The Owl House

""Welcome to the Owl House, where I hide away from the pressures of modern life... also the cops... also ex-boyfriends.""

- Eda

Meet 14 year old Luz Noceda (Sarah Nicole Robles), She lives in an average house in an average town and goes to an average school; but she’s doing badly in school.

Not that she’s disobedient or doesn’t want to learn; oh no. She loves to read, especially her favorite series of books, The Good Witch Azura. Problem is, Luz is a little too “creative” in her approach to learning. She acts as the lead role in the school’s production of Romeo and Juliet, using fake intestines for Juliet’s death scene; her art project includes live spiders. Finally, after using live snakes as a visual aide for a book report, the principal decides her overactive imagination has become too disruptive, and Luz is sentenced to a summer at the Reality Check "reform camp".

But no sooner does her mother drop her off at the bus stop does a strange owl steal one of her books, causing Luz to chase it through a mystic portal and into a fantasy world where all of Luz’s dreams are given life.

Or so it seems… The Boiling Isles may not be quite what she expected of a fantasy world.

She quickly meets the rebellious outlaw witch Eda (Wendie Malick), and her tiny and adorable demon roommate King (Alex Hirsch). Despite lacking any talent in actual magic whatsoever, Luz eagerly assumes the role of a witch’s apprentice, exploring the secrets - and braving the dire hazards - of this new world, making friends and trying, with difficulty, to find out where she belongs!

The Owl House is an animated fantasy/horror comedy series produced by Disney Television Animation and created by Dana Terrace, known as the creator of Duck Tales and Gravity Falls. It is often regarded as a Spiritual Successor to the latter show. The show premiered on January 10, 2020.

You can watch the first episode here. The show was renewed for a second season ahead of the series premiere, which debuted on July 11th, 2020,


 * An Aesop: Many:
 * Be yourself, reject conformity.
 * Nobody is truly The Chosen One; everyone's destiny is his own to fulfill.
 * All Myths Are True: Supposedly, all stories about mythical and fantastic creatures told by humans originated as a result of beings in the Demon Realm bleeding into Earth, including tales of vampires, gryphons, and giraffes.
 * Alpha Bitch: Amnity; she starts out as a typical one, but seems to be evolving into Lovable Alpha Bitch.
 * However, Boscha and Skara are still firmly in Alpha Bitch territory. Despite being part of the Posse, Amnity isn't all-too fond of them.
 * Ambiguous Situation: in addition to, Eda seems to be "ambiguously alive", sort of. Being decapitated or dismembered is, at most, an annoyance to her and she can recover from both easily, suggesting she's at least partially undead.
 * Whether the Emperor's Coven was behind sending the Greater Basilisk to attack Hexside or whether the Basilisk was a "lone wolf". The Coven denies it, but that doesn't stop Bump from "writing a very stern letter".
 * Ambiguously Evil: Several characters:
 * King talks about being a demon king who once led armies of such beasts, but currently he hasn't been seen doing anything truly evil; annoying, possibly. Whether he's even telling the truth about his past is debatable.
 * Principal Bump straddles the line between a Dean Bitterman who happens to be a wizard to an Evil Teacher. In his first appearance, he tried to dissect Luz to see if she was human; on the other hand, he was willing to admit Luz to the school later (after confirming Luz was human) so long as Eda undid all the damage she did when she was a student.
 * Amnity's siblings Edric and Emira are definitely on the darker side of the morality scale, but just how much is debatable. Their fondness towards Luz may be genuine, or they may just be using her as a tool in their schemes.
 * Emperor Belos, at least for now. While he seems to be an oppressive dictator, almost nothing is known about his motives or goals. Of course, given the small amount of info we do have on him, he doesn't look like someone you'd want to cross.
