Tyvar Kell

Tyvar Kell
Details
Race	Elf Formerly Planeswalker
Birthplace	Skemfar, Kaldheim
Lifetime	Mending Era-present
Relatives	Harald (brother)
Colors
Center: Currently:
Sources
Creating Tyvar Kell

Tyvar Kell, Prince of Kaldheim,^[1] is an elf and former planeswalker.^[2][3]

Appearance and characteristics

The younger brother of King Harald, uniter of Kaldheim's two groups of elves, Tyvar is a confident, charismatic, and pale-skinned wood elf. He is short and sports a muscular frame and long, braided auburn hair. He rarely wears a shirt, exposing his powerful physique and distinctive tattoos of Koma, the "cosmos serpent" of Kaldheim, whom all elves possess a shared reverence for. The tattoo's twin dagger shapes and the double-bladed sword he fights with each represent the snake's fangs. He loves to boast, always on the hunt for glory and the admiration of his peers. When he planeswalks, he arrives with the blare of a war horn.^[4]

Tyvar is a committed braggart who dreams of glory and having his stories told alongside the sagas of old. Though he's certainly preoccupied with building his legend, Tyvar has a peculiar relationship with fame. After an epic battle, he's just as likely to sing the praises of his allies as he is to brag about his achievements. He's a classic extrovert at heart who enjoys the camaraderie shared among warriors. He actively seeks out allies willing to fight by his side and share a drink to celebrate their glorious victory afterward. Tyvar is a formidable close-combat fighter. His weapon of choice is a double-bladed sword he wears on a bronze bracer strapped to his arm.^[1]

Tyvar can transmute natural substances (including his own body and the bodies of those around him) into other close-by natural materials, letting him use the environment to his advantage in combat in a special way. Deeply flexible, this ability greatly helps with improvising during a battle; he might coat himself in stone or thorns for protection, or in the inverse cool molten rock to a solid or make nettles sprout from the ground beneath his foes. Tyvar's abilities are very flexible but limited by what kinds of natural terrain are immediately at hand. This makes him a natural improviser in combat, and he relishes the creativity that battle requires. Tyvar's powers aren't limited to himself, he can also share these buffs with his allies — although doing so suppresses their magical abilities.^[5]

He has stated his power works differently depending on the plane he is on. He also isn't always aware of how his power will work until having tried it. Kaya Cassir notes that his powers are that of a transmuter, but unlike one she has ever met. When he used his powers on New Phyrexia, it emitted a plantlike smell that Kaya recognized as that of Kaldheim air.^[6] Tyvar is primarily green-aligned but has access to black mana.

Tyvar lost his spark following the Phyrexian invasion, but this hasn't changed his character.

History

Kaldheim

Tibalt (disguised as Valki) visited Harald and advised the King to prepare his army for the coming war. Suspicious of this "Valki", Tyvar began to follow and investigate the god through the realms. When Tyvar arrived at Gnottvold, he found Kaya surrounded by Torga trolls woken by Tibalt. The elf helped Kaya by defeating the trolls, turning them into stone. After Tibalt escaped to Immersturm, he opened an omenpath to that realm. At that moment Kaya discovered a small hedron from Zendikar hanging around his neck. Tyvar had believed Zendikar to be a distant realm from Kaldheim itself, and Kaya had to explain that he was a planeswalker. Together the two decided to work to investigate and stop Tibalt's plans.^[7]

The pair followed Tibalt to Immersturm where they were accosted by a couple of demons. Because of this, they were unable to prevent Tibalt from creating a Doomskar. Led by Varragoth, thousands of demons streamed through a giant rift in space to attack another realm. Kaya felt defeated, but Tyvar persuaded her to stay and fight.^[8]

