
We'll play forever,
Me and you!
When you paint the land,
IN NINE BRIGHT HUES!
HAHAHAHA!	„
~ The Collector to Emperor Belos - his most famous quote.
“	If we're gonna play "Owl House", we're gonna need an Owl House! We're gonna have a BLAST, everyone!	„
 	~ The Collector as he wrecks the Titan's skull. 	
“	I just wanted a friend that wouldn't lie to me, or trick me. But everyone's the same. King lied. Belos lied. Even they lied.	„
 	~ The Collector showing his insecurities after losing another game to Luz, Eda and King. 	
The Collector is the secondary antagonist of the Disney Channel animated series The Owl House. He is the younger sibling of the Archivists and a member of a race of cosmic beings who was imprisoned in a tablet by the Boiling Isles Titan.
Many centuries later, he made a deal with witch-hunter Philip Wittebane to help him annihilate all witchkind in exchange for freedom. After being betrayed by Philip, the Collector was freed by King Clawthorne, the Titan's son, before turning the Isles into his playground for a period of time.
== Appearance ==
“	How to describe you? Oval? Oblong? A round boy? 	„
 	~ Philip Wittebane inspecting the Collector's mirror.	
As a shadow, he appears as a two-dimensional being with a half-split design; again, with one side black with three sun symbols, and the other grey with three crescent moon symbols. He also has a half-moon face pattern, and his head is shaped like a cowl. This form is projected by a dark, circular mirror with a crescent moon symbol upon it.
Upon regaining his physical form, the Collector appears as a yellow-skinned boy with a patch of blue skin on both his left leg and the left side of his face (the latter, which includes freckles, simulating a crescent moon), as well as white hair and eyes with yellow sclera and orange irises. He wears pajama-esque clothing, consisting of a dark nightcap with purple rims and starry dots and a baggy white-and-navy onesie with split accents; his right light sleeve is patterned with dark suns, while his left dark sleeve is patterned with blue moons. He also wears dark slippers with white buds and a yellow necklace with a white tag of a black smiling crescent moon attached to it.
== Personality ==
“	The Collector is just a little kid; a scary, powerful one, but also sad and alone. I don’t know. This whole time, I was scared of making him mad, but I think I can relate to him.	„
 	~ King Clawthorne explains how Collector’s desire for friends causes him to unintentionally cause chaos. 	
The Collector is a childish and reckless entity whose personality mirrors that of a pre-character development Luz Noceda. Just like Luz at the beginning of the series, the Collector is an impulsive child who was trapped and lonely and just wanted to be free, play games and make friends, but his idea of fun gets other people hurt, and he doesn't acknowledge/recognize this and doesn't feel any guilt for his actions. The Collector is childish and that's exactly the problem. However, the Collector also appears to have as much malice in his heart when he begins tearing apart the Boiling Isles at the end of Season 2 as Luz did when she brought snakes and fireworks to school at the beginning of Season 1, without even considering the negative impact on the inhabitants of the isles.
Though the Collector has an underdeveloped and warped sense of morality, he is not completely amoral. In contrast to the deceitful and manipulative Emperor Belos, the Collector is honest and holds pinky swears for instance to be sacred. This is shown when he was upset that Belos lied revealed his deception and betrays him, and later when he kept his word to stop the draining spell when King freed him.
The Collector loves speaking in riddles, though he shows irritation when he was unable to come up with a word to rhyme with "unity."
For all his power, it appears that the Collector is not truly malicious and at his heart is just a child who only wishes to connect and make friends. However, having spent a long time imprisoned to be sought after for his magical power, the Collector fears being alone and is wary that people will use him and leave him. A passage in the Collector's storybook further implies that, while he might have done numerous bad things, he is still disgusted by his kind's genocidal ways. Coupled with his desire to be friends with King and make him happy, his reactions indicate that the Collector yearns to have a companion like him who understands him. Both of those would be confirmed in "Watching and Dreaming".
However, in this desire for attachment, the Collector becomes bitter and resentful when those he befriends hold their own relationships with other people. This is displayed by his initial belief that King was his friend and would never turn against him, but after coming to believe King was planning to stop him, he became vengeful of King's double-cross and decided to take matters into his own hands.
