03 • Classes & Aspects

having difficulties progressing through the game? no worries! there's a fool-proof way to make everything much easier. see that blue slab over there? lay your weapon down and lie down on it. take a nice little nap. don't you even worry about the monsters who are about to kill you.

Anyone who participates in a session of SBURB is given a title comprised of a “class” and an “aspect”; this title determines what they must overcome, and the amazing powers they may achieve by overcoming it. This is what is sometimes referred to as a player's God Tier title. By dying on their quest bed – whether it be suicide, murder, or an accident – players can return to life with more than what they died with: powers one could only ever dream of, an a semi-immortality clause that will help immensely along the way.

God Tier powers are determined by a mix of class and aspect pairs. There are twelve known classes and twelve known aspects – hence why we're capping sessions at the number twelve. Classes include the Heir, the Prince, the Maid, the Witch, and so on so forth. Aspects include Time, Space, Light, Breath, and, again, so on and so on. So, say we have Billy, who is a Prince of Mind. His class is shared with Bob, who is a Prince of Heart, while his aspect is shared with Jill, who is a Sylph of Mind. Classes determine how you use or are used by your aspect. A full list of classes, aspects, and what they both entail will be listed shortly.

Depending on the person, a player's title may either be an accurate representation of him or herself, or yet another challenge they must overcome. Even before ascending to God Tier, some players will show signs of their powers before hand – a time player having a good sense of time, or a Light (fortune) player having excessive amounts of luck. However, these often pale in comparison to the realized abilities of a full God Tier, and impact very little in the grand scheme of things.

Having ascended to a God Tier, you are only allowed to die through two means: a heroic death or a just death. A sort of “you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain” thing. If Billy, that Prince used as an example earlier, sacrifices himself in order to save Jill's life, his death could be considered heroic and he would be dead forever. Should Bob, his fellow Prince, plan to do something that would put everyones' lives in danger, killing him to stop him would count as a just death and, again, he would die for good. However, if Jill falls off a cliff or it stabbed through the stomach abruptly, she will revive withing a matter of minutes, absolutely fine.


Aspects are ideals or points that make up all of reality as we know it. There are twelve, paired into groups of opposites. They all, with the exclusion of time and space representing the physical world, focus on the ways that people interact with reality and the things around them. While any person may have a nice blend of more than one aspect, there will always be one that they most identify with. This is the aspect that shapes them as a person in subtle ways, sometimes so much so that they are unaware of it themselves.

SPACE

one of the two most important aspects necessary in a session, the space aspect deals with spacial distance, exact location, an a bit of velocity and size. Space players tend to be quite skilled at these sort of things without really thinking. They are good at dealing with what is there and tangible rather than the abstracts and whatnot, typically oriented physically. Substance may be another part of the aspect, as well as creation. The opposite of space is time.

TIME

the other most important aspect in any SBURB session, time deals with... well, exactly what it sounds like. Time. More than that, however, is the ideas of inevitability and uncertainty that go hand in hand with the aspect. Time players deal with death and mortality, sometimes able to embrace it and otherwise, quite the opposite. They require a great deal of patience, and are tasked with ensuring that the Alpha Timeline does not go haywire. The opposite of time is space.

BREATH

breath, on a literal plane, deals a lot with the wind and such things as flying – the latter being a symbol of the aspect as a whole. Breath is the aspect of change, much like how the wind is never quite the same for too long, and about a sense of freedom. Heroes of Breath are typically rather carefree in nature, sometimes even being a little bit silly, but are mostly known for their ability to handle sudden and often bad turn of events well. The opposite of breath is blood.

BLOOD

Blood is less about actual blood as is to such things as blood ties. This is the aspect of bonds, anything from pacts to friendship to leadership. Blood is what holds people together, keeps them focused on a common goal. The idea of sacrifice and loyalty are tied into this aspect – giving up such things as your freedom for the benefit of those you are close, loyal to. Romance may also be tied in with Blood. The opposite of blood is breath.

LIGHT

Light, similar to blood, is less about it's literal name as it is a more symbolic thing – fortune. Luck. Light players are typically favored by Lady Luck, or have the powers to pull her over to their side. Beyond fortune, however, is the idea of information and knowledge. In fact, people under this aspect tend to have a bad habit of expositioning frequently and jovially. Sharing information is something they love, and will do frequently. The opposite of light is void.

VOID

Where as light can be viewed as “everything” - knowledge of many things – void is the exact opposite, and exactly what it sounds like. Nothing. Void is the idea of the terminating of information and obfuscation. Void players deal much with secrets and keeping far out of the limelight in favor of shadows. They are quick to humble themselves; to submit. However, they are also very good at building from nothing, working with no prior knowledge, and carrying on through uncertainties. The opposite of void is light.

HEART

Heart is not so much heart as it is soul. The player's soul. Who they really are, how they really think and feel, regardless of the thoughts and actions of peers around them. Internal strength is a big part of it, as well; players of this aspect are formidable at their core and can draw strength from what's inside. Lastly, it has the most effect on such things as passion and emotion. Heroes of Heart are quicker to read, manipulate, or inspire all sorts of emotion. The opposite of heart is mind.

