Caleb Wittebane is a posthumous character in The Owl House. He was the older brother of Philip Wittebane, the late lover of Evelyn, and is an ancestor of the Clawthorne family.[1] He is the person from which the Golden Guards — including Hunter — were cloned from.
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What is the background story of Caleb Wittebane?
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Appearance[]
Body[]
Caleb was a young human man with light skin, brown eyes, thick black eyebrows, and ash-blond hair tied back in a ponytail with a hanging forelock. He had a slender build and a hooked nose. His statue in Gravesfield depicts him without his ponytail, and memory portraits in "Hollow Mind" show he cut it off at some point while staying in the Demon Realm. "Thanks to Them" and "For the Future" additionally show him with large eye bags, sunken cheeks, and visible upper ribs.
Clothing[]
Caleb wore a ragged white shirt with rolled-up sleeves, olive green trousers that had a lighter olive green patch sewed onto the left pant sleeve, held up with suspenders, and boots.
Artistic renditions of Caleb, such as those found in "Yesterday's Lie" and "Thanks to Them", additionally depict Caleb wearing a dark blue, waist-length overcoat and cravat.
Background[]
Life[]
A depiction of Caleb and Philip arriving in Gravesfield.
Caleb Wittebane and his younger brother Philip were born in the Human Realm, sometime around the late 16th to early 17th centuries. Through unknown circumstances, both Caleb and Philip were orphaned at a relatively young age, leaving Caleb, as the older of the two, to take on the role of being Philip's caretaker.
Caleb and his brother would eventually come to the town of Gravesfield, in the Colony of Connecticut, in 1613. Upon their arrival, the brothers sought to settle themselves in Gravesfield, in the hopes of making a better life for themselves. To do this, they became witch-hunters, a practice common in Gravesfield at the time. At some point around this time, Caleb would carve for Philip a wooden toy mask, which the younger brother would often wear as they played together or while joining the other villagers in witch hunts.[2][3]
A memory portrait of Caleb following Evelyn to the Demon Realm.
Things changed for the brothers, however, when the two encountered an actual witch from the Demon Realm named Evelyn. Despite his profession as a witch hunter, Caleb was dazzled by Evelyn's magical abilities and developed a close bond with her, to the point where she eventually convinced him to follow her back to the Boiling Isles through a portal between the realms. Philip, however, believing his brother to have been led astray, followed them to the Demon Realm in pursuit.[2]
A memory portrait of a reluctant Caleb fighting with Philip shortly before his death.
After an uncertain amount of time, Philip would eventually find Caleb. Although the exact specifics of their reunion are unknown, Philip's memories show that he discovered Caleb had fallen in love with Evelyn, and that she had become pregnant.[4] This enraged Philip, and eventually, he confronted Caleb. Even though Caleb was compassionate towards his brother, things escalated until there was a duel between the two siblings, ending with the murder of Caleb at Philip's hand. This led to Evelyn immediately attacking Philip with her magic in revenge, although he managed to escape.[3][5]
Legacy[]
At some point, Caleb would have impregnated Evelyn with his child, and their descendants became the ancestors to the Clawthorne family.[1]
Apparitions of Caleb and the grimwalkers made from him.
Additionally, after Caleb's death, Philip began creating grimwalker clones in his late brother's image. After assuming the identity of the witch Belos, each grimwalker would serve as his right-hand man, aiding him in his mission to wipe out all witches and demons on the Boiling Isles. However, every one of the grimwalkers met a tragic end; some implied to have rebelled against Philip, thus leading him to kill them and create a new one in their place. The latest in this line is Hunter.[3][6]
Statues of Caleb and Philip in Gravesfield.
During this same time, in the Human Realm, the story of Caleb and his brother's encounter of Evelyn would enter local legend, with their disappearances from Gravesfield having been left a mystery. At some point, a statue of the two brothers was erected in the town square. Jacob Hopkins, then curator of the Gravesfield Historical Society, would briefly allude to the brothers' story while talking to Camila Noceda.[7] Later, Masha, Jacob's replacement, would recount the history of the Wittebane brothers as part of the Haunted Hayride event at the Gravesfield Halloween festival, during which they correctly insinuated the romantic nature of Caleb and Evelyn's relationship.[2]
Relationships[]
Philip Wittebane[]
A hallucination of Caleb seen by Belos.
In their youth, Caleb was close with his younger brother, Philip. As orphans, Caleb took on the role as Philip's caretaker, trying his best to raise and care for him in the absence of their parents. As adults, Caleb and Philip seemed to have remained close, as both worked together as witch hunters. However, whatever bond they shared came to a terrible end following their encounter with the witch Evelyn, with whom Caleb bonded with and followed back to the Demon Realm. Once Philip, who had ventured there as well to "rescue" Caleb, saw that he had instead fallen in love with Evelyn, he murdered his older sibling for "betraying" their mission as witch hunters. Based on his dialogue with the Collector, as well as Gus Porter using his magic amplifier in an attempt to calm Belos down in "King's Tide", Belos did not enjoy killing Caleb or the other grimwalkers, but does not express remorse for their deaths, instead contemplating viewing them all as traitors.
Evelyn[]
A memory portrait showing Caleb and Evelyn holding hands in the Demon Realm.
Evelyn was a mysterious witch Caleb met sometime during his adulthood in Gravesfield, with the two eventually falling in love with one another. Caleb first met Evelyn while she was disguising herself as a human, during which she recognized and was drawn to his more reasonable nature compared to the other villagers in Gravesfield, with the two developing a close friendship.[8] Despite his position as a witch hunter, Caleb remained close to Evelyn after she revealed her true nature as a witch, with him being dazzled by her displays of magic before later accompanying her back to the Demon Realm.
