Classpects are something that have been talked about way too much for way too long, and yet somehow we still have so little information on the classes compared to the aspects. They're a personal topic of fascination to me, so I decided to put together this little document to spread my obscene amounts of knowledge on the topic. It really is absolutely necessary and very very important that everybody knows this valuable information. It'll change the world one day. So anyways I want to begin this by making sure we're all on the same page when it comes to classes (haha get it? page)
First, let’s establish the meaning behind passive (+) and active (-) classes. Active players most effectively use their powers for themselves, while passive players tend to use them for others. The Homestuck wiki words this in a great way, and I don't really know how to put it any better:
“Simplistically, active means self-serving, passive means group oriented, where active classes employ or affect their aspect directly and for their own gain, and passive classes are affected by their aspect, and work to benefit their team.”
Try not to confuse the idea of active and passive classes with the idea that active players use their power ‘actively’ and passive players use it ‘passively’. Both active and passive classes can and will use their aspect intentionally or unintentionally. Whether or not they are active or passive only determines whether their aspect is oriented to the self or others. (I hope this makes sense because the language used here can be pretty confusing.) ¹
Secondly, I'd like to touch on the existence of "personalities" or "archetypes" which correspond with each class. Some traits show up repeatedly in certain classes (e.g. Knights are guarded, Theives are egotistical, Pages are self-centered) whereas with other classes, characters who share them seem to have no common traits at all (Maids, Rogues, Heirs). Because of this, I'm not going to delve into the personalities of each class at all. I believe that any traits seen in characters who share classes are not required to be had and should never be your main focus when classpecting. That should be the actual abilities themselves. (For example - I fit the typical personality of a Prince, but I would never 'destroy' my aspect. It's just not a great way to determine someones class!). This is also somewhat supported by the fact that, according to James Roach, the official class document given to him by Hussie literally only describes the abilities themselves.²
TL;DR if you want a personality test, thats what the aspects are for. The class is more reflective of how you interact with that core part of yourself that is your aspect.
Next I want to clarify something about the descriptions of the classes that I wrote. You'll see each one follows the formula of "one who __ (aspect) to achieve a goal." When you read "achieve a goal," I'd like you to imagine that every one of these goals are the same thing. Basically, the Knight, Page, Prince, Bard, Seer, and so on are all using the same aspect to achieve the same goal, and each interchanging verb simply describes the different ways in which every class goes about achieving this common goal. The reason why I write the descriptions like this is because Hussie and Roach have both explicitly said that all classes of shared aspects can do the same things, they just go about them in different ways. One example that Roach used which I liked was this: Dave uses his Knight of Time powers to go to the future and see what happens; then, he travels back into the past and acts accordingly now that he knows the future. Now consider a Seer of Time, who could just use their Seer abilities to look into the future, and like Dave, act according to that knowledge. This same scenario can pretty much apply to any class as long as they share the same aspect.
TL;DR all classes can effectively do the same thing, just in different ways.¹¹
Ok, now I want to briefly touch on how I think you can best go about determining the class of yourself or someone else. It really only takes two questions:
“with which of these abilities could I reach my fullest potential, taking into account how I typically approach issues regarding my aspect as well as what I wish I could do with my aspect?”
And, if you’re struggling to decide whether you’re the passive or active class in a pair: “would I rather use these powers to help myself or others?” Try to avoid just picking whichever one sounds the coolest or most powerful, choose what really speaks to you.
Knight (-)³ and Heir (+)⁴
One who weaponizes (aspect) to achieve a goal.⁷
Page (-) and Maid (+)³
One who fights to preserve (aspect) to achieve a goal.⁵
Prince (-) and Bard (+)
One who destroys (aspect) to achieve a goal.⁶
* I want to note here that there’s a common misconception that Princes and Bards flip their aspect. For example, you could be a Blood player, but if you’re also a Prince, you flip to the opposite aspect Breath, making you a Prince of Breath. This is not true. Princes and Bards tend to have very conflicted relationships with their aspect, so they may appear as the opposite aspect to someone who doesn’t know them very well, but in reality they are still defined by their aspect at their core. Princes in particular tend to have an overabundance of their aspect, which in turn leads them to resisting and destroying it in themselves.
Thief (-) and Rogue (+)
One who steals (aspect) to achieve a goal.⁷
Mage (-) and Seer (+)⁸
One who understands (aspect) to achieve a goal.⁹
Witch (-)⁸ and Sylph (+)
One who manipulates (aspect) to achieve a goal.
Lord (-) and Muse (+)¹⁰
As the master classes, the Lord wields the power of all active classes and the Muse wields the powers of all passive classes (Another popular theory is "one who commands (aspect)." I personally prefer the former definition but there's not enough information to definitively say).
Lastly, all of the classes are said to exist on a spectrum of active to passive. The fact that there is a spectrum has been confirmed both in the comic and by James Roach, but none of the details of what goes where have been revealed. So, I'm going to try my best guess at what the spectrum might look like, but it's 100% speculation (except for the placement of the Lord and Muse).
Ok yay, its over i'm not writing anymore now. thank you thank you thank you.