MIND

Whereas heart deals with feeling and, well, “following your heart”, mind deals with logic and manipulation. Trickery is something that goes hand in hand with the aspect – a good trick is only carried through when knowing how the other person will react, which is easy for a mind player. Dishonesty is another symbol of the aspect, seeing as it, as whole, deals with putting up a front and showing people what you want them to see. Heroes of mind have a tendency to do what they please without thinking of how it will negatively impact those around them, as well as having a strong sense of justice. The opposite of mind is heart.

LIFE

Life is... well, much like it sounds. An abundance of liveliness and optimism. Limitations are a life player's worst enemy, things that he or she feel they must flee from or overcome by any means necessary. Should anything happen to stand in his or her way, they will overcome it with ease, having the ability to quickly grow and adapt to problems that may surround them. They have an affinity for energy, as the name would imply. The opposite of life is doom.

DOOM

Doom the the inevitability of things that are going to happen in the future, as well as the steps that take to get things to that point and the restraints put on an individual. Sacrifice, however, is probably the largest portion of the entire aspect, the loss of ability to affect that around you in order to ensure the greater good. Heroes of Doom are often all too aware of their faults, and are typically rather gloomy in attitude, but have incredibly capability and power. The aspect also puts heavy emphasis on death. The opposite of doom is life.

HOPE

Hope is hope. There's really little more to it than that at its core. Positive emotions are what drive this aspect, the belief in things that you want to believe in, even if outsiders may think it frivolous or pointless. It also does with the possibilities in life, as well as how able one is to see the options that life permits. All in all, it can boil down to a positive view granting a bigger perspective. The power of hope can be very powerful, but the roads to realizing this power can be quite difficult and not quite as cheery as the aspect's name implies. The opposite of hope is rage.

RAGE

Rage is anger. It is anger, fear, determination, and any other negative emotion that can cloud a player's judgment and limit the decisions they feel they are willing or capable to make. The aspect as a whole seems to have ties to domination of the player's will over others, regardless of the means required to get there. However, for such a negative-sounding aspect, it isn't all bad. Limiting an enemies list of options can greatly hinder them, and having too many options may hinder oneself. It's symbolized by the fighting spirit, religion, and sometimes leadership, although these may very depending on the player. The opposite of rage is hope.

While there are technically fourteen known classes in Homestuck, two – Master classes, the mysterious Muse and Lord – are being disregarded for simplicity's sake. The remaining classes, however, are known to have a sort of double function: “of their aspect” and “through their aspect. This will be explained, and hopefully make more sense, as we go on. In addition, all classes are paired together with one class being “active” and the other being “passive”. This is determined by a sort of “keyword”, those being understand, create, allocate, change, exploit, and destroy. The active and passive traits help decide how much control the class can have over the aspect directly.

Certain classes are gender specific. A page, prince, or bard cannot be female, for example. Only male. In addition, witches, maids, and sylphs may only be female, not male.

MAGE

The understanding class, active in nature. While most classes still provide a nice deal of insight on their aspect, this knowledge is taken just a few steps forward in this class and it's passive counterpart. A mage can understand their aspect. Can understand through their aspect. Because they are an active class, however, simply understanding is not enough – they are tasked with using this understanding to change the things around them. To do anything but puts the people around you at risk. Mages do what needs to be done, regardless of whether or not peers understand what they are trying to do. They, like their passive counterpart, also have a great deal of trouble wrapping their minds around their opposite aspect. The opposite of a mage is an heir, while it's passive counterpart is the seer.

SEER

If a mage is the active class, a seer would be the passive understanding class. As the title seer would imply, they can see the “flow” of their aspect, understanding and knowing it better than any other class is capable of understanding or knowing. With this knowledge, they attempt to shape all that is around them, often with the aid of others, rarely in their own ways. However, unlike the mage, these efforts at change are not made by the seer him or herself, but are made through fellow players. A seer trying to go forth and do things themselves may have little effect, but taking a backseat and giving orders tends to be more fruitatious. Seers do not always know the future – actually, the opposite is quite true in most cases – but they are typically rather good at planning for it by using their incredible knowledge of their power. The opposite of a seer is a witch, and it's active counterpart is the mage.

MAID

The active creation or healing class. This class likes to focus more on the creation part than healing, often just throwing the later out of the water completely, partaking in the creation and creation through their assigned aspect. The creation of the aspect is not set in stone in appearance. Perhaps a life player will create a lot of baked goods, the symbol of their aspect, or a time player will create time clones of him or herself in order to increase the odds. Creating through their aspect, however, is another process. This often takes place by using their aspect to either create new ideas and set the session in a definite direction or to put a stop to something that would hinder the ability to create. A maid does whatever they feel is necessary to complete a task at hand, tying in with their active nature and idea of creation and possibly healing. The opposite of a maid is a bard, and it's passive counterpart is the sylph.

