Will o' the wisps in popular culture

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Main article: will-o'-the-wisp

The will o' the wisp has made appearances in many guises across many genres and forms of artistic expression, from literature to music to videogames. A brief sample follows:

Contents

[edit] Appearances in literature

In literature, Will o' the wisp often has a metaphorical meaning, describing any hope or goal that leads one on but is impossible to reach, or something one finds sinister and confounding.

Some examples of references in literature are:

   "About, about in reel and rout,
      The death-fires danced at night;
   The water, like a witch's oils,
      Burnt green, and blue and white"
  • "The race yearns to adore. Can it adore the simple or venerate the obvious? All mythology and folk lore rise in indignant protest at the thought. The sun gave light, therefore he was not hot gas nor a flame, but a god or a chariot. The "ignus fatuus" deluded men of nights. It was a spirit; nothing so simple as decomposition could serve the need." - The Secret of Victory by George Smith Patton, Jr, written on March 26, 1926.
  • The Flemish poet Willem Elsschot, aka Alfons-Jozef De Ridder, wrote the short story Het dwaallicht ("Will-O'-the-wisp") in 1946.
  • The Will o' the wisp makes an appearance in the first chapter of Bram Stoker's Dracula, as the Count, masquerading as his own coach driver, takes Jonathan Harker to his castle in the night:

      "Suddenly, away on our left I saw a faint flickering blue flame. The driver saw it at the same moment... the flame appeared so near the road, that even in the darkness around us I could watch the driver's motions. He went rapidly to where the blue flame arose, it must have been very faint, for it did not seem to illumine the place around it at all, and gathering a few stones, formed them into some device... When he stood between me and the flame he did not obstruct it, for I could see its ghostly flicker all the same. This startled me, but as the effect was only momentary, I took it that my eyes deceived me straining through the darkness."[1]

      "At last Sam could bear it no longer. 'What's all this, Gollum?' he said in a whisper. 'These lights? They're all round us now. Are we trapped? Who are they?'
      Gollum looked up. A dark water was before him, and he was crawling on the ground, this way and that, doubtful of the way. 'Yes, they are all round us,' he whispered. 'The tricksy lights. Candles of corpses, yes, yes. Don't you heed them! Don't look! Don't follow them! Where's the master?'
      Sam looked back and found that Frodo had lagged again. He could not see him. He went some paces back into the darkness, not daring to move far, or to call in more than a hoarse whisper. Suddenly he stumbled against Frodo, who was standing lost in thought, looking at the pale lights. His hands hung stiff at his sides; water and slime were dripping from them.
      'Come, Mr. Frodo!' said Sam. 'Don't look at them! Gollum says we mustn't." -The Passage of the Marshes, The Two Towers
  • A Will o' the wisp named Blubb figures in Michael Ende's novel The Neverending Story. It is a messenger who, ironically, gets itself lost in a forest before meeting the Tiny, Nighthob, and Rock Chewer (Rock Biter in the film), also messengers from different parts of Fantastica to tell the Childlike Empress about the Nothing.
  • In Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You, a "field guide" made for the Spiderwick Chronicles, a Will o' the wisp isn't the product of a magical being, but a spherical, magical being, used by elves as a type of decoration.
  • The character Will o' the Wisp in the Spider-Man comic books is named after the phenomenon. He is capable of passing through matter and emitting hypnotizing and blinding blasts of light.
  • Willy the Whisp is the title of a short folktale in Irish Folktales edited by Henry Glassie. (Myles Dolan/ Michael J. Murphy) It is a short story about a blacksmith named "Willy" that sells his soul to the Devil. "Willy" tricks the Devil three times before he dies and is banned from Hell. However, he isn't allowed into Heaven either and the "whisp" that is seen is his soul constantly bouncing between Heaven and Hell.

[edit] Appearances in music

  • One of Franz Liszt's set of twelve Études Transcendentales for piano (1838/51) is titled "Feux Follets", "fool-fires", the French term for Will o' the wisp. Hector Berlioz included a "feux follets" section into his Damnation of Faust. Likewise, French harpist and composer Alphonse Hasselmans has written a piece for solo harp called "Follets", and there is a "Song of Will-o'-the-Wisp" in Manuel de Falla's ballet "El Amor Brujo".
  • "Will o' the Wisp" is a section of Miles Davis' 1960 album "Sketches of Spain".
  • Alphaville (band)'s song "Cosmopolitician" contains the line '"You can call me Will o' the Wisp, but I shine in good faith."
  • "Will'o'the wisps, Misguiding your path"

Lyrics from: Keeper Of The Seven Keys Artist: Helloween Album: Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II [ http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=68532 ]

  • Will O' the Wisp is also a song by the American dark-punk group Christian Death, present in the album "Atrocities" (Normal, 1986)
  • "Will O' the Wisp" is the title track from Leon Russell's 1975 album of the same name. The song's synthesizer and somber piano evoke the concept of something elusive, playful and ephemeral.
  • The song Ignis Fatuus by the English musician Patrick Wolf mentions this phenomenon. It appears as a b-side on the 7" release of Wind in the Wires (single).
  • Will O' the Whisp is also a song by Banya, present in the dance arcade simulation game: "Pump it up".