 * Amusement Park of Doom: The setting of "Really Small Problems". The rides include the Bumper Carcasses, Molar Coaster, and Scariss Wheel (sort of like a Ferris Wheel, but gives you lasting nightmares), games are living creatures that try to scam players (although Luz manage to get the skeetball game to relinquish its tickets by tickling it), and vendors sell Rotten Candy (it's like cotton candy) which the heroes actually use to their advantage more than once. All this the protagonists actually find enjoyable until recurring villain Tibbles shows up and tries to  feed them to his diminutive unicorns and manticores, in  front of an audience, no less. Worst of all, the place is run by Monster Clowns - who have their own "Fun Police" as security - who do not tolerate scammers like Eda. Unless, of course,  the scammers are working for them.
 * Animal Motif: Owls for Eda, obviously. Lilith and her henchmen have a raven-theme.
 * Author Avatar: The Conspiracy Theorist imp-like creature with the big nose is supposed to be a caricature of Dana Terrace, who is also the character's VA.
 * Bat Out of Hell: The Bat Queen is nasty and scary enough; looking after her nestlings quickly turns Eda into a Badly-Battered Babysitter.
 * The Bet: Eda is such an avid gambler that this Trope directs the plots of three different episodes:
 * Episode Three:
 * The Terms: If King proves he can be a better teacher to a slug-like creature than Eda is to Luz, Eda has to wear a dunce cap and live in the tool shed. If he can't, his name is officially changed to Mr. Wiggles.
 * The Results: King initially wins, Eda begrudgingly accepting the punishment, but once he runs out of food to feed the now-giant slug, it turns on him. Seeing as Eda saves his life as a result, they agree to forget the whole thing.
 * Episode Five:
 * The Terms: This bet is made by Luz and her rival Amity after the former challenges the latter to a Wizard Duel. If Luz wins, Amnity has to apologize to King for ruining his cupcake and admit - in public - that humans can become witches. Amnity wins, Luz has to give up learning magic forever, and to make sure she complies, places a Magically-Binding Contract on both of them.
 * The results: Eda and Lilth both cheat to help their respective proteges win, so Luz and Amnity are both disqualified. This leads to a real duel between Eda and Lilith, while Luz and Amnity have a heart-to-heart talk for the first time.
 * Episode 8
 * The Terms: Eda does a three-person Freaky Friday Flip on herself, King, and Luz (Eda becomes King, King becomes Luz, Luz becomes Eda) and states that whoever has the easiest time living with the new body and identity doesn't have to help clean the house.
 * The Results: All three lose. Eda is nearly turned into a lobotomized living doll by some Evil Old Folks who think King's body is cute, King is nearly killed by a group of teenagers after trying to get revenge on them with Luz's body, and Luz uses Eda's magic far too blatantly, getting herself arrested and nearly conscripted into the Emperor's Coven by Lilith. It's only via a series of Contrived Coincidences that the trio manage to find each other and change back. And they all have to clean the house, which by now, is much messier than before.
 * Beware the Cute Ones: Willow is a sweet, adorable kid, but she can use her plant-magic to create some rather ferocious-looking flower-monsters...
 * Bi the Way:
 * Big Brother Bully: Both of Amnity's older siblings are manipulative troublemakers who view Amnity as a killjoy and take out their irritation by humiliating her in the nastiest ways. Even worse, they think being family gives them permission to do it.
 * Bizarre Alien Biology: Luz meets a lot of magical beings who fit this Trope. To give one example, one of the girls at the slumber party in "Hooty's Moving Hassle" has a large vertical jaw on the top of her skull, a lolling tongue from this jaw giving an illusion of a hairstyle. For some reason, the animation actually makes this work, and it doesn't seem horrific in the least.
 * Butt Monkey: Downplayed with Hooty. He does seem to bear the brunt of abuse and insults from Eda and King, but he does get even now and then; he's their house and have to live inside him, after all.
 * Cain and Abel: Describes Eda and Lilith's relationship pretty well, although which is Cain and which is Abel depends on who you ask. Lilith has at least shown a desire for reconciliation with her sister, so long as it's on her terms and Eda joins her side.
