Happy Birthday, Irma Lair

Happy Birthday, Irma Lair!!!



Hey W.I.T.C.H. fans! Guess what? Yeah, it's Friday the 13th and all, but it's also a regular March 13th and you know what that means? It's Irma Lair's birthday! Yes, today is the anniversary of the birth date of our favorite Guardian of Water. Let's give a shout out to Irma on her special day as well to anyone who was born on March 13th! Let's look back and review Irma's Guardian transformations:

The Evolution of the Guardian of Water

First transformation The first Guardian transformation doesn't really have a name. In the comic series, Will used the Heart of Kandrakar to transform into a Guardian for the first time in issue #01 "Halloween" alongside Irma Lair and Hay Lin in order to defend themselves from being killed by Vathek. In the animated series, Irma transformed at the same time with all the other four girls during magical practice. In this form, Irma's body is physically more mature and her powers heightened. Her element is the flowing element of water that cannot be broken. Irma's special ability is to change the colors of her wardrobes, manipulate people's thoughts and making them do what she wants, and seeing possible future events in the water's reflection.

At first, Irma needed a source of water to fight her enemies, but as the series continued, she can conjure up water from thin air. Later on, her powers extended to ice and vapors.

In this form, Irma's Guardian outfit consisted of a two piece attire with a green top and purple mini-skirt (pink in the animated series). Sometimes her outfit's color switched due to animation errors in the series. Her green top has an upside down heart-shaped swirl around her navel. She dons a traditional green and blue stripped stocks and tall, thick purple boots that goes up to her shins. On her back flutters a pair of small, but beautiful gossamer wings.


New Power After Matt stole her powers, Irma merged with the purest and strongest form of her power at the end of issue #75 "As You Were, You Are Now" along with the rest of her friends. By becoming one with her own element, Irma obtained a new transformation dubbed "New Power" where, not only did she achieved a new look, but her original powers are much stronger. In the New Power saga, the Oracle hoped that by merging the Guardians with the purest form of their elements, they would be strong enough to face a new villain called Dark Mother, a terrifying nature spirit who resides under the very earth!

Irma's New Power transformation consisted of a sleeveless top with a U-shaped color to resemble a swim-suit. Her purple skirt is longer and seemed to be wrapped around her waist like a towel. The skirts are almost sentient called lamias and they can be used to deflect and grab objects from afar. Her boots have a new look and her top now has the symbol of Water on her chest. With her new longer hair and donning a pair of long, black, finger-less gloves, Irma now has a more mature look.

Irma's New Power transformation is only ever seen in the original comic series as the animated series never made it past the second story arc. Later on in the comic, Irma wields a pink tambourine as her magical weapon and tool.



Power Girl The third transformation, called Power Girl, was never seen in the original comic series or the animated adaptation. Instead, it was specifically designed for the W.I.T.C.H. doll lines available in Europe at the time. Because of this, the Power Girl transformation is perhaps the least known to fans. Nothing is known about this transformation, other than the fact that it's different compared to its predecessors. We can assumed that, like any magical girl series, Power Girl would allow Irma to become stronger than she was before in her New Power form.

The Power Girl transformation gives Irma a whole new look. No longer wearing the traditional "Wizard of Oz" inspired stripped stockings, Irma's new looked seemed to resemble a fusion of her first two transformation. Her top is sleeveless on one arm and has the usual U-shape neckline and her skirt seemed to be as short as her first outfit but as loose as her second one. She lost her black gloves, but now wears a purple wristband on her left arm. Like Will and the others, Irma now has her own magical tattoo but on her left thigh. Her usual deep purple colored boots are now replaced with a lighter colored one. The physical gossamer greenish wings that were prominent in her first two transformation has been stripped away to make room for bigger, and more beautiful blue wings. Its larger size and style implies that not only is it stronger, but also bears the implication of an ethereal look.

Some fans stated that because of these wings, the Power Girl transformation is like Winx Club, another Italian magical girl series about fairy creatures. While this may be true at first glance, a closer study will reveal that it's not. Winx Club's wings tends to be more detailed and decorative. The Power Girl wings are a bit simpler in design with less borderlines around and inside of its designated zone. Also, Winx Club transformation outfits are usually more glittery with sparkles and details. While each Winx Club fairies has their own personal wing designs to reflect their powers and personalities, WITCH's Power Girls outfits are more of a match set to reflect their teamwork and unity.

*Note: Because the Power Girl outfit only existed for the European doll lines, many people voted and asked me to write this transformation into my "WITCH: Dreams of Lusteria" story. In my story, Irma was the third to awaken her third transformation after her meeting with the Red Dragon. With his help and the power of Light, Irma realized the strength of her elemental Heart and her Virtue of Temperance and her Power Girl transformation is born, allowing her to defeat Zhu Que, the Celestial Warrior of Fire and the Lord of Wrath.



the Evolution of the Guardian of Water And now, lets see all three beautiful transformations side by side and see how much growth Irma has gone through with this evolutionary line.