[edit] Appearances in film and television

  • An anime titled Pumpkin Scissors, main protagonist Randel Orland is a former Anti Tank Trooper. In the story, enemies that know him refer him as 'Gespenst Jäger', with the famous legendary quote "They will come forth along with the blue will o' the wisps.."
  • The film Dellamorte Dellamore (released as Cemetery Man in the U.S.) depicts "ignus fatuus" as a character.

[edit] Appearances in computer games

  • Wisps are an irregularly recurrent characters in the computer game series Ultima. They play a key part in the plot of Ultima 7, insofar as they allow the lead character access to the Shrine of Spirituality from which he initiates contact with the Time Lord.
  • Will o' the wisps also appeared in the NES video game series Wizardry. In Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds, they were a low level enemy appearing in groups of 9, rarely encountered, hard to hit for low level characters, and high in experience points granted if defeated.
  • Will o' the wisps appeared in the DOS game Eye of The Beholder II in a variety of colors, found on the Silver Tower level and were difficult to hit.
  • In the video game Soul Calibur II, one of Necrid's weapons is called 'Ignus Fatuus.' also, in Soul Calibur III, it's possible to fight an enemy named Will o' the wisp, which consists of a fighter made of light.
  • Will O' Wisps are monsters in the Dungeons & Dragons game. They use their flickering light to lure the unwary into bogs and other hazards, then feed on their trapped victims' life energies.
  • Will o' the wisps are somewhat nonviolent creatures in Nox that can lead the player to hidden treasure and/or a trap. Otherwise, they're generally harmless, but will hit the player with electricity if hit first.
  • In the video game Blood Omen: The Legacy Of Kain, the Ignis Fatuus are green fires atop skull lanterns, which lead the way to Vorador's Mansion, deep inside the Termogent Forest swamps.
  • Will O' the Wisp is a card from the game Magic: The Gathering. It's a flying creature (spirit) with a mana cost of one black mana. One black mana will regenerate Will-O'-the-Wisp. Attack/ Defense = 0/1. It was originally printed in the first set and reprinted in the following Core Sets up until 4th Edition. It did not see print again until 9th edition in 2005.
  • In Final Fantasy XI, Will-o'-the-Wisp and Ignis Fatuus are both names for bomb-type monsters that can appear only during fog or cloudy weather conditions in certain areas. The monster looks like a flying Jack-o'-lantern.
  • Will-o-Wisp is an attack that causes Burn status in the video game Pokémon.
  • Willy Wisp is a high powered attack used by boss and advanced enemies in the game Super Mario RPG: Legends of the Seven Stars.
  • In Skies of Arcadia, one of the Discoveries that can be made in the North Ocean is called a Will O'Wisps
  • Will o` Wisps also appear in Everquest, most often in the Karanas and other low-level zones, they almost never start combat - but are very dangerous to beginners as they can only be damaged by magical weapons.
  • Will o' the Wisp is an enemy in the star ocean series of role playing video games.
  • Will o' the Wisp is a type of underling enemy found in the video game City of Heroes.
  • Will o' the Wisp is a monster in the Lineage 2 video game.
  • Ignis Fatuus is a spell in the popular Warcraft III mod Defence of the Ancients which summons a wisp called Ignis Fatuus. Will O' The Wisp is also a spell of that summoned creature.
  • Also in Warcraft III and it's add-on, Wisp is a basic worker unit of the Night Elves race.
  • A minor enemy in various Castlevania games, as a blue aura floating flame.
  • Will o' the Wisp is a NPC in the form of a glowing light in the game RuneScape, found in Morytania swamps.
  • Will o' the Wisp are enemies that appear when fighting the boss Salabog in the video game Secret of Evermore.
  • In Quest For Glory 4 they appear as the "spirits of lost children" near the swamps. The player can trap them with a jar with some candies inside as bait.
  • Willowisp are semi-invisible undead creatures in Diablo II. They attack with lightning and can drain mana.
  • Will o' the Wisp look-like spirits are the incorporeal way the elves are after being killed in World of Warcraft. They can be found as NPC in the capitol city of the Elves, Darnassus, as they are part of the defenses of the city.
  • Will o' the Wisp are low-level undead mob that can be found mainly in the Avalon Marsh zone in Dark Age of Camelot
  • In the game Lost Kingdoms on the Nintendo Gamecube, the Will o' Wisp is an independent 'trap' creature of the fire element which when triggered will explode and trigger all other Will o' Wisps in the area simultaneously.
  • Found in various cities and dungeons across the the lands of Arcanum (a PC RPG). They would rarely attack the player and his party and were considered to be creatures of good alignment. Killing one would lower your good alignment quite a bit and alienate you from your good-natured party. Or, at the same time, raise your evil rating if you and your party were already evil.
  • In the game Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker for the Nintendo Gamecube, balls of lights float over areas of ocean with treasure accessible underneath by using the Grappling Hook, possibly a reference to folk tales of Will o' the Wisps leading to buried treasure.
  • In the game Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo Gamecube, an enemy called a Poe appears to be a blue Will o' The Wisp if seen in human form.
  • In the game Warcraft III, will-o'-the-wisps-simply called wisps-are the builders of the Night Elf species. They have the ability to detonate in an explosion.

[edit] Appearances in sports

  • Hall of Fame feather-weight champion Willie Pep was called "Will o' the Wisps" due to his elusive fighting style.
  • Professional wrestler Jeff Hardy worked under a masked gimmick called "Willow Wisp" while on the independent circuit prior to his WWE career.
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