 * Cheaters Never Prosper: In the episode where Amnity and Willow are introduced, Luz tries to help Willow pass her test by disguising herself (Luz) as an abomination. Unfortunately, her ruse is uncovered when Amnity sees her eat a sandwich (actual abominations do not eat) and Luz is nearly dissected as a result, Willow ending up with detention. Downplayed slightly, as this does convince Willow's parents to let her switch classes, which was the intent.
 * Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Each coven and class at Hexside can be identified by the color of their clothing or uniforms: Bard practitioners wear red, Plant magic members, green, Illusion, light blue, Oracles purple, Beast Keepers orange, Construction brown, Healing blue, Abominations lavender, Potions yellow, and Emperor's are gold. Oddly, Luz seems to be wearing several different colored versions of the Hexisde uniform in the preview to season 2, possibly showing her creative nature.
 * Cool Old Lady: Eda, definitely.
 * Cursed With Awesome: Members of the Detention Tract are troublemakers who are not allowed to learn magic; however, at least three of them know that the classroom has a secret door to a room that allows access everywhere in the school, letting them learn whatever courses they desire when the Apathetic Teacher who watches them falls asleep. It is later revealed that Eda used to do so after magically building the room. Bump likely gets rid of it later, but after Luz and those students save the day, they're allowed to study multiple courses, possibly even starting a new policy at Hexside.
 * Cute Witch: Every female student at Hexside; even Amnity has moments.
 * Death World: The Boiling Isles are not a nice place. Luz finds it hard to tell friendly or helpful occupants from ones that want to eat her (and the groups aren't mutually exclusive). The weather is hostile to pretty much everyone, the wildlife is dangerous... Not a place you'd want to live. Worse, it's A World Half Full where the folks in charge impose draconian laws that encourage conformity.
 * Deal with the Devil: According to Lilith, Belos can grant any favor or privilege desired to a member of the Emperor's Coven, and could easily cure Eda's curse if she consented to it. However, this also makes the beneficiary eternally indebted to Belos, the biggest reason Eda won't consider it.
 * Dragon-in-Chief: Emperor Belos (assuming he is, indeed, the Big Bad) has yet to be seen or become directly involved in the plot; until that happens, Lilith is the main antagonist by default.
 * Eccentric Mentor: Eda, definitely. in fact, some would say she's a lousy teacher, as she seems unable to truly teach Luz magic, although she does (maybe inadvertently) point Luz in the direction she needs to make her own discoveries.
 * Elephant Graveyard: Downplayed. The inhabited areas of the Boiling Isles are built on one skeleton, but it's a huge one. Who or what this giant was, how it died, or even if it's truly dead, is a mystery.
 * Evil Is Not a Toy: Much like the protagonists of Gravity Falls, Luz gets into a lot of trouble mishandling magic.
 * Fictional Document: The Good Witch Azura, Luz's favorite book series, the title character being a sort of Magical Girl heroine.The series has at least five titles. Somehow, whoever publishes it is able to market it in the Boiling Isles. (Or maybe it is published in the Boiling Isles and can be marketed on Earth.) Whatever the case, Eda hates the series, claiming its "flowery prose" is an insult to witches.
 * It's hinted that Amnity is a fan, and may have even cosplayed as the heroine when she was younger; in the episode "Adventures In The Elements", she also draws fan-art of herself with a handsome male character from the book. She also seems to compare Luz to Hecate (Azura's rival in the series); Luz seems to support this notion, as at the end of "Lost in Language", she gives Amnity the fifth book in the series, where Amnity and Hecate are shown to have a friendlier rivalry.
 * Fictional Sport: Grudgby, a popular sport at Hexside, formerly played by Bump, Eda, and Lilith, currently played by most of the younger main cast. It's very similar to rugby, but on a field with numerous magical hazards, and more of a contact sport. As Eda and Lilith demonstrate, it can be played one-on-one.
