Pop Culture References in Wizard101: Empyrea – Caleban

Caleban – Caliban
https://wiki.wizard101central.com/wiki/NPC:Caleban
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliban

Caleban is Crusher’s partner and the father of Wezlee. Caleban is also the leader of the Beastman, and has the elusive storm jewel which your wizard needs in order to fix the broken sky-ship.

Caliban, son of the witch Sycorax, is an important character in William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. He is half human, half monster. After his island becomes occupied by Prospero and his daughter Miranda, Caliban is forced into slavery. While he is referred to as a calvaluna or mooncalf, a freckled monster, he is the only human inhabitant of the island that is otherwise “not honour’d with a human shape” (Prospero, I.2.283). In some traditions, he is depicted as a wild man, or a deformed man, or a beast man, or sometimes a mix of fish and man, a dwarf or even a tortoise.

Banished from Algiers, Sycorax was left on the isle, pregnant with Caliban, and died before Prospero’s arrival. Caliban, despite his inhuman nature, clearly loved and worshipped his mother, referring to Setebos as his mother’s god, and appealing to her powers against Prospero. Prospero explains his harsh treatment of Caliban by claiming that after initially befriending him, Caliban attempted to rape Miranda. Caliban confirms this gleefully, saying that if he had not been stopped, he would have peopled the island with a race of Calibans – “Thou didst prevent me, I had peopled else this isle with Calibans” (Act I:ii). Prospero then entraps Caliban and torments him with harmful magic if Caliban does not obey his orders. Resentful of Prospero, Caliban takes Stephano, one of the shipwrecked servants, as a god and as his new master. Caliban learns that Stephano is neither a god nor Prospero’s equal in the conclusion of the play, however, and Caliban agrees to obey Prospero again.

The current list of all the (known) Empyrea references can be found here.

Although I am well versed in Pop Culture references but I do not claim to have caught them all. Let me know your favorites in the comments and if I’ve missed one you caught, let me know so I can add it to the list.

Text for this article is excerpted from the linked wiki pages

Caleban image is from Wizard101, and is copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment.

Caliban, Stefano, and Trinculo image is borrowed from Wikipedia and is in the Public Domain.

Image usage qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.