 | |
| Myrtle Snow | |
| Continuity: | American Horror Story |
| Notability: | Supporting character |
| Type: | Witch |
| Gender: | Female |
| Race: | Human |
| Location: | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Associations: | Miss Robichaux's Academy |
| Status: | Formerly deceased |
| First: | "Bitchcraft" |
| Actor: | Frances Conroy Michelle Page |
Myrtle Snow is a quirky, honest witch with a penchant for truth spells. She is a character in American Horror Story primarily portrayed by Frances Conroy. She is the Head of the Witches' Council, and has a strong dedication towards the Coven of the Salem descendants
Biography[]
Myrtle Snow is an alumna of Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies, having attended with Fiona Goode, Bubbles McGee and several other witches during the time Anna Leigh Leighton was the Supreme. She and Fiona acted as rivals towards one another throughout their schooling.
Around 1961, a young child Myrtle is the first alumna of Academy to greet Spalding arrival, happy for having somebody else with her same age in school.
After the disappearance of Anna Leigh (the audience is aware that Fiona killed her), Fiona was questioned by the Council. She lies, claiming that she does not know where Anna Leigh disappeared to, and further encourages the Council's notion that Anna Leigh intended her to be the next Supreme, despite Anna Leigh telling Fiona before her murder that she was going to make sure Fiona would never be Supreme.
During a party held in the Academy to announce Fiona's appointment as Supreme Elect, Myrtle did not cheer with the rest of the witches and confides with a friend that, as the "Guardian of Veracity in the Vernacular", capable of detecting falsehoods, she detected Fiona lying to the Council. She whispers to Fiona that she suspected her of murder, but Fiona just laughed and used her telekinesis to drop Myrtle's glass onto the floor.
Knowing that Spalding would likely have aided Fiona in "cleaning up her mess," that night, Myrtle enchanted Spalding's tongue to prevent him from lying and summons the Council to question him. She confided this to her friend, but unfortunately, Spalding overheard. Out of love and devotion to Fiona, he cut out his own tongue before the Council could arrive. Myrtle noticed that Fiona was in the bathroom with Spalding before the headmistress could arrive, and suspected Fiona to be the one who cut his tongue out.
With no witnesses, Fiona managed to become the Supreme, while Myrtle became the next Head of the Witches' Council. She remained rivals with Fiona, whom she believes to be absent in necessary duties a Supreme should fulfill.
When Fiona's daughter, Cordelia, was abandoned at the Academy as soon as she began manifesting powers, Cordelia and Myrtle formed a very close bond. Myrtle later claimed that she was more of a mother to Cordelia than Fiona was, but did not have children of her own because of her devotion to the Coven.
After her second resurrection when the Coven (and the rest of the world) was threatened by the Antichrist Michael Langdon, Myrtle was instrumental in her downfall. She offered advice to Cordelia and the other witches, helped gather key allies such as Bubbles, and helped protect Mallory until she became the new Supreme and defeated Michael by traveling through time.
Appearance[]
Myrtle is a woman with the air of a traveled sophisticate, who is usually seen wearing haute couture. Her red orange crimped hair, legendarily associated with witches, formed a mane around her face in a yaki style, and she wore vintage cat eye glasses. Her black lace gloves often gripped a cigarillo on a long-stemmed holder.
Personality[]
As well as a being a gifted witch, Myrtle is also known for her penchant for high fashion, as defined when she is sentenced to burn at the stake following the murder of her fellow council members. She walks to the stake, black umbrella in hand, wearing a long, flowing red dress with matching gloves and heels, as well as a pair of sunglasses. As she is asked for final words, she screams out "Balenciaga" (while wearing Carolina Herrera), after the French fashion house founded in 1914 by Basque-Spanish designer Cristóbal Balenciaga. This was her tribute to couture, her ultimate love. She also violently criticized Cecily Pembroke before murdering her for her faux-pas regarding Pembroke's 40s-era hat, claiming that it would give her nightmares.
She is very loyal to the Coven, to which she devoted her life as she never married. Although she is not a teacher, she cares deeply about the witches that are part of it and also usually looks very proud when she presences the magical achievements of its members. She does not shy away from using violence to protect her witch sisters against any threat that may come to them, willing to kill anyone who will seek to do them harm and she is not above using magic for her own benefit under some circumstances.