 * Fluffy Tamer: At Hexside, students sent to detention are thrown to a huge plant-like beast that traps the disobedient students in pod-like pseudopods and then uses brainwashing gas to "convince" them to behave. However, when Luz and Guz make it angry, Bump simply snaps his fingers to convince the creature to heel.
 * Food Fight: One of many hints that Eda and Lilith used to be closer than they are now, Principal Bump's files show Eda started one of these in the cafeteria after another student stole Lilith's lunch money, the ensuing melee causing several abominations to turn rogue.
 * Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Eda is usually depicted as the foolish one opposed to Lilith being the responsible one, although Eda does have her responsible moments and Lilith her foolish ones.
 * Friendly Enemy: Lilith honestly believes her quest to arrest and conscript her sister is For Her Own Good and would much rather Eda join the Emperor's Coven by choice rather than have to force her too. Eda, for her point, still cares deeply for Lilith, although exploiting Lilith's reluctance is not beneath her.
 * Hidden Agenda Villain: Many:
 * It's not known just why Belos is so intent on apprehending Eda. While having powerful servants is a benefit to any ruler, there has yet to be any clue as to what his actual goals are.
 * It is also not known for what reason the shadowy figure cursed Eda, and the scene at the end of "The Intruder" suggests he isn't done tormenting her.
 * Also, if the Emperor's Coven is indeed beside the Greater Basilisk's attack on Hexside (as Bump suspects they are) their motives for the attack are as yet unknown.
 * Hidden Villain: For now, Emperor Belos seems the biggest candidate for the show's Big Bad, and he hasn't been seen yet. There's also the villain who cursed Eda in the first place, who has only been seen as a sinister shadow. Assuming the two aren't the same person, although most fans of Terrace's work would find it odd if he made the plot that predictable.
 * Inspector Javert: Lilith. She's determined to bring Eda in, and is willing to forcibly conscript her into the Emperor's coven.
 * Amnity too, towards Luz, being something of the "Concerned Clair" type of The Stool Pigeon.
 * The Gambler: Eva seems unwilling to turn down any wager, no matter how trivial or how dangerous, and has a notebook full of the times she's made them with King and won.
 * Genius Loci: The eponymous Owl House is a living creature named Hooty, who can talk through an owl-shaped bust on the front door. Eda and King tend to get annoyed with him a lot.
 * Hate Sink: Deconstructed with Amnity. Her first appearance seems to be setting her up for this role, but she quickly gets Character Development with Hidden Depths as early as her second appearance, edging her into Lovable Alpha Bitch territory.
 * Hostile Weather: The Boiling Isles has plagues instead of weather, and it's hazardous to both humans and the natives. In the fourth episode, Luz witnesses a boiling rainstorm, prompting Eda and King to tell her that they have even worse conditions; like gore-nadoes, shale-hale, and painbows, which is sort of like a rainbow, but turns you inside out.
 * The Jailer: Warden Wrath is one, who arrests and locks up anyone he deems "weird". Of course, exactly what you have to do to be considered "weird" in the Boiling Isles is hard to say, given that the whole place is a Dimension of Weirdos. Long story short, he starts off the whole, "conformity is good, individuality is bad" attitude the villains as a whole have.
 * Karma Houdini: Piniet, the villain in the episode "Sense and Insensitivity" is a publisher who punishes clients who fail to meet their deadline by turning them into small cubes (and even steps on one of them when he's angry). He's also willing to use extortion to get a client to comply, kidnapping Luz to "persuade" her and King to write a sequel to King's first book. He not only gets no comeuppance at the end of the episode, he gets a client who he believes writes better than King.
 * Magical Academy: The Hexside School of Magic and Demonics; both Eda and Lilith are former students (Lilith graduating with honors, Eda being a dropout) now attended by the kids Luz befriends, and as of season 2, Luz herself.
 * Meaningful Name: Luz's last name - Noceda - literally means "she doesn't back down" in Spanish, which is fitting for her.
