Winx Club is a 2004 Italian animated fantasy/adventure series created by Iginio Straffi and produced by Rainbow S.p.A.. The one-hundred-and-four-episode series is aimed toward children between the ages of six and fourteen and has spawned an international franchise of toys, books, clothing, DVDs, and two CGI feature-length films.
A second movie is slated for winter 2010 with the working title "The Magic is Back." Reportedly, there will be a fifth season released in late 2010.
Season 1
The Winx Club in Season 1 (Left to right; Flora, Stella, Musa, Tecna, Bloom).
An ordinary girl from the planet Earth, Bloom lives a perfectly normal life in the city of Gardenia until she meets Stella, a princess from the planet Solaria, who is in trouble. Coming to Stella's aid, Bloom discovers her magical powers. Stella persuades Bloom to join Alfea, the best fairy school in all the realms.
At Alfea, Bloom forms the Winx Club, whose members are her four friends and roommates: Stella, Musa, Tecna, and Flora. Later in the series they encounter and befriend the specialists from Red Fountain: Prince Sky, Brandon, Riven, and Timmy. The specialists (called Heroes in the 4Kids version) eventually become love interests. The Winx Club girls also encounter their enemies, a trio of witches named the Trix: Icy, Darcy, and Stormy. They are seniors from Cloud Tower, a witch school equivalent to Alfea, in search of the power of the Dragon's Flame (called Dragon Fire in the 4kids version), the power that created the magic dimension. Supposedly there is a spark of the Dragon's Flame in Stella's magic ring.
The Trix's ruthless pursuit of the ring leads to many encounters and battles with the Winx Club. Bloom also begins to discover the secrets of her origins and her magic powers. She learns through the witches that the Dragon's Flame is inside her body and that she is the last princess of the destroyed kingdom of Sparks.
After revealing her origins, the witches steal the power of the Dragon's Flame. Icy, Darcy and Stormy use that power to conquer Clowd Tower, summon the Army of Decay, and destroy Red Fountain. Bloom realizes that she still has some of her powers and, after a rough battle, the Winx manage to beat the Trix. After the battle, the Trix are sent on a purification retreat in the Lighthaven Prison (also the Fortress of Light).
Season 2
After their summer vacation, the Winx Club returns to Alfea to begin their second year. They meet a new fairy, Layla, who joins the group and asks for their help in rescuing her pixie friends held hostage by Lord Darkar. The girls also meet another specialist, Helia, who becomes the love interest for Flora.
Lord Darkar wants to find out where the Pixie Village is in order to steal the piece of the Codex hidden there. There are four pieces of the Codex, one piece in each of four locations: Pixie Village, Red Fountain, Cloud Tower, and Alfea. Together, the four pieces open the portal to the Realm of Realix, where the ultimate power can be found. Lord Darkar breaks the Trix out of Lighthaven and enlists their help his quest to take control of the magical realms. Lord Darkar is actually the "Shadow Phoenix," and wields the dark-power equivalent to the Dragon's Flame. The combined powers of the Dragon's Flame and the Shadow Phoenix are required to open the portal to Realix. Darkar transforms Bloom into Dark Bloom in order to use the Dragon's Flame; however, Bloom's love for Sky is strong enough to overcome the dark transformation, and the Winx Club is able to defeat Darkar and the Trix.
Season 3
Banished to the Omega Dimension after the defeat of Lord Darkar, the Trix are able to escape with Baltor, a sorcerer partially responsible for the destruction of Bloom's home realm, Sparks. They choose to cooperate and they plan to invade several areas in the realm of Magix and seek vengeance on those who imprisoned them, stealing the magical treasures and power sources of each realm. The Winx Club begins its third year in Alfea and the girls learn about their unique Enchantix transformations, acquired by showing sacrifice.
Season 4
Season first aired on April 15, 2009 and was completed in November. Its US television premiere is scheduled for August 14, 2010(according to wikepdia), presumably on the CW4Kids.
