Ursula Callistis

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Ursula Callistis (アーシュラ・カリスティス), born Chariot du Nord (シャリオ・デュノール) and also known by her stage name Shiny Chariot (シャイニィシャリオ), is the tritagonist of the anime series Little Witch Academia. She is the Magic Astronomy teacher at Luna Nova Magical Academy and the mentor (and idol) of Atsuko Kagari.
She is voiced Noriko Hidaka in the Japanese dub and Alexis Nichols in the English dub.
==Personality==
Ursula aspired to become a witch who could make people smile from her early childhood, though she had a rough start to achieve it due to her passion for magic exceeded her skill. It took the Fountain of Polaris' rejection that she realized determination and dedication being essential to achieve her dreams. With her newfound resolve, she started to work harder and took her studies more seriously, eventually earning the power of the stars for her determination and dedication. Not only that, her faithfulness to her belief that magic should be used to make people happy was what led to Claiomh Solais aka. Shiny Rod appeared before her and with it, the quest to revive Yggdrasil through unlocking all Seven Words of Arcturus necessary to unseal Grand Triskellion. However, shortly after her graduation which saw her becoming the famed magical stage performer Shiny Chariot while still in the middle of such important quest, Ursula found herself biting off more than she could chew; the public's growing expectations coupled with uneventful circumstances beyond her control (Woodward's aloof treatment on Croix which led to the latter's fall in to the darkness which in turn, led to her tricked Ursula to use Dream Fuel Spirit which drained her audience of their magical abilities including Akko and Diana's during her fateful show at Japan) led to her tragic downfall.
Following her retirement, Ursula applied to be one of the academy's professors, teaching Magical Astronomy/Astrology, while in hidintg. She still retained the spark she had in the past, but the decade of becoming humble teacher and shadow of her former self took its toll on her, explaining her more demure disposition. It took her fateful encounter with her loyal fan Akko and the next wielder of Shiny Rod that gave her hope for redemption, and her devotion to the young witch as she assisted the latter in her own quest for Grand Triskellion showcased the greatest illustration of compassion and selflessness in Ursula, with her guidance also revealed a great wisdom beyond the dreamy idealism of her youth. Moreover, it was through her time in guiding Akko that Ursula discovered what she lacked back then and ultimately, becoming the hero her beloved student saw in her and to do the right thing, more than Woodward could ever be. Though she continued teaching at Luna Nova following Akko and co.'s success in reviving Yggdrasil, Ursula stopped magically hiding her hair's true color, showing that she had found a closure she needed.
==Appearance==
Ursula is a witch with pale complexion along with apple red hair and matching eyes. While remained incongnito as one of Luna Nova teachers, she bewitched her hair into blue and had it tied into a small ponytail over her right shoulder with what appeared to be bandages and wore glasses. Her hair is much shorter during her younger days by contrast, parted in the middle so as not to fall over her eyes, though a part of it fell between them nonetheless. As shown in "Chariot of Fire" and four-parter finale of TV Series' second cour, this is also what her hairstyle looked like should she let her hair loose albeit longer. By the end of events of TV Series, she returned to her incognito appearance albeit stopped hiding her hair's true color.
==Powers and Abilities==
*Peak Human Conditioning: Having undergone strict training regiment so her body can handle Body Strengthening Spells she mastered, Ursula has honed her bodily functions to the pinnacle of human conditioning, effectively making her stronger, faster, tougher and better tuned to various types of physical sports than average mundane humans, witches, and wizards alike in addition of capable to fight for prolonged periods without tiring and brushing off otherwise severely crippling injuries. In fact, during the fight against out-of-control Noir Rod's dragon form, Ursula displayed superhuman feats without magic as she delivers crippling blows on the magitronic monster multiple times, leaping across considerable distance while carrying Croix away from Noir Rod, brushing off severely crippling injuries, and fighting for prolonged periods until the beast gained upper hand. She even survived being devoured by Noir Rod dragon until saved by Akko with Shiny Arc.