 * Noble Fugitive: While not truly evil, Eda is a wanted criminal, both for peddling snake-oil and refusing to join any coven. She boldly operates her business in a town where her Wanted Posters are hanging in plain sight.
 * Noodle Incident:
 * It's bad enough that a Humanoid Abomination like Warden Wrath has a crush on Eda, but King claims her last boyfriend was even worse. "Not my boyfriend!" insists Eda in reply.
 * The Stinger of "Something Ventured, Someone Framed" shows that Eda's school records have lots of things like this.
 * The pixie infestation that causes Hexside to be closed during "Really Small Problem". Willow starts to explain what happened to Eda, but King's antics drown her out to the viewers.
 * Lots of them in "Understanding Willow" regarding Willow and Amnity when they were younger. The one with the egg pit stands out, Amnity telling Luz that, "that one is kind of hard to explain".
 * The Nose Knows: The hall monitors at Hexside (possibly meant to be parodies of the Dementors) can smell "trouble", using this ability to find misbehaving students.
 * The Not-So-Harmless Punishment: In "Something Ventured, Something Framed", Luz first assumes being sent to detention won't be all that bad. Unfortunately, in Hexside, detention means being thrown to a giant, tentacled beast who traps the students in pods, and then applies brainwashing gas to "convince" them to behave.
 * Obviously Evil:
 * Warden Wrath, especially when he takes the mask off.
 * Piniet from "Sense and Insensitivity". Most viewers likely realized he was bad news long before King did.
 * The map-seller, also from "Sense and Insensitivity" was easy to identify as a con artist from the start; even Eda was onto him, only using the map he sold him on the off chance he was being truthful.
 * The Greater Basilisk in "The First Day" is even creepy when in disguised form.
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Eda's attitude towards Lilith; she rescues Lilith from a Giant Spider in "Senses and Insensitivity", claiming that if anyone is going to whack Lilith, Eda is going to be the one who does it.
 * Our Centaurs Are Different: Bizarrely played for laughs when Luz meets one with no head, his face on his chest.
 * Our Demons Are Different: King claims to be a deposed demon lord who has lost his powers; whether he is or not is for now, subject to debate. Whatever the case, he's willing to give Luz a few pointers on how to fight them, like telling her that their two weaknesses are purified water and and passive-aggressive comments. "Even demons can have inner demons," he claims.
 * Our Elves Are Different: Eda, Lilith, and most students at Hexide are called witchlings, and seem to have most traits of fantasy elves, including pointy ears and magical ability.
 * Our Homunculi Are Different: Abominations are jars of magical slime that can assume vaguely humanoid forms to act as magical servants. Presumably a profitable and lucrative profession for wizards, as Willow's parents insisted she take the class, even though she had no talent in it. Amnity also specializes in this school.
 * Our Werebeasts Are Different:
 * Our Vampires Are Different: Dottie and Roselle, two sweet-looking old ladies who run the Kitty Cafe are in fact vampires who kidnap cute creatures and brainwash them with constant babying. Unlike typical vampires, they aren't bothered by sunlight; it's not known what other traditional traits of vampires do or do not apply to them.
 * The Owl-Knowing One: Eda claims this is why she's called "The Owl Lady", although King claims its because she coughs up rat bones and Hooty claims its because she's attracted to shiny objects. While all that is true - and as a wizard, she is likely rather wise, if eccentric - the actual reason is she suffers from a curse that causes her to turn into a demonic, owl-like beast at night, making her far more like the other sort of owl.
 * Poisonous Friend: King seems to be turning into this quickly, his hubris and pride nearly leading him and Luz to their doom more than once.
 * Protagonist-Centered Morality: Luz is a Nice Girl on the surface and means well, but many times, she pursues her goals by cheating, lying, stealing, and other types of dishonesty. While Amnity might call her out on it a few times, she's Easily Forgiven by most characters and never truly held responsible. This, of course, tended to be a problem for the protagonists of Gravity Falls as well.
