Sprite

The Kernelsprite is an entity released when a Sburb player first opens their Cruxtruder. At first, Kernelsprites are nigh-on-useless, unintelligible balls of light (the Kernel). In order to be useful, they must be prototyped, which involves dropping an object (that gets absorbed indefinitely) into the Kernelsprite. These objects' characteristics determine the sprite's personality and abilities. The Kernelsprites can be prototyped in multiple ways: According to Davesprite, a properly prototyped Kernelsprite is given access to a wealth of knowledge about Sburb, but there are apparently limits on what a player's Kernelsprite can tell them and when, and Kernelsprites are supposed to be coy in nature. Davesprite, though, is an exception to the rule. While it is suggested that the Kernelsprite must be prototyped in order to be useful in any way, it may be possible to complete the game without ever actually prototyping the Kernelsprite, if someone knew all the rules of the game beforehand. However, it is most certain that we will never see this happen, as all the Homestuck Kids have or are going to prototype their Kernelsprites. Kernelsprites cannot accompany the players they're guiding through the first gate. According to Davesprite, Sburb players unlock the power to have their Kernelsprites accompany them through the gates at a later point in the game.
 * Twice before entering the Medium
 * Once before, once after
 * Twice after
 * Once, either before or after
 * Never

Traits and Likenesses
Though only five Kernelsprites have been seen, they share a few odd characteristics. The Kernelsprites all seem to have two facial features, not following the gag of the guardians. Part of their prototyping involves something that has died. Part of their prototyping seems to involve a doll. Kernelsprites seem to suffer from a chronic injury.
 * John's Kernelsprite, Nannaquin, has glasses and a mouth showing two teeth.
 * Rose's Kernelsprite, the Eldritch Jaspers, seems to break the rule, with two eyes, a nose, and a smiling mouth. However, as the nose and mouth are connected, they could be considered to be one feature.
 * Dave's Kernelsprite, the crow, has two closed eyes and a beak. The Davesprite has sunglasses and a mouth.
 * Jade's possible Kernelsprite, her Grandpa, has glasses and a fancy moustache.
 * CarcinoGeneticist's Kernelsprite has four eyes and a pair of mandibles.
 * John's Kernelsprite was accidentally prototyped with John's cremated Nanna's ashes.
 * Rose's Kernelsprite, Jaspers, was taxidermically preserved by Rose's Mother after his body washed up on the river that runs through their manor.
 * Dave's Kernelsprite was prototyped with the Rambunctious Crow he killed, because Jade was asleep and therefore being illogical/emotional and felt pity for the dead bird.
 * Jade's possible Kernelsprite, her Grandpa, is dead, with his body being stuffed and taxidermically preserved.
 * Karkat's Kernelsprite was prototyped with a crab, which was probably formerly dead.
 * John's Kernelsprite was prototyped with his birthday present, the Harlequin Doll, which had been maimed and had a fake arm attached at the time of prototyping.
 * Rose's Kernelsprite was prototyped with the Eldritch Princess doll.
 * Dave's Kernelsprite was prototyped with Lil Cal; Lil' Cal was torn into pieces during his battle with Bro. This time around, Future Dave prototypes the sprite with himself, and leaves Past Dave all his phat l3wts. Lil' Cal is still mangled.
 * Jade's Kernelsprite may be prototyped with one of the Distinguished Houseguests in the foyer (but her Grandpa could also be called a doll, since he is stuffed.).
 * Due to John hurling glass shards at the doll that was used for prototyping, Nannaquin has only one arm, a scarred eye, and even a damaged hat.
 * Rose's Kernelsprite has no visible injury as of yet, but as it was only recently seen, that may change. It is possible, however, that Eldritch Jaspers' tentacles and the suckers on his face are the injury, as the Eldritch Princess doll did not originally have these and they were instead added by Rose.
 * Dave is unable to remove his sword from the crow before it gets prototyped, resulting in his Kernelsprite permanently having the sword stuck inside it. Lil Cal is also used, and he is already sliced into several pieces. Oh no, there is no way in hell we're using him again.
 * If Jade's Grandpa is used in her Kernelsprite, he has stitches holding his taxidermy-preserved body together. Adding to this, each of the Distinguished Houseguests seen so far has a modification such as a hat.