Despite feeling hurt and betrayed by King's supposed double-cross and placing him, Eda and Luz in nightmares to teach them a lesson, when Belos suggests on simply killing the three of them, the Collector firmly reassures that he wants to be their friend instead, showing once again he is nothing like the other Collectors. The fact that he wants to befriend Luz, someone who is supposedly there to stop him and take King away shows how the Collector never really wanted to hurt anybody, even following Belos's new advice of playing with the trio in person under the belief that Luz, Eda and King will want to be their friend if he shows them how much fun he can be, oblivious on how dangerous and potentially deadly his games are, ignorantly believing that mortals can be easily fixed by their magic like any other toy.
After being beaten in each of the summoned games, instead of retaliating, the Collector goes to sulk in a corner, unable to understand why his new playmates are hurting him. Although he easily could’ve punished them, the fact that the Collector never did anything to the trio as revenge for beating him in the games further demonstrates how he never meant any genuine harm to anybody. He’s so desperate to be understood that he immediately opens up to Luz as soon as she approaches him and tells her their story, explaining to her how he has been used and lied to by almost everyone he has ever come across; King, Belos and even his own siblings, the Archivists, and yells at Luz that even if King isn’t really his friend, they'll pretend whenever he wants, demonstrating how the Collector is so disheartened by the people that tricked him that he tries to convince himself that he accepts the pretend part because they don't believe anyone will want to be their friend for real.
After spending some time with Luz, Eda and King and showing him how much they understand him, the Collector bonds with them as they travel the Isles, learning a lot about friendship and even taking Luz's lesson about kindness and forgiveness by heart, showing a genuine desire to apply her teaching and afterwards trying it on Belos, who has now possessed the Titan.
When Luz takes a blast meant for the Collector and explodes into many orbs of light, The Collector is left confused about what they did wrong and where did Luz go. When King and Eda go completely feral in grief and fury, The Collector doesn't understand what's going on, but when he assumes Luz 'broke' and tries to fix her, he realizes he can’t bring her back and finally understands what death means to mortals. He's left completely devastated and shedding tears for the first time in his life, having grown fond of Luz and begging Eda and King to run away from Belos because he doesn't want anyone else to go missing, feeling guilty and apologizing for everything.
When Luz revives and saves them from Belos's attempt to crush them, the Collector, remorseful and determined to redeem himself, volunteers to keep the Archives afloat to keep everyone safe while Luz, Eda and King deal with Belos. Once he's defeated, they float back to the Archives, at first afraid that the Hexsquad will punish him but delighted when Amity helps him up.
With the Boiling Isles saved and a new outlook on life, the Collector turns everyone back to normal and chooses to return to the stars for some growth and soul searching, having a new appreciation and respect for life. Grateful for everything she has done, he gifts Luz a new portal door so she can go back and forth between the Human and Demon Realms whenever she likes. When King gifts him his precious Francois, The Collector is deeply touched, knowing that he finally considers them a real friend. Four years later, the child gifts Luz a light spectacle for her birthday. It’s implied through King that the Collector does visit from time to time, with people no longer fearful of him.
== Powers and Abilities ==
“	Kikimora: It's pointless. Belos can't stop the spell any more than they can. Only the Collector has that power.King: Who… is the Collector?Kikimora: Neither witch nor demon. A child from the stars. Belos only talked to him when thought no one was around, but I was always listening. Belos was afraid of him…King: An opportunity! Take me to him.Kikimora: If that means kicking the Emperor's butt, gladly.	„
 	~ Kikimora telling King about the Collector. 	
* Omni-Magic: The Collector contains omnipotent magical powers far more powerful than anything witches and demons could pull off, being the most powerful still-living creature in the Demon Realm. This is proven by him stopping the Draining Spell, something even Belos couldn't do, by simply moving the moon away. Since he isn’t a demon nor a witch, it’s safe to assume that he doesn’t need to follow any of their rules when it comes to magic, hence how he’s the only being that Emperor Belos is afraid of.