Dubs all over Europe in many dominate languages, sans English, have been released since October 2009.
The Winx Club must now stop the Wizards of Black Circle (also known as Fairy Hunters), and protect the last fairy on Earth, Roxy. She is the fairy of animals and the seventh official member of the Winx Club.
When they reach Earth, they go to Bloom's house, and though try to look for work, thanks to Stella, they are unable to find any. However, with a little help, they start a business selling pets made from a box of stuffed animals. The store then doubles as the living space. About midway through the season, they meet Roxy, and she helps them earn their Believix, a more powerful transformation earned through a human believing in fairies. A few episodes later, when a member of the Black Circle, Gantlos, hurts Artu, Roxy earns her Believix, it is speculated much the same way Bloom earned her Enchantix.
Winx Club
Bloom: Bloom is the self-proclaimed leader of the Winx Club. Her adoptive parents are Mike and Vanessa. She discovered her dormant magical powers after coming to the aid of another fairy, Stella. Strong and caring, she is always available to help her friends. After arriving at Alfea, she discovers that her powers come from the ancient Dragon Fire, of which she is the seventh known guardian. She is the princess of her birth realm, Sparks, and the sole survivor of its destruction at the hands of the Three Ancient Witches. Her biological parents are King Oritel and Queen Miriam. She is the fairy and guardian of the Dragon Fire. She owns a blueish grey bunny named Kiko. Her pixie is Lockette, the pixie of mazes and portals. Her magical pet is Belle, the sheep. Her last name is 'Peters' according to the Winx Club novels published in North America. She loves Prince Sky of Eraklyon.
Stella: Stella is a talkative student who often gets average or low grades, but always pulls through with the help from her friends. She tends to be spontaneous and dislikes extensive planning, but she is able to recognize when her help is needed. Stella is also infamous amongst the Alfea community for blowing up a laboratory and being kept back a grade; thus, she is a year older than all the other Winx Club fairies. She has the power of the sun and the moon because her mother represents the moon and her father the sun, although she rarely displays skills involving the moon. She is the princess of the planet Solaria. Her pixie is Amore, the pixie of love. Her magical pet is Ginger, the poodle. She fell head over heels for Brandon.
Flora: Flora is a very kind-hearted and sensitive girl with a passion for nature and life. Happy and introverted, she is always a sweet, loyal friend and doesn't believe in hurting others or the environment. She is extremely fond of plants and nature, and her room consequently resembles a greenhouse. She has the power of flowers and plants and can understand the voice of nature. She comes from the planet Linphea (the Fifth Moon of Marigold in the 4kids dub). Her pixie is Chatta, the pixie of gossip. Her magical pet is Coco, the cat. She is also extremely fond of Helia.
Musa: Musa loves all forms of music. Although she tries to put up a tough front by isolating herself, and is often pessimistic, she is a loyal and caring friend. In spite of her laid-back nature, Musa has the best grades of the entire Winx Club (including, surprisingly, Tecna). She is pale, with blue-black hair and navy blue eyes. She is the fairy of music. In the 4kids dub, she is the princess of the Hamonic Nebula, while in the RAI continuity, she is from Melody, and she is not a princess. Her pixie is Tune, the pixie of manners. The pair often clash because Musa's laid-back nature and Tune's upright primness are often at odds. Her magical pet is Pepe, the bear. She is attracted to Riven.
Tecna: Tecna is always logical and rational, and initially has trouble expressing her emotions. She speaks in a technical, matter-of-fact manner. She is extremely intelligent and knowledgable about technology and mathematics. She enjoys playing video games. She can act cold and rational at times, but always tries to do the right thing. Unsurprisingly, she is the fairy of digital technology. She comes from the planet Zenith in the RAI dub and the Binary Galaxy in the 4kids continuity. In the official monthly comic available in Europe only, it is revealed that Tecna is the princess of her realm. Her pixie is Digit, who has similar powers. Her magical pet is Chiko, the chick. She mutually admires the techy Timmy.