John's Kernelsprite
John Egbert's Kernelsprite is initially prototyped with his Dad's birthday present, the Harlequin Doll, giving it a mangled face and a fake arm. It speaks in complete gibberish, though. When the Sburb meteor threatened John's home and he escaped into The Medium, the Kernelsprite "hatched" into three parts, a black orb, a white orb, and a ghostly looking Harlequin, aka the 'Sprite'. The black orb spiraled off of John's house, which is floating above his planet, and vanished beneath the clouds, coming to rest in an orb atop a spire in "a kingdom entrenched in darkness." The white orb floated into the sky and left behind a trail of Sburb logos, known as The Seven Gates, eventually coming to rest in a similar orb-topped spire in "a kingdom basking in light." Rose and John attempted to finish prototyping the Kernelsprite, first using some Betty Crocker cake mix, then using Colonel Sassacre's book (to create a Colonelsprite). Both times the Kernelsprite avoided being prototyped, due to its trickster nature. It was then accidentally prototyped with the ashes of John's Nanna, whose sacred urn was toppled following the dropping of Colonel Sassacre's text. It evaded John after that, owing to the trickster nature of its harlequin component. It has only recently revealed itself through the classic bucket on top of the door trick, earning it the pranksters gambit. It appears to have a new remix of an old theme (Harlequin) as its signature music (Nannaquin). Its conversations are shown through the Sprite Log, where it is referred to as the Nannasprite. Some readers refer to it as the Nannaquin. It appears to leave a blue goo behind as it phases through walls. The Nannasprite, having Nanna's memories and personality, helps John by providing needed exposition on where Sburb sent him and where his father is. John's Dad has been kidnapped by Imps and his house has been transported somewhere called The Medium, described by the Nannasprite as "A realm that is a ring of pure void, dividing light and darkness. It turns in the thick of the Incipisphere, a place untouched by the flow of time in your universe." Whether Nanna knew of the Medium before her death or if this information is passed through the Sprite's nature is unknown. John even asked her once. It also retains all of Nanna's skills, creating so many cookies that it is surprising that there was enough room to store them all. Finally, as a sprite, Nannaquin seems to have special powers. Her scarred eye launches attacks, such as lasers, while her intact eye offers aid through various means, such as healing lasers. Both eyes are capable of conjuring furniture and kitchen appliances, which glow the same blue light as her lasers and the Nannasprite herself, the purpose of which depends on the eye used. However, an oven created by her intact eye with the purpose of catching and launching John was later used to offensively launch a cookie-infused laser at a Crude Ogre, though it's possible this was a completely different oven created by her scarred eye. She was left behind at John's house when John reached the first gate and instead advising him from a distance, informing him that he is the Heir. When John unlocks the ability to have Nanna accompany him, she presumably will.

Rose's Kernelsprite


Rose Lalonde's Kernelsprite was prototyped twice before Rose entering the Medium. She initially prototyped it with Jaspers, and Dave prototyped it with the Eldritch Princess. Her Kernelsprite is shown to be very reliable, as it grabbed Rose with a tentacle to rescue her from a fall. It was hinted that Rose would prototype the sprite with Jaspers after Jade mentioned Sburb might be able to bring Rose's dear cat Jaspers back from the dead. Notably, it was prototyped not only both times before it entered The Medium, but the (formerly) living element was introduced before the nonliving element, though this had no visible effect on the sprite. Interestingly, Rose's kernelsprite initiates direct physical contact to save Rose, whereas the Nannasprite uses indirect means.