** Reality Warping: The Collector has an immense level of magical power that essentially makes him a god, such as moving the moon with a flick of his finger or spreading large amounts of sparkling waves that bend the Boiling Isles into a childlike landscape.
** Magic Knowledge: Furthermore, he also has vast knowledge about magic, having taught Belos everything he knew.
** Puppet Transmutation: Using a moon-like symbol and throwing it into people's foreheads, he can convert living beings into puppets who act only when he commands them to.
** Levitation: The Collector can levitate and fly.
** Telekinesis: The Collector has a powerful telekinesis and can drag and levitate things around him, including living creatures like King and his puppets.
** Supernatural Strength: The Collector, despite being the size of a child, possess godlike strength as seen with him sending Belos flying into a wall with a flick of his finger or holding the Archives and stopping them from collapsing despite being weakened by Belos’s Titan magic.
** Star Manifestation: After being released, he summoned various stars from the sky that started to crash and explode into the ground and made the Boiling Isles inhabitants scream in terror, stating that "the whole world was singing". He can also summon various star-like objects to help him, like a platform he uses to fly and go to the Archives with King, or his spies that are also star-shaped too.
** Clairvoyance: The Collector can see what other people are doing just by hiding his eyes into his hat. This was shown when he spied King, Eda and Lilith while they were talking about how can they defeat him.
** Size Shifting: When playing games with Luz, Eda and King, the Collector demonstrates they can grow to an enormous size to better adapt to whatever game they’re playing. This can also include a single part of the body, like the head, which was shown in one of his games.
** Constellation Manipulation: When telling their story, they can manipulate the stars to create images of the events being explained.
==== As a Shadow ====
* Shadow Control: He can only manifest as a two-dimensional shadow as long as his mirror is present in a place and uncovered, in this state he is not able to affect the outside world in any way.
* Shapeshifting: The Collector is able to morph into any form he wants as a shadow, he uses this ability mainly to depict something that he is talking about like dying witches from the Draining Spell or a Grimwalker rising from the ground.
== Relationships ==
=== Allies ===
* Emperor Belos (formerly)
* Titan Trappers (presumably formerly)
** Bill the Elder
** Tarak
* King Clawthorne
* Luz Noceda
* Eda Clawthorne
* Hooty
* Lilith Clawthorne
* Hunter
* Amity Blight
* Willow Park
* Gus Porter
* Camila Noceda
* His Spies
* "Mamadalia"
=== Enemies ===
==== Confirmed ====
* Luz Noceda
* Willow Park
* Gus Porter
* Amity Blight
* Hunter
* Camila Noceda
* Ghost
* Clover
* Emmiline
* Flapjack (deceased)
* Eda Clawthorne
* Lilith Clawthorne
* Hooty (all formerly)
* Terra Snapdragon
* Owl Beast
* Titans (except for King):
** The Boiling Isles Titan
* Other Collectors
* Emperor Belos (deceased)
==== Possibly ====
* Everyone else on the Boiling Isles:
** Previous Golden Guards
** Viney
** Skara
** Barcus
** Jerbo
** Mattholomule
** Principal Bump
** Emira Blight
** Edric Blight
** Alador Blight
** Raine Whispers
** Darius Deamonne
** Eberwolf
** Katya
** Derwin
** Amber
** Steve
** Owlbert
** Bat Queen
** Gwendolyn Clawthorne
** Jean-Luc
** Keeper
** Tiny Nose
** Warden Wrath
** Adrian Graye Vernworth
** Mason
** Vitimir
** Hettie Cutburn
** Osran
** Abomatons
** Boscha
** Tibbles
** Piniet
** Roselle and Dottie
** Merchant
** Bria
** Gavin
** Angmar
== Quotes ==
=== Season 2 ===
“	Belos: What can I do for you, Collector?Collector: I'm bored! Is the Draining Spell ready yet? I wanna play and see everything go all… (Imitates screams)Belos: You'll have your fun on the Day of Unity.Collector: Betrayed, beguiled! Alone, deceived! We'll have our revenge on… ugh, "unity" is so hard to rhyme.	„
 	~ The Collector conversing with Emperor Belos. 	