Powers and Abilities[]
Myrtle was a powerful natural witch and was shown to have mastered five of the Seven Wonders. After being burned twice at the stake and resurrected both times, Myrtle claimed to have experienced an increase in her magical powers.
- Telekinesis: One of the Seven Wonders and one of Myrtle's favorites, the capacity to move objects with her mind. She used this power to open the doors of Madame Robichaux's Academy with a simple wave of her hand when she went with the council to interrogate the Coven witches.
- Divination: One of the seven wonders, the capacity to gain knowledge about an object, person, place, or event through indirect means.
- Lie Detection: As the guardian of truthfulness in the vernacular, Myrtle has the magical ability to know when lies have been told. She used this power in her youth to discover that Fiona Goode murdered the previous Supreme, Anna Leigh Leighton.
- Location Detection: The power to find out where someone or something is. Myrtle used this ability to find Kineros Robotics, where Jeff and Mutt work.
- Concilium: One of the Seven Wonders, the capacity to bend another individual's will and force them to do what the user desires. It is commonly known as Mind Control. Myrtle used this power when she suggested that it was getting late for Ariel and Baldwin, forcing them out of the room. Myrtle also claimed to have used this power while in Barcelona with her good friend Bubbles McGee to obtain expensive wine, forcing the seller to give it to her for free. Before the nuclear detonations, she controlled Kineros Robotics' security team to let her into the company and then into Ms. Venable to find your superiors, Jeff and Mutt.
- Pyrokinesis: One of the Seven Wonders, the capacity to generate and control fire. When Myrtle, Mallory and Cordelia were running from Michael so that Mallory could travel back in time to kill him, Mallory ended up being stabbed by a henchman from Outpost 3 and to defend her, Myrtle created bursts of flames in the man's clothes, which killing burned.
- Transmutation: One of the seven wonders, the capacity to instantly move from one location to another without having to physically move. It is commonly known as teleportation. Myrtle was shown using this power to escape along with Cordelia and Mallory before Michael could find them.
- Witchcraft:: Like all witches, Myrtle has an affinity for magic to cast spells and perform rituals. However, Myrtle, in particular, has demonstrated a high knowledge of ancient spells and rituals, due to her years of study and greater experience.
- Truth Spell: A spell to enchant someone's tongue so that they are forced to speak exclusively the truth, making them unable to tell lies. As a young girl, Myrtle used this spell on Spaulding's tongue to get him to confess that it was Fiona who had killed Anna Leigh Leighton.
- Preservation Spell: A spell used to preserve any biodegradable form to prevent its decomposition and preserve its shape even after many decades. Myrtle used this spell in her younger years, on Spalding's severed tongue.
- Restoration Spell: An advanced spell used to attach severed body parts. Myrtle used this spell to completely restore Cordelia's eyesight, attaching the eyes of her former colleagues, Cecil and Quentin after having killed them both. When questioned by Fiona about having used this powerful spell, Myrtle said that she had been able to cast it due to her increased post-resurrection powers.
- Analgesic Spell: A spell used by Myrtle on Cordelia to ease the pain of having her two eyes removed and putting new ones in.
- Ilusions Manipulation: The capacity to create, shape and manipulate illusions, causing others to see, hear, touch, smell, and/or taste things which do not actually exist, or cause them to perceive things differently from what they truly are. Myrtle used this power on Fiona Goode in an attempt to make her take her own life, showing her a possible future where her lover, the Axeman, leaves her to die alone of her cancer.
- Potions Knowledge: Affinity for a broad knowledge of "Green Magic", including conventional herbal medicine as well as more sophisticated botanical science and potion-making. Myrtle, in particular, is highly skilled at creating and using potent poisons that she can even mix into food and drink, which can be consumed by her victims without their knowledge. To kill Cecil and Quentin, Myrtle served them soup and drink with a paralyzing poison, prepared by herself with spores from a flower.
- Radiation Immunity: When Myrtle, Madison, and Cordelia arrived at Outpost 3, they walked freely in the outside world's toxic atmosphere caused by the nuclear bombs, without suffering any ill effects from the radiation. This is due to the healing properties of Louisiana mud. The trio of witches buried themselves in the swamp to protect themselves from the nuclear fallout for nearly two years, and as a result, gained immunity from the radioactive fallout.