 * Power Limiter: One of the biggest plot points in the series involves the covens, which are sort of like guilds. Each specialize in a specific school of magic, the most powerful ones being : Bard,  Plants,  Illusion,  Oracle,  Beast Keeping,  Construction,  Healing,  Abominations,  Potions, and  Emperor's. When a wizard joins a coven - which is required by law - they receive a magical branding that prevents them from using any magic other than the coven's specialty. Eda refuses to join a coven, meaning she is not limited to one school of magic and is potentially one of the most powerful of sorcerers. Unfortunately, members of the Emperor's coven - like her sister - are also allowed to use all schools. They do have their own brand, however,  one that presumably ensures obedience.
 * Magical Academy: Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. Known classes include lessons on Potions, Plant magic, and Abominations. Somewhat Harmful to Minors given how they handle detention, but at least the principal lets Luz attend.
 * Malevolent Masked Man: The City Guards that are always after Eda wear bird-like masked, probably standard-issue for the Emperor's rank-and-file soldiers.
 * Seldom-Seen Species: The Greater Basilisk is believed to be extinct - the episode "The First Day" proves otherwise.
 * Really 700 Years Old: It's not known how old Principal Bump is but he's obviously many centuries old, because in "The First Day", he's mumbling, "only 300 years to retirement". If he is indeed a Witchling, this Trope might apply to Eda and Lilith.
 * The Rival:
 * Amnity to Luz, although it seems to be progressing from a hostile rivalry to a friendly one.
 * Eda and her sister Lilth have a love-hate relationship that goes back and forth.
 * Hexside has a rival school called Glandus High.
 * Sacred Hospitality: Eda is safe from the law at Hexside because Principal Bump is, in his own words, not a "snitch". Even if she did cause him a lot of trouble when she was a student.
 * Silver Fox: While of Vague Age, Eda is clearly an old woman, but far from your typical old hag. Luz even says she's “surprisingly foxy for her age”.
 * Shadow Dictator: Emperor Belos has yet to appear in public, and even relays orders to Lilith through his assistant.
 * So Proud of You: Eda has a weird idea of when she should be proud of her apprentice; the first time she has this reaction to Luz is when Luz does something that results in her face appearing on Wanted Posters. Later, she seems equally proud when Luz coerces her into teaching her a new spell by appealing to her pride.
 * Snake Oil Salesman: Eda is the Lovable Rogue type; one of the things she sells is literally called snake oil. "For oiling snakes", she claims. She also pilfers objects - mostly junk - from the human world and sells it as "Human Collectibles" for a high price.
 * Starter Villain: The first villain in the show was Warden Wrath, a Jailer villain with an unhealthy crush on Eda.
 * This Looks Like a Job For Aquaman: The Greater Basilisk is a malevolent beast that eats magic, and as a result, it is able to defeat the students and faculty with relative ease. However, it seems it cannot easily consume more than one type of magic at the same time, and finds trying to consume the mixed-magic assaults Luz and the members of the Detention Tract throw at it Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth.
 * Wanted Poster: Eda's are everywhere, and she displays one of them in her house with a sense of pride; she is very proud of Luz when she gets her first one.
 * Wild Magic: Eda practices this, claiming that using Wild Magic draws power from the natural magic of the Boiling Isles itself.
 * Weaksauce Weakness: Demons have two weakness that King (a demon himself) relates to Luz, purified water and passive-aggressive comments. "Even demons have inner-demons," he claims.
 * Worthless Yellow Rocks: Eda has an odd perception of what is valuable among the stuff she steals from the human world. In the first scene she appears, she throws away a golden chalice, considering it "garbage", but perceives a pair of novelty goofy-glasses as priceless.
 * Younger Than She Looks: While Eda has been stated to be the older of the two siblings, she seems a little too much older, and
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Most witchlings have green hair, although Amnity's brown roots suggest she dyes hers. The memory scenes in "Understanding Willow" show that her hair at least used to be completely brown.