In Bretagard, Tyvar, Kaya and the leaders of the Clans were advised by Alrund to take the Sword of the Realms to Halvar, so that the god of battle could end the Doomskar. Mounted on a giant raven Tyvar, Kaya, and Arni flew toward Halvar, but near the destination, they were attacked in midair by the demon Varragoth who wanted the Sword for himself. Kaya used her powers to save her companions from certain death, but they ended up falling close to the Dread Marn, Karfell's army. Arni stayed behind to slow down the zombies while the two planeswalkers would take the Sword. In the middle of the way, Tyvar heard the sound of the horn of Skemfar's army and separated from Kaya to warn his brother of what was happening. Tyvar explained the situation to Harald, who decided to help fight the invading army and help deliver the Sword to Halvar. Near the location of Halvar, Kaya was attacked once again by Varragoth but was saved by the elves. While Tyvar and the army of elves fought the demons and zombies, Harald helped Kaya to reach Halvar. Tyvar used his transmuting powers to strengthen his allies and hinder opponents and tried as hard as possible to stop Varragoth, but the demon was only stopped by Kaya who cut the demon's throat with one of the axes Tyvar had made for her. After the great battle and the end of the Doomskar, Tyvar met Kaya and praised her for killing Varragoth and promised that the skalds would not forget any detail of this feat when telling this saga. He told Kaya that he now was ready to walk the Multiverse and help those in need on other planes.^[9]

Against New Phyrexia

Tyvar answered Jace Beleren's call for help against New Phyrexia. On Ravnica, his habit of not wearing shirts left an impression on Chandra.^[10]

As part of the planeswalker strike team to deactivate Realmbreaker, Tyvar travelled to New Phyrexia.^[1] Here, he learned to protect himself with hexgold.

The team of planeswalkers descended with Melira to the Dross Pits, where Elspeth provided them with Halo to counteract the effects of the Necrogen. However, Jace inexplicably reacted adversely to the potent elixir and collapsed.^[11] After recovering, Jace's mind was focused on Vraska, whom he perceived to need help. Abandoning the group, he set out to find her. Because he carried the Sylex, the complete group set out after him.

Finding Vraska in Sheoldred's Coliseum, they found she was heavily wounded and already infected with Phyresis. Too late to save her, Jace chose to stay behind with her and relive their happy moments on Ravnica in his mind. Lingering too long, Vraska succumbed to the Phyrexian influence and infected Jace in turn. The others tried to escape but were quickly overwhelmed by the black Phyrexians. Nahiri, who was also infected, decided to sacrifice herself for the greater good. With a mighty magical blast, she exploded the Coliseum and dropped it with all remaining planeswalkers on the Fair Basilica. Nearer to their goal, the infected Jace rejoined them and volunteered to bring the Sylex to the Seedcore.^[11] Creating a hexgold shield, Tyvar protected the group in the Mycosynth Gardens.

On the way to the Seedcore, the strike team was confronted by the compleated Ajani and Tyvar's old nemesis Tibalt. Kaito, Kaya, and Jace took the Sylex to the Seedcore while Tyvar confronted the two Phyrexian planeswalkers alongside Elspeth. While she fought Ajani, Tyvar engaged Tibalt in a rematch, ultimately claiming victory by stabbing him through his chest cavity with his barbed tails.^[12] After Tibalt and Ajani were dispatched, Elspeth and Tyvar rejoined their comrades, only to see Elspeth impale Jace with Luxior and disappear alongside the Sylex. He rallied Kaya and Kaito, the two remaining members of the team, but his inspirational speech was interrupted by the arrival of Elesh Norn, Tamiyo, and a newly compleated Nissa Revane. The planeswalkers defiantly told Norn they would never join her, but in response, she activated Realmbreaker and began the interplanar Phyrexian invasion.