Once in the Demon Realm, their relationship would eventually become romantic with Evelyn becoming pregnant with his child. Sadly, their union was cut short by Caleb's death, with it being implied that after Caleb fell by his brother's hand, Evelyn chased Philip off in a vengeful rage, showing she was deeply saddened and distraught by his death.[3]
It is highly likely judging from the Haunted Hayride’s rendition of ‘Evelyn’ that it is truly a misnomer of Edalyn as the model had Eda’s signature hair and dress and because Eda traveled freely to the Human Realm.
Flapjack[]
A depiction of Evelyn showing a cardinal to Caleb.
Although not shown, it is implied that Caleb knew Flapjack, due to Belos crying Caleb's name upon seeing Flapjack, and Flapjack suggesting Hunter to use the fake name "Caleb" in Any Sport in a Storm.
Sightings[]
| Season 2 | ||||||||||||
| The Owl House Main Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| The Owl House Credits Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| 1. "Separate Tides": | Absent | 11. "Follies at the Coven Day Parade": | Absent | |||||||||
| 2. "Escaping Expulsion": | Absent | 12. "Elsewhere and Elsewhen": | Pictured | |||||||||
| 3. "Echoes of the Past": | Absent | 13. "Any Sport in a Storm": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "Keeping up A-fear-ances": | Absent | 14. "Reaching Out": | Absent | |||||||||
| 5. "Through the Looking Glass Ruins": | Absent | 15. "Them's the Breaks, Kid": | Absent | |||||||||
| 6. "Hunting Palismen": | Absent | 16. "Hollow Mind": | Pictured & Mentioned | |||||||||
| 7. "Eda's Requiem": | Absent | 17. "Edge of the World": | Absent | |||||||||
| 8. "Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Hooty's Door": | Absent | 18. "Labyrinth Runners": | Absent | |||||||||
| 9. "Eclipse Lake": | Absent | 19. "O Titan, Where Art Thou": | Absent | |||||||||
| 10. "Yesterday's Lie": | Pictured & Mentioned | 20. "Clouds on the Horizon": | Mentioned | |||||||||
| 21. "King's Tide": | Imagined | |||||||||||
| Season 3 | ||||||||||||
| The Owl House Main Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| The Owl House Credits Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| 1. "Thanks to Them": | Pictured & Mentioned | 2. "For the Future": | Imagined | |||||||||
| 3. "Watching and Dreaming": | Absent | |||||||||||
Behind the scenes[]
Name and basis[]
Caleb is a name of Biblical Hebrew origin. It is either a combination of the Hebrew words כָּל (all) and לֵב (heart), meaning "whole-hearted", or is related to the Hebrew word כֶּלֶב, meaning "dog". The name first entered English during the Protestant Reformation and was popular among English and American Puritains.
Caleb's surname, Wittebane, is a conjunction of "Witte", a Dutch surname meaning "white", and the word "bane", a term that refers to a scourge or tormentor, from Old English bana. The name "witte" may be a rendition of ƿiċċe, the Old English noun for "female witch".
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- Prior to his identity being fully revealed in "Thanks to Them", his existence and name were hinted to in previous episodes. In "Any Sport in a Storm", Flapjack suggested to Hunter the alias "Caleb Jasper Bloodwilliams", and when Belos confronts Hunter in "King's Tide", he sees Flapjack and angrily shouts "Caleb!" Caleb's appearance in "Hollow Mind", revealing his strong resemblance to Hunter, the Golden Guards, and the Wittebane statues in Gravesfield, further insinuated his connection to Philip.
- During Masha's recounting of the Wittebanes' history in "Thanks to Them", Caleb is depicted wearing a dark blue coat with gold buttons, nearly identical to the one worn by Philip in "Elsewhere and Elsewhen" and "King's Tide". Whether these are indeed the same coat, however, is unknown.
- The depictions of Caleb seen during Season 2 seemingly depict him as healthy and happy, whereas the depictions of Caleb in Season 3, such as Hunter's vision in "Thanks to Them" and Philip's hallucinations in "For the Future", show him with a much more emaciated and saddened appearance.
- Given the depictions of Belos' memory photos and the Wittebanes' history, Caleb is established to be the first human known to have visited the Boiling Isles.
- In a livestream follow-up to "Watching and Dreaming", it was indirectly confirmed by Dana Terrace that the Clawthorne family is descended from Caleb and Evelyn.[1]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Jones, Cissy (April 28, 2023). "The "watching and dreaming" PostHoot with the one and only Dana Terrace! (29:05)". Instagram.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Emmy Cicierega, Mikki Crisostomo, Madeleine Hernandez, Zach Marcus, John Bailey Owen (writers) and Amelia Lorenz, Bosook "Bo" Coburn (directors) (October 15, 2022). "Thanks to Them". The Owl House. Season 3. Episode 1. Disney Channel.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Madeleine Hernandez, John Bailey Owen (writers) and Amelia Lorenz (director) (April 23, 2022). "Hollow Mind". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 16. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Jones, Cissy (April 28, 2023). "The "watching and dreaming" PostHoot with the one and only Dana Terrace! (29:29)". Instagram.
- ↑ Mikki Crisostomo, Madeleine Hernandez, Zach Marcus, John Bailey Owen (writers) and Amelia Lorenz, Bridget Underwood (directors) (January 21, 2023). "For the Future". The Owl House. Season 3. Episode 2. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Zach Marcus, Dana Terrace (writers) and Bridget Underwood (director) (May 28, 2022). "King's Tide". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 21. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Dana Terrace, Molly Ostertag (writers) and Bo Coburn (director) (August 14, 2021). "Yesterday's Lie". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 10. Disney Channel.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Jones, Cissy (April 28, 2023). "The "watching and dreaming" PostHoot with the one and only Dana Terrace! (27:20)". Instagram.