*Skilled Driver: Though her knowledge pertaining cars left leaves much to be desired, Ursula nonetheless decently skilled in driving one as revealed in tie-in Drama CD story of Chamber of Time game.
*Magic: Like other witches, Ursula is skillful in magic. She is shown to be able to transmit her voice over long distances with a magical megaphone and like other teachers, she can project images and scenes into thin air. She is one of the few witches in the series shown to cast magic without a verbal spell. Notable skills she displayed in the series are:
**Body Strengthening Spell: Ursula can enhance her body's strength to superhuman level.
***Leg Strengthening Spell: Ursula can enhance her legs' strength to superhuman level with this spell.
**Restoration Magic: Ursula also excels in Restoration Magic with or without aid of Mending Magic Powder, a skill which she later taught to Akko.
***Object Repairing Spell: With Object Repairing Spell, Ursula can magically fix small to medium-sized broken objects.
***Super Object Repairing Spell: With Large Object Repairing Spell, Ursula can magically fix larger broken objects.
**Suspension Spell: Ursula can magically encapsulate target in an orb of magic energy suspended in the air. She can choose to have the orb either put those trapped inside it under the trance or otherwise, as she let Arcas conscious to let the bear-like creature recognize her.
**Metamorphosis Magic: Metamorphosis Magic is one of Ursula's signature abilities.
***Clothes Transformation Spell: Ursula can magically change clothes that she wear or others as well as enhancing their attributes with this spell.
***Transformation Spell: Ursula is adept in transformation spell, as she was shown magically shapeshifting into various forms during her days as magical star Shiny Chariot. She can also undo the effect of transformation spell as well.
**Flight Spell (formerly): Ursula can fly with her broom with this spell, but due to exposure to Wagandea pollen, she cannot use this ability until the cure for this ailment to be found.
***Floating Magic: Ursula can use the same spell to magically walk on the air by generating floating magical platforms beneath her feet at short distance.
**Communication Magic: Ursula has an average mastery over Communication Magic.
***Spirit Calling Spell: Ursula can summon and communicate with spirit who reside within old objects with this spell.
**Object Control Magic: Ursula can magically manipulate object from distance at will.
**Magic of Stars and Astrology Magic: Ursula is a user of the Magic of Stars, a unique magic which has unknown yet powerful abilities. Although it is unknown if it is related to the former skill, Ursula is well-versed in astrology magic, which is used to see the future.
**Magic Energy Manipulation: Ursula can manipulate magic energy to perform various feats such as projecting beams and/or blasts, simulating telekinetic force as a form of object control magic, and generating solid constructs out of the energy's tangible form.
***Magic Blade: Ursula can form superheated, lightsaber-esque blade around her wand out of magic energy that can virtually cut through anything.
***Loudspeaker: Ursula can conjure loudspeaker-like construct that can amplify her voice like an actual sound amplifier.
***Grappling Hook: Ursula can project strand of magic ends with grappling hook from her wand to pull objects from distance.
***Magic Screen: Ursula can project floating, energy screen to show images to aid her briefing the lesson/situation.
***Counter Spell: Ursula can magically absorb an enemy's magic attack and redirect it back to them with same power.
***Explosion Spell: Ursula can generate omni-directional explosion of magic energy around herself with this spell.
***Barrier: Ursula can conjure powerful barrier of magic energy to defend herself of those around her. The barrier's durability depends on how much magic energy she used, as when using highly durable barrier against beam attack of Croix's sentinel statue, the increase of magic energy output for barrier's creation and reinforcing caused her hair to turned to its original color.
==Equipment==
*Shiny Rod: A powerful magical artifact that may very well the embodiment of the power of seven stars that make up Big Dipper itself and responds to the heart of its owner. She can transform it into a broom, as well as into a bow and create an arrow from thin air with the Seven Words of Arcturus. Also, it can increase the power of spells when used. She stopped wielding the Shiny Rod when she caused a disaster in her magic show by damaging the moon's surface with the Shiny Arc and taking away the magic of her audience, which caused the Shiny Rod to wither away in her hands.