“	Collector: Ooooh, you were maaaad! I thought you were gonna go all… (Imitates screams) …on that kid.Belos: Not as long as he stays in the right path. I say, "The Titan has big plans for you," and he does what he's told. Unlike the previous attempts.Collector: I'm starting to think you make those things just to destroy them. You have fun with it. Admit it! (laughs)	„
 	~ The Collector and Belos on Hunter and the Golden Guards. 	
“	Let's slash and rend and crush and bruise! Let's curse the land in nine bright hues!	„
 	~ An alternate version of the Collector's rhyme, misremembered by Luz. 	
“	Collector: Heh, heh, heh… you nervous? You haven't been home in like, how many hundreds of years? What if it's all changed? What if you changed? You got so used to eating Palismen, you can barely keep your human shape anymore!(Belos tries to attack the Collector and misses)Collector: I can't wait to get out of this prison! There are so many games I wanna play! If we need a third player, we can make another Grimwalker!Belos: No. Not until I've dealt with this one.Collector: Just free me already! You've proooomiiiised!Belos: The Draining Spell must work first, like you've promised.Collector: You need to have more faith in pinky swears.Belos: Don't worry, Collector. Your patience will be rewarded. The Day of Unity… is about to begin.	„
 	~ The Collector and Emperor Belos having another conversation. 	
“	Collector: But... but you said! You said you'd let me out! I hate it here!Belos: Just a little longer. We have to wait 'till after the Draining Spell.Collector: You better not be fibbing. You pinky swore me.Belos: Patience, Collector. You can trust me.(King scoffs)Collector: Hmm? Who's there?!	„
 	~ The Collector and Belos having another conversation. 	
“	Collector: We did it! It's done, it's done! Now you can set me free and we can play new games!Belos: I'm afraid that's impossible.Collector: Uh, excuse-a-what- now? B—But you said you'd use the Titan blood to help free me!Belos: I'm sorry, but I just realised I only have enough Titan's blood to open the portal.Collector: But you said we were friends! We pinky swore! You LIED! LIAR! LIAR, LIAR, LIAR, LIAR, LIAR, LIAR, LIAR! Oooohhh, liaaar!	„
 	~ The Collector realising Belos has betrayed him, and his villainous breakdown. 	
“	Belos: You…Collector: I gave you the Draining Spell. I taught you magic stronger than anybody's!Belos: And that's why I won't release you. Can't have you giving that to anyone else. Goodbye.(Belos drops the mirror)Collector: WOOOOAAAAHHHH! You're a liar, liar, pants on fireeee!	„
 	~ Belos and the Collector conversing following the former's betrayal. 	
“	Leave me alone. I don't associate with fibbers. (opens his eyes) Wait. I know someone's there! I can feel it. But why can't I see you? (King takes off his collar; The Collector gasps in shock) You look like that bully who put me in here. No. Way! Are you his little Titan baby!? I always wanted to play with you! But your dumb pops hid you… hey, do you like hide-and-seek? I'll hide first!	„
 	~ The Collector meeting King. 	
“	Collector: Wait! If you're a Titan, you can let me out! I can stop the Spell! Aaand we can play together!King: Golly! You'd do that?Collector: Wait. You're not tricking me into doing your chores like Philip? Are you?King: I would never! Pinky swear?(The Collector laughs)King: I'll even let you out right now! What do I need to do? Do you need my blood?Collector: No, silly! Just follow my lead…	„
 	~ The Collector and King teaming up to release the former. 	
“	What'cha playin'? 	„
 	~ The Collector's first words to Luz and her friends upon regaining his physical form.	
“	Belos: Collector! …You're free. Just as promised.Collector: As promised? I remember someone throwing me off a bridge. I'm not angry, though. Say, you wanna play tag? I'm it. (destroys Belos) Too slow! (notices the teens) …You guys look slow too. Do you need a head start?	„
 	~ The Collector to Belos upon being freed, before reducing him to a stain on the wall. 	
