Imaginary Friends
Like many children, Tim had an active imagination as a child and invented a number of imaginary friends to play with. However, because of his power as an Opener, these friends became real and continued to exist long after he had forgotten them. As he became more aware of his power, so too did he become aware of his lost friends.
| Character | First appearance | Last appearance | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tanger and Crimple | Vertigo Rave #1 | The Books of Magic #75: "The Closing: Inner Child" | Two wood sprites who lived in a tree on the edge of a wasteground near Tim's home, forced to remain there by strict rules that meant they would die if they ever left their rightful place. They are very close and affectionate with each other, with Tanger seeming the elder and more experienced whilst Crimple seems more reckless and nervous. Both show great courage, however, when Molly wanders off into the dangerous wasteland: Crimple chases after her to help protect her, whilst Tanger eventually leaves his place at the tree to help Tim find Crimple. The two sprites travel separately through Hell until they are reunited and returned home, both having found new ways to survive after leaving their place. Tanger suggests that the two of them only resemble wood sprites because that is how Tim imagined them, and that both have served numerous Openers previously, with their natures and appearances changing depending on the Opener's imagination. |
| The Wobbly | Vertigo Rave #1 | The Books of Magic #75: "The Closing: Inner Child" | A terrifying creature that resembles a bird's skull inside a flapping black cape, the Wobbly exists to destroy the things that Tim has thrown away. Its nature, however, gradually alters as Tim introduces it to the concept of recycling to prevent it from killing Crimple and then convinces it to leave its place to collect the car that his father was driving when Mary Hunter was killed. The wobbly claims to truly understand Tim because of the unique function the boy bestowed upon him, but this doesn't translate into sentiment: the creature was perfectly willing to "recycle" Tim when he collapsed from starvation after running away from home, and had to be convinced that Tim hadn't thrown himself away but was suffering hardships on the road to self-discovery. |
| Awn the Blink | The Books of Magic #10: "The Artificial Heart: Book 2 - Bleak Houses Hard Times" | The Books of Magic #75: "The Closing: Inner Child" | A cyborg mechanic, Awn the Blink is an "unrepairman" who can break any machine . . . and conversely has the ability to repair and rebuild them as well. He has no specific place that he is tied to, and pops up wherever Tim needs him. It was Awn who convinced the Reverend Slagingham that his schemes wouldn't work, and who saved Tim when he got trapped in the sewers of London - all the time telling anyone who cared to listen that it was Tim who was the brave and clever one, and would have resolved the situation easily if Awn hadn't beat him to it. Because whenever the TV at home was "on the blink" Tim's father paid more attention to him, the young Tim assumed that Awn the Blink must be his friend . . . and so he was. Awn also helped stop the war between the angels and the demons who were intent on claiming Tim's magic, building a trap for both sides that would hold them until the fighting was over. |
| Thomas Currie | The Books of Magic #51: "A Thousand Worlds of Tim" | The Books of Magic #61: "All Things Timothy" | A serious academic, Thomas Currie is tracking the true Timothy Hunter from amongst the thousands of alternate versions of him made unknowingly by the original every time he made a wish as a child. Thomas is attempting to save the true Tim from one particular alternative: Tim's Other has become aware of his own nature, and is slowly killing every version of Tim he can find to claim their power for himself. Ultimately, he wants to destroy the true Tim and take his place . . . something that, for the good of everyone, Currie must prevent - even by killing the true Tim himself. He takes a job at Bardsley to get close to the real Tim, educating him about the nature of his power and the responsibilities of his life, and all the times keeps a diary of what he learns about Tim that he calls The Books of Magic. It is revealed that Currie himself is the creation of an alternate Tim Hunter, travelled over from the perfect world protected by the all-powerful and kind version of Tim. When the Other arrives in the true world, Currie finds that he cannot kill the true Tim because he cannot face knowing that he was created by such a flawed creature: instead, he kills Tim's father, which causes Tim to subconsciously try to create an alternate world. Currie diverts this act of creation, and uses the power to recreate his own alternate Tim, who fights the Other whilst the true Tim escapes to Faerie to better learn to wield his magic. Currie proudly dies with his own Tim, hoping that the true Tim can learn to become as great and as good as his creator. |
Read more about this topic: List Of The Books Of Magic Characters
Famous quotes containing the words imaginary and/or friends:
“Understanding replaces imaginary fears with real ones.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“I do then with my friends as I do with my books. I would have them where I can find them, but I seldom use them. We must have society on our own terms, and admit or exclude it on the slightest cause.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)