Spoilers to Steven Universe: Arkham Edition and Batman Arkham Knight.

GachaEvery
Wattreader7389
RoseTheMagicalFlower
AbelardoGuajardoG

Ghost Spinel is technically a character in Steven Universe: Arkham Edition, as she isn't the real Spinel in any shape or form. Context to how and why she exists, Steven inhaled a gas that's designed to make him see his worst fears. But Steven wasn't scared of anything at the time, as he was still suffering from crippling depression after Spinel's death in Valentine's Day - believing that he shattered her.

And so, the gas had a special affect on him. Instead of making him see his worst fear, it makes him see a Spinel that only he could see. Ghost Spinel is part of Steven's mind, being a manifestation of his inner thoughts and trauma. 

Anything Ghost Spinel do or say is what Steven thinks Spinel would actually do. Now the real Spinel is alive during the time Ghost Spinel occurred, and Steven didn't know that, which means he still remembers Spinel during her villain state; which explains why she's so evil and a nuisance. 

She doesn't physically affect the plot, other than be some comic relief and a way to project what Steven is thinking and feeling. But even as a figment of his imagination, Ghost Spinel does serve an important role to the plot and here's why.

A: Projection.
B: Affects The Audience.
C: Comic Relief in a Depressing Story.
D: Moral Of The Story.

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A: Projection.

Ghost Spinel is a projection to Steven's inner thoughts and feelings. Sometimes it's directly stated, but it's also subtly shown in various ways. Just take this picture for example:

[This chapter and photo is going to be used as reference a lot, be prepared.]

From this picture, we can see how Steven just ignores Ghost Spinel's existence. Taking the fact that she's his inner thoughts and trauma, this is a symbolic example of Steven's poor self-care and 'modesty.'

This was a known character trait of Steven in Canon Steven Universe, ignoring his problems until it explodes in his face. Arkham Steven is just built different, therefore he has to have a more serious/refined way of ignoring his problems.

Since Arkham Steven is more in control of his emotions and nothing like his canonical counterpart, he must have a different situation to his stress. Using the stuff from canon wouldn't work for Arkham Steven, plus it would ruin the tone.

I learned this lesson from my AU series with AU Steven. Taking that into account, I knew Arkham Steven would need something more fitting to his character.

And what better way to do that than to make his former enemy a living manifestation of his issues?

And this can be interpreted in two ways, or both at once if you prefer.

You notice how Ghost Spinel is always trying to get Steven to interact with her? Either by actually talking to her or even looking at her? Well, that could be viewed as Steven's own subconscious trying to heal his own mental scars or trying to move on from the depression that looms over his mind. 

And it makes it slightly more sad when you realize that Steven was fighting an internal battle in his mind about his own sanity, fighting between moving on or staying depressed.

The second option is what Steven thinks how Spinel would react. So if Spinel was actually trapped in Steven's mind and he was ignoring her, she would actually want him to notice her. Going as far as affecting his vision and making him hallucinate things in the real world - all in an attempt to get him to acknowledge her. 

Both as I said earlier, you can merge both of these options together if you want.

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B: Affects The Audience.

Chapter 28 was the first time we see Ghost Spinel affecting the audience's view on the story - literally. At this point in the story, the audience is with Steven - seeing and feeling everything he goes through. 

And as such, when Ghost Spinel tampers with Steven's view on the world, she does the same for you. She makes you question what's real and what's all in your head.

Like when Steven first woke up that morning and went to the bathroom. Ghost Spinel poked her head out of the shower and seductively invited him to the shower with her. However when he blinked, she was gone and the shower stopped emitting steam.

And when he checked the bathtub, it was wet as if someone recently used it.

The second instance was when Steven observed a box of doughnuts that the gems brought from the Big Donut and he found one that was licked. Earlier to that, Steven witnessed Ghost Spinel licking a doughnut and offering it to him.

It wasn't until after Amethyst confirmed to him that she licked the doughnut and left it in the box. Then Steven asked his dad if he used the shower recently, and he said yes.

Ghost Spinel capitalized on those two events that occurred prior to Steven waking up just to make him and you think that she can affect the real world. 

You can thank GachaEvery for giving me insight to the audience, since I never quite understood how the audience felt of that particular scene.

Anyway, Ghost Spinel can mess with you and Steven's heads by hallucinations. There could also be subtle ways to tell the audience what is and isn't real.

Since she is a ghost, she can't interact with the real world. And if she can, then you know it's not real.

An example of this is if Ghost Spinel was able to move a chair, then that chair was either already moved or that chair never existed in the first place. This is actually a very effective tool that an author could use to manipulate not only the main character but the audience as well.

So if you ever have an imaginary/ghost character in your work and want to know how to make them feel kind of eerie, then this is the best way to do it.

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C: Comic Relief to a Depressing Story.

At this point in Arkham Edition, it was very gloomy and dark for everyone. Steven was depressed, White Diamond was still trying to recover from her distressed state, as well as trying to be there for Steven and worried for him.

There was little to no room for something to lift the tension... and Ghost Spinel changes that. 

Since she's just a ghost that only Steven and the audience can see, the best she could do (without affecting the reality of someone's environment) is talk. And that could lead to funny and rich dialogue.

You see, Steven is/was a serious character who took everything very seriously. He doesn't have the time to make witty jokes and humor without undermining his character. But Spinel is a character who could do just that without it being out of character.

Her being a ghost is just icing on the cake, since no one can do or say anything to make her shut up. 

An example of this is when she said this about Squaridot:

"So be honest, Steven. You don't have to solve Squaridot's puzzles, do you? You just like to make her cry!"

And, of course, when Spinel left the voicemails to Steven on the phone in Chapter 28.

This type of comic relief was brilliantly shown in Batman Arkham Knight, where Batman is going through the same thing Arkham Steven went through, with the Joker taking Spinel's place.

Since Batman is also a very serious character, he doesn't waste time with jokes or humor. But the Joker would, which is why every time Batman does anything, the Joker would make some comment about it that's either witty, clever, funny, or all of them put together.

In summary, Ghost Spinel was the humor for the Crystal Knight arc while everyone else was too sad or depressed to lighten the mood.

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D: Moral of The Story.

Aside from being innovative and fun for the story, Ghost Spinel also teaches Steven a very valuable lesson by accident. Which is actually a callback to the movie, where Spinel inadvertently reminded Steven what made him Savior of The Galaxy.

The line she said to him was, "How did a powerless loser like you become Savior of The Galaxy?!"

And then the line was redone in Arkham since Arkham Steven went through a different path in his childhood. She basically mocked Steven for being a little boy who was crying out for his parents, and this reminded Steven that he was just a kid.

This was basically one of those "you're only young once" lessons but one that actually had meaning to the character. Since Arkham Steven's missing piece wasn't that he changed, it was the fact that he mistaken himself to be this force of nature that carries the weight of the world on his shoulders.

He got too serious for his own good and forgot that he was still a kid. And after that, he got his powers back like he did in the movie. 

This is what finally broke Steven out of his depression and he became his compassionate self once again. This is actually one of the few times I felt like I actually succeeded in something I wrote in a story, since I portrayed a good theme for a character without butchering it.

It's just such a shame I never properly concluded Ghost Spinel's arc before she just disappeared and never to be seen again.

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And there you have it, this has been why Ghost Spinel was important to the story. I honestly enjoyed writing the character when I had the chance to, but I felt unsatisfied with how her story ended. After all, she's a fun character to write and get creative with.

I mean, the thumbnail for Chapter 28 perfectly explains why this character is perfect.

Come on, just one more look at it before this is over?

Ah, much better.

July 22nd, 2023. 10:55 PM.