Layla (Aisha): Layla (Aisha in the RAI dub) is athletic and very outgoing. Her skin is dark, with long, curly brown hair and blue eyes. She is the fairy of fluids, specializing in a substance called Morphix. She is the princess of the planet Tides (Andros in the RAI dub). Her pixie is Piff, the pixie of sweet sleep, who has the power to turn nightmares into sweet dreams. Her magical pet is Milly, the bunny. She is betrothed to Nabu.
Roxy: Roxy has power over animals. At the beginning of season 4, she was thought to be the last fairy on Earth. Roxy has waist-length, hot pink hair with yellow tips, and eyes of violet. She also lives in Gardenia, just like Bloom. She is described as out-going. Her father owns the Frutti Music Bar, where she works. She owns a pet dog, Artù, whom she loves very much. It is later revealed that her mother is Morgana, Queen of the Earth fairies. Roxy is the seventh official member of the Winx Club.
The Trix
The enemies of the Winx Club are an evil trio of teenage witch sisters who attended the Cloud Tower School for Witches (only in the first season, after which they got expelled), which rivals Alfea. They are referred to as the Trix in the all dubs outside of the 4kids English.
Icy: The leader of the trio. Her name refers to her powers of ice. She is quite charismatic. She despises the Winx Club, especially Bloom, and almost outright murderous when Bloom is directly involved. She is seen as the most powerful of the three. She has long, white hair tied up high on her head. She wears extremely dark or extremely light blue and white. In the monthly comics, she possibly had genuine affections for childhood friend Darko, the son of a mafia head in Magix.
Darcy: Darcy works with all forms of darkness, as her name suggests ("Darcy" meaning "dark" in Gaelic). She is the smartest of the Trix. She enjoys tormenting "pathetic pixies". In season one, she is most aggressive towards Musa because Musa was interested Riven, who was Darcy's boyfriend in the first season. She has long, dark brown hair with blond bangs swept to the side of her face. She wears purple and interacts with boys more than all of her other sisters. In the first season, she used Riven to help defeat the Winx and later, abandoned him. Therefore, she plays a very important role in the first season. She is less aggressive than her sisters (especially Stormy).
Stormy: Seen as the youngest of the trio, her powers involve wind, storms, and weather. She has the shortest temper of the group and is prone to violent outbursts. She is most aggressive towards Musa in season 2. She has dark purple, short curly and quite frizzy hair that looks like a storm has been through it with mauve bangs. She often does not think before she does something. She secretly believes she is more powerful than her older sisters Darcy and Icy. She wears hot pink/dark purple. She is the most aggressive sister of the trio.
The Specialists
The Specialists are a group of students who attend an all-boys school near Alfea, Red Fountain School for Heroics and Bravery. Several Specialists have become the boyfriends of the Winx girls.
Sky: The prince and heir apparent of Eraklyon at the beginning of the series and now king, he feels stifled by his position. However, he has a strong sense of duty that sometimes causes conflicts, be it with Riven or Bloom. He has medium blond hair and is Bloom's boyfriend. He was once engaged to Diaspro but broke it with her to pursue Bloom. He still has a friendship
Brandon: Sky's squire, a great swordsman and ladies' man. He is sometimes conceited like Stella, a reason why they are a good match. He has short brown hair. He is Stella's boyfriend.
Timmy: He acts as the geek of the group sometimes, from a long line of scientists. He has short ginger hair, wear glasses and is Tecna's boyfriend. He is an extremely good marksmen.
Riven: A lone wolf, very competitive and good at sports, he sees himself as Sky's rival. He has short spiked burgundy or dark pink hair and purple eyes. He is seen as a chauvinist by definition because he has found very few reasons to trust woman, i.e. his mother abandoning him when he was young and Darcy and Mandragora using him in season one and the first movie to impede his friends' quest. He is Musa's on-and-off boyfriend.