SYLPH

The creation and healing class on the more passive side of things. Whereas the maid leans toward creation, the sylph prefers to deal with healing through their aspect. A sylph of light may use information to fill in the gaps in understanding, a form of “healing” through the idea of information. A sylph of space may be rather tidy, always “fixing space” by reorganizing or putting things away frequently. They are typically the go-to for relationship advice, being able to patch up any hurt feelings and such. There's not much more to their class than that. The opposite of a sylph is a prince, and it's active counterpart is the maid.

THIEF

The active allocation class is the thief. The idea of a thief is exactly what the title would suggest – a person who steals their aspect from another, almost always for their own gain. Whether this be an enemy or even an alley is up to the user, but from their thievery, thieves tend to have an abundance of their aspect in comparison to some of the other classes. As the thief grows, however, he or she may become quite adept in using the spare aspect that they have stolen in order to manipulate or inspire those around them. Less frequently, they've also been known to steal through their aspect – a thief of time collecting massive amounts of boondollars, perhaps, by using time shenanigans. All in all, the thief is about theft, but also about allocation to oneself and being in control. The opposite of a thief is a page, and it's passive counterpart is the rogue.

ROGUE

The passive allocation class. Rogues deal with moving around their aspect, sometimes just getting it from point a to point b, others by stealing and distributing it amongst their allies. They are also known to move things through their aspect, such as a heart player moving around the emotions of the people around her, whether it be to generate a sense of happiness in allies or to harm the enemy. A rogue is best known, however, for being a sort of Robin Hood-like figure. Where a thief will simply steal for self gain, a rogue will steal from the enemy, and distribute what they've stolen amongst their allies. A light player, for example, may steal the luck from a formidable foe and give it to fellow players to increase the odds of their victory. The opposite of a rogue is a knight, and it's active counterpart is the thief.

WITCH

The active class in charge of change. A witch takes control of their aspect, manipulating it as they see fit in order to best create their desired change in reality around them. A space player may grow or strink important objects to get them from one place to another, for example, or a rage player may manipulate another person's limitation on perceptive through negative emotion to hinder their decision-making. They also invite change through their aspect. Their initial understanding of their assigned aspect is usually much better than most other classes, and is used quite readily in order to achieve goals efficiently. The opposite of a witch is a seer, and their passive counterpart is the heir.

HEIR

The change class, passive in nature. Heirs do no actively change, but rather inspire change in and through whatever their assigned aspect may be. They are gifted with the ability to subtly change their aspect in the things and people around them, often without directly doing so. Their aspect, however, likes to move them to and fro as much as they move their aspect around in others; likes to inspire them to do something based on their aspect. It's a back and forth battle of sort, but the key to unlocking the heir's full potential is to take charge and shape the aspect more than the aspect wills to shape the player. The opposite of the heir is a mage, and it's active counterpart is the witch.

KNIGHT

The class of exploiting, active by nature. A knight takes what they've got and uses it in ways that are not only effective, but sometimes mind boggling. This class does not always start out an expert in their aspect, however; often times, the opposite is true. A Hero of mind may be rather gullible, as well as easy to see through, but will use what they have an build upon it until they have all but mastered their assigned aspect. Weaponizing is what they are primarily assumed to do, but it goes much further than using their aspect as a weapon. They use their aspect to do everything. A time player can use their time abilities as a weapon, a defense, and means of information hording, money gathering, security, so on, so on, so on. Knights, however, deal with deluding oneself, often pretending to be something that one is not. The opposite of a knight is a rogue, and it's passive counterpart is the page.

PAGE

The passive part of the exploitation classes. Similar to the knight, a page does not start very well in terms of their aspect. Actually, pages tend to start with so little, they either seem devoid of their aspect, or only show signs of the negative repercussions of their aspect. It takes a great deal of time for them to understand and be able to utilize what they were destined to have, but when they do, boy, is it worth it. They inspire the people around them to use their aspect for the greater good, and even give some of the aspect away should they see fit. Once a page is through with the session, they're left with a battle-ready and formidable battling force. The opposite of a page is a thief, and it's active counterpart is the knight.

PRINCE

The active class that deals with destruction. They have their aspect in heaps and are fueled by it readily – so much so, in fact, that they begin to destroy their very aspect, or even destroy through it. A hope player, blinded by their longing for positivity, may end up causing destruction for the sake of that positivity, or even destroy hope itself by throwing a wrench in things. A player of heart may destroy their own sense of identity, or do the same in those around them. Destruction of the aspect in the name of the aspect – confusing as that might sound – is the power of a fully realized prince, something that is actually more helpful than negative. The opposite of the prince is a sylph, and it's passive counterpart is the bard.

BARD

The passive class dealing with destruction. One way to look at it is to see it as more of a “jester” than a bard, a class that mocks their aspect, emphasizes its flaws, and destroys it passively. A better way of looking at it is, while a prince actively partakes in the destruction of and through their aspect, a bard will invite such destruction of and through their aspect, whether it be by doing things or not doing anything to stop said destruction. A bard of void may invite destruction of nothingness, humbleness, and secrets by egging on those who have been keeping said secrets, or trying to fuel an ego of a submissive party member. This will lead others to build onto the bard's subtle implications, perhaps blowing things out of proportion and leading to the destruction of void within that session. The opposite of the bard is a maid, and it's active counterpart is the prince.