Invasion of the Multiverse

After the three surviving planeswalkers witnessed Nahiri being sent to Zendikar to conquer her homeplane, they were able to escape.^[4] Norn wanted them to tell their allies of their inescapable fate. Recounting their tale to Liliana Vess, Chandra Nalaar, and Wrenn, Tyvar's characterization of the planeswalkers' compleations as noble sacrifices angered Vess.^[13]

During New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse, Tyvar joined his brother Harald to lead the defense of Skemfar — and later all ten realms of Kaldheim — against the intruders.^[14] He engaged in single combat with a massive, porcelain-plated, eyeless Phyrexian serpent, emerging victorious with the serpent's head after a five-minute underwater battle.^[15] In the aftermath of the Invasion, Tyvar was desparked in the Great Desparkening.

A year and some months after the invasion, Kaya, who had retained her spark, visited Kaldheim, and Tyvar invited her to hunt dire bears with him. After spending a few weeks on Ravnica solving the Murders at Karlov Manor, she took him up on the invitation.^[16]

On Duskmourn

Tyvar joined Kaito Shizuki, Niko Aris, the Wanderer, and Zimone Wola in their efforts to find and save Nashi from the plane of Duskmourn.^[17]

As their group delved into the House, they discovered that it was shifting its layout, making navigation increasingly complex.^[18] When Tyvar impulsively ran towards a distress signal that turned out to be a trap, Zimone followed to pull him back, only to find that their path had been blocked by a wall where a door had been. The two were separated from the rest of the group and found themselves in an enormous, towering library that seemed to shift whenever they looked away. Despite the disorienting surroundings and Zimone's warnings about the labyrinth's trickery, Tyvar forcefully breached a wall to find a stairway. While he ascended, Zimone remained behind, using her knowledge to study the library's books. However, the top of the staircase took Tyvar back into the same room he had left. They were forced to leave the library when they were attacked by a cellarspawn.

Zimone eagerly delved into the library's occult books, seemingly unconcerned with the dangers around them.^[19] Tyvar, feeling out of place and protective, kept watch over her. Suddenly, the library's environment began to warp, and a grotesque, spider-like creature emerged from the twisting space, attacking Tyvar. Despite his efforts to defeat it using his transmutation, the creature regenerated, forcing Tyvar and Zimone to flee deeper into the library to escape the relentless threat.

Zimone and Tyvar fled through the labyrinthine house, pursued by the cellarspawn that suddenly stopped following them.^[20] As they rested, an apparition of Zimone's deceased mentor, Dean Kianne, appeared, attempting to lure Zimone into her grasp. Tyvar, suspicious, protected Zimone, and the phantom revealed itself as another trick of the house. Tyvar was briefly disemboweled by the horror, discharging his fateshifter, and used his magic to temporarily disguise them as part of the house, allowing them to evade further threats. However, this camouflage eventually began to transform their minds, leading Zimone to realize it was consuming them, blending them into the House itself. After discharging her fateshifter, she convinced Tyvar to release the disguise, and they continued their escape, seeking a way out before the house could consume them entirely.

When Zimone and Tyvar encountered Marina Vendrell in the House, she still appeared as a teenage girl, seemingly unaware of the true state of her surroundings or the passage of time.^[21] The House responded to her presence in unusual ways, presenting a normal, peaceful environment when she was near. However, when confronted with the reality of what had happened, Marina became distressed and defensive, denying any wrongdoing. As she reacted, the House began to shift back to its nightmarish form, indicating her deep connection to the entity of the House. Zimone and Tyvar managed to retrieve Marina's diary, which confirmed the extent of her involvement in the House's transformation. Through her actions, Marina had enabled Valgavoth to grow and consume everything around him, turning the house into a living entity filled with darkness and horror. It became clear that Valgavoth had effectively taken over the entire plane, leaving no outside world untouched by his reach.

After reaching the Cult of Valgavoth's ceremonial chamber, Tyvar and Zimone rescued Nashi, Niko, and the Wanderer, who had been captured.^[22] They fought off Valgavoth and the cultists, giving Nashi time to retrieve the memory scroll. As they ran away, Valgavoth blocked their way, but Kaito, who had retreated to Ravnica, used Alquist Proft's magic to open an artificial Omenpath from Ravnica to Duskmourn, which the group used to escape.