*Magic Broom: She has a straw broom with a crescent moon-like design in one end.
*Magic Wand: Like other witches, Ursula has a magic wand in her disposal. For close-range combat, she forms a lightsaber-esque energy blade around it.
==Trivia==
*"Ursula" means "little bear", derived from a diminutive form of the Latin word "ursa" (she-bear). Little Witch Academia TV Series has numerous connections with the Ursa minor/major constellation thus it's possible that this is where her name comes from. The Ursa minor/major is also called the Chariot in a lot of cultures which makes a connection between her names, Claiomh Solais/Shiny Rod, and Seen Words of Arcturus.
**"Chariot du Nord" literally means "Northern Chariot" in French, referring to the constellation Ursa Major.
**"Callistis" is a reference to the Greek myth of Callisto:
:::From Wikipedia: "According to Ovid, it was Jupiter (Zeus) who took the form of Diana (Artemis) so that he might evade his wife Juno’s detection, forcing himself upon Callisto while she was separated from Diana and the other nymphs. Callisto's subsequent pregnancy was discovered several months later while she was bathing with Diana and her fellow nymphs. Diana became enraged when she saw that Callisto was pregnant and expelled her from the group. Callisto later gave birth to Arcas. Juno then took the opportunity to avenge her wounded pride and transformed the nymph into a bear. Sixteen years later Callisto, still a bear, encountered her son Arcas hunting in the forest. Just as Arcas was about to kill his own mother with his javelin, Jupiter averted the tragedy by placing mother and son amongst the stars as Ursa major and Ursa minor, respectively."
*Due to producers of the Brazilian and Latin American dubs of the first short film apparently didn't know that Ursula and Shiny Chariot are the same person, they gave the two different voice actresses. Assuming that they knew all along, such decision may very well done to keep the truth about it a secret from the audience.
**Regardless, it was eventually changed for the dub of TV Series in which Ursula and her alter-ego Shiny Chariot being voiced by same voice actress, Gigliola Mariangel.
**In the Brazilian dub of the TV series on the other hand, Chariot was voiced by Flávia Saddy in the first episode as with in the first short yet Woodward's illusion of Chariot in episode 11 was voiced by Miriam Ficher, Ursula's voice actress.
*In order to remain a low profile, Ursula actively limited the amount of magic she utilizes and even bewitched her hair's color into blue where enchantment involved would temporarily undone should she use too much power. The manner such enchantment work is different between short film and TV Series, however; the former depicted her hair's transformation from blue to red being fiery as opposed of smoother, almost instant change in the latter.
*Though likely a coincidence (assuming it not intentional in Studio Trigger's part given to its tendency to include allusions and homages from other works), Ursula in her Shiny Chariot's appearance and status as a high-tier magic user could be inspired by Tabasa/Tessa, one of four playable heroes in the fantasy-themed 2D arcade game Red Earth.
**In terms of being the chosen wielder of an artefact of great power for a significant purpose until she lost it from using artefact in question to cause a catastrophic damage at some point in the past and had a best friend/comrade who turned against her out of both envy and uneventful circumstances beyond their control on the other hand, Ursula may also inspired by Gai Kurenai aka. Ultraman Orb from Ultra Series.
*A fact which understood only by astute watches at best and dismissed by biased viewers at worst revolving Ursula's predicament with Croix throughout second cour (second season in Netflix) of anime TV Series is the implication of the French professor ended up worsening her predicament instead of saving a lot of trouble had she chose to try to enlist the aid from her fellow Luna Nova staff to stop her former best friend; apart from Headmistress Holbrooke, Ursula's relationship with her fellow Luna Nova staff was rather strained and that they won't likely believe her claims of Croix up to no good despite their own misgivings towards the new Modern Magic Professor. Not to mention about such endeavor came with the risk of bringing up about her true identity as the infamous Shiny Chariot in addition of grim yet complicated history between them and their misdeeds, the moon incident in particular.
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