“	King! You promised you'd play with me! You pinky-swore!	„
 	~ The Collector dragging King towards him. 	
=== Season 3 ===
“	I'm free!!! I'm free!!! Oh this is the goodest I've felt in forever and ever, it's like the whole world is singing!	„
 	~ The Collector rejoicing his freedom. 	
“	So, tell me about your game "The Owl House". You promised you'll teach me if I stopped the Draining Spell!	„
 	~ The Collector when King of their deal of the game. 	
“	That's my best friend you're talking to. Hands OFF! 	„
 	~ The Collector before turning Lilith and Hooty into puppets.	
“	But they're not hurt! They are safe and sound in our new house. Now, what part do I get to play?	„
 	~ The Collector to King. 	
“	You look fun! Wanna play? 	„
 	~ The Collector after encountering Eda in her Owl Beast form.	
“	Collector: Stop right there, beast! Fear not, citizens of Bonesborough! [jumps down from the platform] I'm here to stop this beast's mad rampage!King: (thumbs up) I believe in you, Collector!Collector: Thanks, best friend!	„
 	~ The Collector playing. 	
“	You're not being very nice right now! 	„
 	~ The Collector before he transform Terra into a puppet.	
“	No, no, no! Don't read the next part. Skip to where I fixed it.	„
 	~ The Collector telling King to skip the next part. 	
“	But playing is more fun, make friends instead, and the others stink! Boo!!	„
 	~ The Collector's rewrite of his guidebook. 	
“	I want to be their friends. And besides, my powers don’t work on King.	„
 	~ The Collector on Luz, Eda, and King. 	
“	You worked in the castle, Ray-Ray. You’ve seen the big old heart, still beating too. Titans are amazing. When they’re full grown, there more powerful than anyone.	„
 	~ The Collector unknowingly giving Belos an idea. 	
“	I don’t get it King, I really don’t get it. I thought you loved playing our games. Why do you choose over these itty-bitty spiders over me?	„
 	~ The Collector to King after finding out he was lied to. 	
“	Aw, you act like I’m doing something bad, but I’m just having fun.	„
 	~ The Collector. 	
“	So? Toys break all the time? You just fix’em. 	„
 	~ The Collector showing he doesn't even comprehend death.	
“	I get it now. You just need kindness and forgiveness, huh?	„
 	~ The Collector trying to redeem Belos. 	
“	But I thought, I was doing the right thing. 	„
 	~ The Collector after Belos refuses redemption.	
“	Where’d she go? 	„
 	~ The Collector after Luz sacrifices herself.	
“	Luz? Luz? You-hoo! You can come out now. Well, it’s okay. She just broke, so I’ll fix her.	„
 	~ The Collector trying to find Luz. 	
“	What? Why isn’t it working!? 	„
 	~ The Collector after realizing his powers aren’t working and that he can't revive Luz.	
“	She’s really gone... 	„
 	~ The Collector realizing that Luz is dead.	
“	No! Please stop! Run away. 	„
 	~ The Collector defending Eda and King.	
“	Why isn’t it working? 	„
 	~ The Collector curious on why his powers aren’t working.	
“	What is this stuff? Wh-Why won’t it stop? 	„
 	~ The Collector crying for the first time.	
“	No! No, no, no, no, no! Get off of her!	„
 	~ The Collector trying to help Eda. 	
“	Huh? It can’t be! 	„
 	~ The Collector seeing Luz coming back to life.	
“	Leave them to me! 	„
 	~ The Collector telling the Owl Trio that they’ll handle saving everyone from The Archives.	
“	Come on, you can at least do this! 	„
 	~ The Collector redeeming himself as he goes to the Archives to save everyone.	
== Trivia ==
* Despite being voiced by a female voice actress, Philip referred to the Collector with masculine pronouns in "Elsewhere and Elsewhen". This leaves the Collector's gender currently ambiguous.
** Dana Terrace, the series' creator, confirmed on Twitter that the Collector goes by both masculine and neutral pronouns (he/him/they/them).
