Specialists

> We are the first line of defense. A certainty when the future is uncertain.
>
> Saul Silva to his students, "To the Waters and the Wild"

**Specialists** are non-magical warriors who are skilled in combat and strategy to act as the defense force of the Otherworld. They receive their training at Alfea College, and upon graduation, many Specialists go on to serve in the Solarian Army.

## Overview

Specialists are either legacy admissions, selected by Saul Silva from their realms for service, or enroll at Alfea for personal reasons, such as family pressure. Once admitted to Alfea, they reside in the Specialists' Hall at the school, sharing dormitories with other Specialist students for the duration of their time at Alfea. However, there are cases where a Specialist can be roommates with a fairy of the same gender, as was the case with Grey Owens and Earth Fairy Sam Harvey. The circumstances under which fairies and Specialists can reside in the same dormitories are unknown, and it is further unknown if they reside in the fairies' suites or the Specialists' Hall.

Specialists at Alfea attend non-combat classes of an unspecified nature. They are possibly regular High School classes and presumably, theoretical classes about magic and magical threats, in order to better assist fairies in combat. After these classes, the majority of their time is spent engaged in physical training near the lake under the supervision of the Specialists' Headmaster. This training includes hand-to-hand combat, sword fighting, archery, and use of other weapons, such as the bow staff.

During times of crises in the Otherworld, such as the re-emergence of the Burned Ones and the Blood Witches, Specialists will train side-by-side with fairies in order to be more effective in stopping magical threats.

## Equipment

The Specialists all wear light black leather armor over a sweater with the Alfea logo embedded on the upper part of the sleeves. They carry a sword on their back and have a dagger strapped to their front armor. Riven is an exception, he is shown to wear two shorter swords on his back rather than one regularly sized sword, like most of the Specialists. During his training session with Sky in episode one of the first season, he is also seen using two shorter wooden swords. This implies that Specialists can choose a weapon they prefer, rather than being bound to one kind of weapon.

Saul Silva is also seen using a bow and arrow in episode four of the first season.

## Known Specialists

### Alfea College Students

* Dane (second year)
* Kat (second year)
* Riven (third year)
* Sky (third year)

### Alfea College Alumni

* Andreas (deceased)
* Noura (deceased)
* Saul Silva
* Sebastian Valtor (deceased)

## Changes from *Winx Club*

The Specialists are based on the Specialists  from the original *Winx Club* series. The Specialists in the original series were solely male, while the Specialists in *Fate: The Winx Saga* are both male and female. The showrunner for *Fate: The Winx Saga*, Brian Young, said that the inclusion of female Specialists was a deliberate attempt at challenging the original *Winx Club* series' outdated gender norms.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 'Boys can be fairies - it's the 21st century': How Fate: The Winx Saga finds the reality in fantasy. The Guardian. December 10, 2020.