Helia: An artistic student, he is a great pilot and a pacifist. His uncle/grandfather, Saladin, is the headmaster of Redfountain. He has long blue hair tied into a loose ponytail in season two and three which is then later cut to sport flicky bangs, not tied at all. He is also very romantic and is not shy about directly speaking about his opinions. He is very good at using laser string glove (a fictional weapon in the show) and tries to help everyone with it. He is Flora's boyfriend. He was the top student in Redfountain until he decided to quit and dedicate his life to nature and poetry. He has rejoined Redfountain now.
Nabu: Nabu is the prince of an unknown kingdom on the planet Andros (4Kids: Realm of Tides) whom is the betrothed to Layla and is a wizard. He ran away from his kingdom to see what she was like, but was caught and mistaken for an enemy at first. Not wanting to tell Layla who he really was, he went under the name "Ophir" for a time until later on, when he finally told Layla the truth because he'd fallen in love with her. He is officially not a real specialist as he does not attend Red Fountain but he is often seen accompanying the other specialists.
Locations
The Realm of Magix
The Realm of Magix is an alternate universe where most of the series unfolds. It is also the name of a city in that universe. It is an enchanted and highly technologically-advanced universe of hospitable planets populated by fairies, witches, heroes, and monsters.
Alfea
The Alfea School for Fairies is a girl's boarding school for fairies in training. The Winx girls met and reside here and have a close relationship with its headmistress, Ms. Faragonda. At Alfea, fairies learn to fight evil, help their planets, or, in many cases, become queens of their planets.
Alfea represents one of the Three Points of Magic, the others being Cloud Tower and Red Fountain.
The school is horseshoe-shaped, with the open end facing south. At that end is the road that leads to the City of Magix, as well as the other schools. The wings have two levels, and according to the comic, a basement level divided into many rooms. These are used for storage.
The school is surrounded by the Park. It is fenced, and each end has a gate. Access can also be had through openings between the wings and the Admin Building. A trail leads from one gate to the other. Outside the fence is the Dark Forest.
The Quad is the open area of the horseshoe. The open end has a fence with a single gate that lets out at the bus stop. There are paths between the wings here, as well as benches and the Wishing Well. In the 1st season the Well was used to access the tunnel to Cloud Tower.
The East Wing is the dormatory, and the original five Winx Club members shared a suite with a common room on the upper floor. Layla shared a room with Frances in another part of the building. Teacher's Quarters are in this wing as well. The tower at the end of the wing contains the Assembly Room that doubles as a testing area. On the Day of the Rose Musa went to the top to be alone and think. She could see Magix from her vantatge point. This tower was destroyed by the Army of Decay, and in the 2nd season was restored and renamed the Dragon Fire Tower. An open observation deck with seats is on the other end of the building.
The West Wing is where the classrooms are, as well as the laboratory Stella destroyed in her first year. Its tower contains the Magical Reality Testing Chamber. Prof. Wizgiz's classroom is closest to the tower. It has large windows and an observation area above. Bloom watched her friend's graduation ceremony from the observation deck on this wing.
The Administration Building is at the top of the horseshoe, the most northern point of the castle. Faragonda's office is above the entrance, and faces over the Quad. On the ground level is the Dining Hall that doubles as the Ballroom. The Museum of Magic seen in the 4th season is beneath the Admin Building and accsesable only through Faragonda's office.
Cloud Tower
Cloud Tower is a young girls' boarding school for witches in training, and for most of the first season, it was the residence for the Trix witches. At Cloud Tower, the witches learn about witchcraft. After raising the Army of Decay, the Trix took over Cloud Tower. Ms. Griffin is their headmistress. It is later revealed in Season 2 that she is friends with Ms. Faragonda, and in Season 3 that she, Saladin and Faragonda are the Company of Light.
Red Fountain
Red Fountain is a boys' boarding school for the next heroes, one magical forest away from Alfea. It teaches fighting and the use of technology. The Red Fountain boys are taught how to go on dangerous missions and to fight for their respective planets. Red Fountain and Alfea have a close relationship, and Miss Faragonda and Saladin have a long history that involves Bloom's past.