The word growth can take on vastly different meanings. From the mundane definition of “increasing in size” to the economical application as “an increase in value,” changing context can drastically alter how we interpret the word. My favorite version has to be its use as a way to describe a fundamental shift in character.

This type of growth does not come cheap, and all too often occurs at the price of innocence. We gain strength by falling, become smarter by failing, and grow spiritually from events that rock the foundations of our faith. Each of us has had experiences in life fundamentally shape us into the humans we are today, and we will continue to be molded by what occurs in our future.

The Planeswalkers of Magic’s story are no different.

Today, we are going to talk about character growth and how it will play an important role in the Planeswalker cards that are created to represent them.

A Shift in Storytelling

Magic is in a New Era of storytelling, one that will focus on key characters as they face the perils of the Multiverse. This shift means that our characters will be changing over time.

And what’s the best way to showcase these changes? New mechanics—and new art!

And what’s the problem? R&D tried this before, and it failed.

When Liliana of the Dark Realms was first revealed, the player reaction was not one of hype, but one of hatedom. “It’s too different,” and, “This doesn’t feel like a Liliana card,” were some of the more general complaints. R&D took that constructive criticism in stride, and now the team maps out each character and what their abilities should be.

So what we have is a situation in which players want to see some form of consistency in their heroes so that they can tell a Liliana card apart from a Sorin or an Ashiok, but the story wants to see the characters change over time so that we can also watch our characters grow.

What is the solution?

One method is to keep the overall abilities and strategies of the Planeswalker the same while the visual cues associated with that Planeswalker change. Kiora is a perfect example of this.

How do we know that Kiora has grown since her last incarnation? We see her wielding a new weapon, one that she stole from Thassa, God of the Sea.

But what if our main character doesn’t loot some obvious piece of equipment that would showcase growth? This is Magic, not an MMO. We can’t have our characters changing out their weapons every other world.

The answer is more subtle than you might think, and it was used in Battle for Zendikar with everyone’s favorite heiromancer.

The Growth of a Planeswalker

Born on Theros, Kytheon Iora never knew his father. Having also lost his mother at a young age, Kytheon found himself more or less alone in the world. He was forced early on in his life to rely only on himself for survival. Combine this with Kytheon’s natural ability to magically make himself indestructible, and you have the recipe for a character who refuses to ask anyone for help.

Growing up without a support system can be incredibly difficult, so it is easy to understand why a teenage Kytheon would become arrogant. In Kytheon’s mind, there was nothing he could not survive. Having created this character foundation through his origins, it was important for the writers of the creative team to then ask the question, “What do we want to change about Kytheon, and who will he grow?”

Those of you who followed Kytheon’s story in Magic Origins know that the young mage was tasked by the god of the sun himself to slay a mighty titan of Erebos. In his hubris, Kytheon believed nothing could defeat him, and he attempted to take down the God of the Dead in a single act of arrogance that would change his life forever.

The loss of his friends caused a growth in Kytheon. The experience of planeswalking and his discovery of Bant forever changed the way he would approach his life. Taking up the name Gideon Jura, he would become a shining symbol of order and justice. Gideon’s experience of losing his friends changed him. He made a conscious decision to never allow anyone to be put in danger because of him ever again.

As we learned in Mike Linnemann’s interview with Wizards of the Coast Sr. Art Director Jeremy Jarvis, “the large greaves used in Bant armor and the fact that Bant castles are held off the ground by huge pillars were both employed as visualizations of being load-bearing . . . of having and dealing with the weight of responsibility.”

Combine this with the ideals of Bant’s “exalted” fighting culture, and you create a world where Gideon learns that by wading into battle alone—he can carry the burden for everyone else so they don't have to. Gideon traveling to Bant after his spark ignited was no coincidence, it was fundamental to shaping the warrior into the man we know him to be today.

Up until Battle for Zendikar, Gideon’s cards have played in a very similar manner. All three have the ability to turn Gideon into an attacking, indestructible force to be reckoned with, and all three had an ability that symbolized Gideon’s desire to “protect” you by taking on all enemies by himself.

Gideon’s Battle for Zendikar version changes that.

Gideon, Ally of Zendikar marks a stark change in the way the fighter approaches a battlefield. While he still does not shy from battle and can become an attacking indestructible force, Gideon no longer displays a desire to take all of the punishment for himself. Instead, Gideon now summons allies and leads those allies as a powerful army.

Gideon has changed and is more open to the idea of working with others to achieve a common goal. I have been waiting for the Uncharted Realms moment when we would get to see what triggered this character shift, and last week's story by James Wyatt turned out to be the answer.

Through the atrocities of a planar war, Gideon learns another lesson that fundamentally shapes him, changing who he is and how he approaches a situation. After a brutal loss and forced retreat, Gideon grows by casting aside this idea that he is better off alone.

How do we know that Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is a Gideon card? Because it still does something fundamental to Gideon as a character: He becomes indestructible and enters the fray, leading from the front lines.

How do we see that Gideon has evolved as a character? The inherent strategy of the card is different from other Gideon printings before it. Instead of Gideon taking the brunt of the enemies’ attacks while you slip by and go ham on your opponent’s face, this version of Gideon works with your creatures while subsequently summoning an army of his own. Together, the two of you work together to “go wide” and defeat your enemy with an organized force.

It still feels like Gideon, but his playstyle and strategies are definitively different.

Until Next Time

I hope you enjoyed this look into growth and how it applies to our heroes and how it will change them in future sets. It is important to remember that in order to show that a character has evolved, some things need to have changed. A new Gideon could not just be Gideon 2.0 without some form of cue as to how he has evolved. Be on the lookout for future printings of our known characters and how each has changed since the last time we saw their faces gracing a piece of cardboard.

Until next time, may Magic serve as a vehicle for your own growth.