* The Collector's design was inspired by the works of Remedios Varo, a surrealist painter known for her astrological imagery. Some fans have pointed that his design also resembles the one of Dimentio, Eclipso, and the Daycare Attendant.
** His prison orb also resembles a Beast Ball, a type of Poké Ball from the Pokémon franchise.
* Prior to the airing of "King's Tide", it was commonly speculated that the Collector would possess Luz (just like The Core possessed Marcy Wu in Amphibia and Bill Cipher possessed Dipper Pines in Gravity Falls), mainly due to the fact that his teaser art looked similar to Luz's face and that he was lacking a physical form during Season 2B. This was later proven false, with Belos being the one to possess heroes (Hunter and Raine).
** Despite this, many fans after Season 3 release started to compare the Collector to Luz, given that they both were shown to be misunderstood lonely persons, who desire to have friends. This makes Collector the dark example of what Luz could've become, had it not for her adventures on Isles make her realize (yet in a highly traumatizing manner) that she needs to put behind her dreams.
** Also like Luz, the Collector was never a bad kid to begin with. Just a lonely child who was desperate to be understood and have friends, simply not knowing the harm they were doing with their humor and games.
* Brazilian fans of the series normally nicknamed the Collector as "Enzo Gabriel", which in Brazil is a name given to boys that are normally playful and rebellious, but also fitting more into his physical appearance. This nickname extended to the rest of the fanbase.
* With "For the Future" revealing the Collector is just one of many, some fans started speculating that some of the Collector's past actions have in fact belonged to the past Collectors, especially since he seemingly doesn't enjoy their genocidal intentions. Some have even started claiming that he is not the Grand Huntsman as believed, and that the Huntsman is actually the Collector seen in the Owl Beast's flashback in "Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Hooty's Door". This is supported by the fact the Collector seen in the Owl Beast's flashback is next to the Titan Trapper Island, looks very much like the adult Collectors, and is much more sadistic and malicious than the Collector seen in present day.
** However, this still doesn't explain why they have the exact same voice and why the Owl Beast became enraged when seeing the Collector. It's possible that it was a red herring, the Owl Beast still recognized him as a Collector even if not the same one who cursed her, or that the Collector really was meant to be the Huntsman and the one who cursed the Owl Beast, but it was retconned to make him less evil and fit his childlike personality.
* In all of his appearances, the Collector is credited as "The Collector". However, with the reveal that the term "Collector" is also the name of his species, the use of "The" may be intended to distinguish the character from other Collectors.
* The Collector is ranked fifth in the Top 10 Most Powerful Cartoon Villains Ever by WatchMojo.
* The Collector has numerous parallels to Caleb Wittebane. Both were members of a larger group (Collectors for the Collector, witch hunters for Caleb) who abandoned their practices after entering the Demon Realm and befriending members of a species they are supposed to hurt (Titans for the Collector, Evelyn to Caleb). Unfortunately, they were followed by their siblings (The Archivists and Belos/Philip), who then proceeded to hurt them (The Archivists abandoned the Collector to his fate, Belos killed Caleb) before going on a genocidal crusade against their friends out of fear, despite hiding it with claims of good intentions (The Archivists "preserving life so it never fades", Belos "saving humanity from evil"). The difference is, Caleb died while the Collector lived and managed to atone for his siblings' misdeeds.
* When in shadow form, the Collector doesn’t seem to care about the people that will die during the Draining Spell and even jokes about the way Belos kills the Grimwalkers, a sharp contrast to the child who later becomes remorseful and terrified about losing people once he learns about how death works for mortals. Considering Belos was his only company for hundreds of years and always kills and remakes Grimwalkers, it makes sense that the Collector never realized that death is actually permanent, since Belos always remaking Grimwalkers no matter how many times he gets rid of them and the fact they all have similar appearances, the Collector always assumed Belos was just ‘fixing’ the same toy over and over again.
* The Collector’s game consists of versions of Pac-Man, Marbles and Jenga respectively. It’s unknown whether his species have similar games, if he learned about them observing Earth from his prison, or if King told him about them, who in turn would’ve learned them from Luz.