In the aftermath of the expedition, Tyvar accompanied Zimone to her home plane of Arcavios, curious about the athletics at her school, Strixhaven University.^[22]

Artifacts acquired

• A small hedron worn on a necklace.
• A piece of hexgold.
• A fateshifter from Aminatou, extinguished when he was killed by a cellarspawn on Duskmourn.^[17][20]

Trivia

• Tyvar appeared in the teaser trailer for Kaldheim.^[23]
• In the video game Magic: The Gathering Arena, Tyvar is voiced by Eric Tiede.^[24]
• In the story for Phyrexia: All Will Be One, Tyvar's weapon is described as being strapped to his left arm, while all of his art depicts it on his right.^[1]
• In Duskmourn: House of Horror, Tyvar filled the horror trope of the Jock.^[25]

Planes visited

Planeswalkers met

Gallery

• 
  3D model of Tyvar.
• 
  Tyvar Kell in the Kaldheim teaser.
• 
  Closeup of Tyvar.
• 
  Tyvar Kell variant art.
• 
  Tyvar is King Harald's brother.
• 
  Tyvar, along with other planeswalkers and Mirran survivors, launches a final assault on New Phyrexia.
• 
  Desparked on Kaldheim.

Story appearances

In-game references

Represented in:

Associated cards:

Depicted in:

Quoted or referred to:

References

v t e Planeswalkers   Planeswalker Types Ajani Goldmane Aminatou Angrath Arlinn Kord Ashiok Basri Ket Nicol Bolas Calix Chandra Nalaar Comet Dack Fayden Dakkon Blackblade Daretti Davriel Cane Deborah Thomas Geyadrone Dihada Domri Rade Dovin Baan Elspeth Tirel Estrid Freyalise Garruk Gideon Jura Grist Guff Huatli Jace Beleren Jared Carthalion Jaya Ballard Jeska Kaito Shizuki Karn Kasmina Kaya Cassir Kiora Koth of the Hammer Liliana Vess Lukka Nahiri Narset Niko Aris Nissa Revane Ob Nixilis Oko Quintorius Kand Ral Zarek Rowan Kenrith Saheeli Rai Samut Sarkhan Vol Serra Sivitri Scarzam Sorin Markov Tevesh Szat Tamiyo Teferi Akosa Teyo Verada Tezzeret Tibalt Tyvar Kell Ugin Urza Venser Vivien Reid Vraska Vronos Will Kenrith Windgrace Wrenn Xenagos Jiang Yanggu Mu Yanling Crossover Bahamut Ellywick Tumblestrum Elminster Lolth Minsc Mordenkainen Tasha Zariel Non-eternal Abian B.O.B. Byode Duck Dungeon Master Ersta Inzerva Luxior Svega The Wanderer You Related By Format Venser Scale   Lore Planeswalkers in lore only Ā The Adventurer Altair of Coloni Arzakon Azor Baltrice Bo Levar Bolar Boragor Brand Chaney Crucius Daria Demonic Leviathan Draktha Dyfed Embereck Eskil Faralyn Fatima Feroz Garth Gerheart Greensleeves Grenfell Mor Grinth "Icy" Isona Maive Kenan Sahrmal Kento Khazi Krim Kristina of the Woods Kuthuman Leshrac Liana Manatarqua Masrath Meshuvel Mezlok Mindrel Parcher Platon Rafthrasa Ramaz Ravi Sengir Ravidel Sandruu Slobad Sifa Grent Sylvene Taishiar Taysir of Rabiah Tempé Tessebik Thomil The Thorn The Traveler Tyreus The Unluckiest Vaash Vroga Vram Worzel Yawden Affiliations Ancients Gatewatch Infinite Consortium Nine Titans Sages of Minorad The Three Tolgath Events Great Magus War Igniting Mending Desparkening Colorshift Planeswalker War War of the Spark Related Spark Aetherspark Multiverse Universewalker