Pop Culture References in Wizard101: Empyrea – The Shade of Sycorax

Shade of Sycorax – Sycorax the Witch and The Sycorax
https://wiki.wizard101central.com/wiki/Creature:Shade_of_Sycorax
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sycorax
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Sycorax

Sycorax was a mighty witch who lived in the Tower of Sycorax. Aerial, the Spirit of Aerial Shore, was her servant.

Sycorax grew tired of her servant and imprisoned her in a tree. Your wizard must fight the Shade of Sycorax to learn the incantation to free Aerial from her prison.

“You would steal the secrets of Sycorax? You shall pay for your hubris!” – The Shade of Sycorax

Sycorax is an unseen character in William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest (1611). She is a vicious and powerful witch and the mother of Caliban, one of the few native inhabitants of the island on which Prospero, the hero of the play, is stranded.

According to the history provided by the play, Sycorax, while pregnant with Caliban, was banished from her home in Algiers to the island on which the play takes place. Memories of Sycorax, who dies several years before the main action of the play begins, define several of the relationships in the play. Relying on his filial connection to Sycorax, Caliban claims ownership of the island. Prospero constantly reminds Ariel of Sycorax’s cruel treatment to maintain the sprite’s service.

The Sycorax were a superstitious race of warriors and intergalactic plunderers first seen in the 2005 episode “The Christmas Invasion” of Doctor Who. The species are native to the JX82 system. The Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) considered the Sycorax to be “snarling space gangsters who smell like herrings and that’s on a good day”. Jack Harkness regarded them as a “nasty bunch” of “galactic scavengers” who were “always shouting and showing off”.

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

The Shade of Sycorax image is from Wizard101, and is copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment.

Sycorax image is borrowed from Wikipedia and is in the Public Domain.

The Sycorax image is copyright BBC.

Image usage qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.