After its first prototyping, Rose's Kernelsprite appears as a disembodied cat head surrounded by an orb of light, like John's. Between its double prototyping and Rose's entry in the Medium, it has the full sprite body still surrounded by the orb of light. When Jaspersprite is seen again in the Medium, the orb of light is gone. As Rose prototyped twice before entering the Medium, the changes undergone by the denizens of the Incipisphere were more drastic: the opening to Act 4 shows new types of imps taking on all possible properties; Cat, Cathulu, Princess and even some Cathulus and harlequins wearing Jaspers' suit. Like we haven't seen this before. And unfortunately for the kids... '''EVERY ONE OF THOSE CAT STATES IS UNBELIEVABLY DEADLY. '''In the Medium, Rose's Kernelsprite is referred to as the Jaspersprite. He can talk, although he prefers to just make cat noises. He seems to be privy to a lot of important information, but he doesn't quite understand it.

Dave's Kernelsprite
Dave Strider's Kernelsprite was prototyped with the remains of the Rambunctious Crow by Jade. Before its second prototyping, it resembled a ghostly bird with a Katana lodged in its chest, refered to by Dave as the Seppucrow. Dave was somewhat disappointed with his sprite. However, being prototyped with a bird certainly had an effect on the Kernelsprite, as it feels compelled to do bird-like things like make nests out of whatever it can find lying around and stealing and trying to hatch Dave's Cruxite Egg. When Dave entered the Medium, the denizens of the Incipisphere gained the additional possiblities of having beaks, wings, or swords in their chests. In the original timeline, the kernelsprite was later prototyped with Lil' Cal. It seemed to be very powerful in combat, and it could use abilities such as shooting a puppet-infused laser or transforming into a huge puppet to attack enemies; however, it gave no useful advise whatsoever, only leering at Dave and laughing annoyingly. After around four months with Calsprite, Future Dave got fed up with the prototyping and used time travel to change it. In the corrected timeline, the Dave from the future merges himself with the crowsprite to make a Davesprite. Davesprite uses orange text and can chat on Pesterchum with his 'iShades'. Although the other Kernelsprites were withheld from revealing information, Davesprite claims Dave can ask him anything and he will answer. Davesprite may be the most potentially helpful Kernelsprite, being open and direct with Dave, as well as having the knowledge to prevent mistakes the Kids made in his own timeline. Other than that, Davesprite's personality is just like Dave's, since he is simply a version of him from the future, and he claims he will update Sweet Bro &amp; Hella Jeff while the Dave from the current timeline continues his quest. Any birdlike traits are as of yet unknown. He also appears to have fists, though none appear in his sprite (at right).

John's birthday letter to Dave mentioned that Dave oughta get out of Bro's shadow and spread his wings. Circumstances being what they are feel free to groan. Research is ongoing into the time one of the Trolls thought Dave was a girl and the fact that Rambunctious Crow's gender is unknown.

Jade's Kernelsprite
Jade Harley could possibly have a Kernelsprite of her own like the other Homestuck Kids. However, Jade has tended to break tradition previously, so it is hard to speculate on what her Kernelsprite will be or if she will have one. Bec may or may not be involved in the Kernelsprite's prototyping. The various big game trophies might also be used. It may also be prototyped with one of the Distinguished Houseguest dolls sitting on the sofa in the room where Jade encountered her Grandpa. One might suggest that since her Grandpa is dead, his spirit may become her Kernelsprite like Nanna became John's, her Grandpa also follows all the traits of the already known kernelsprites so it is highly likely that he will become Jade's Kernelsprite. Her Tanglebuddies could have been involved, but were left behind when Jade got OH NO BUSTED. Jade's Kernelsprite will most likely be green, as green is her associated color, and the color of each sprite so far has been close to their owner's associated color.

Karkat's Kernelsprite
Karkat Vantas seems to have a Kernelsprite already at his introduction. It looks like it is already in its "Sprite" form. It is unknown what it was prototyped with, but it was most likely his 'crabby' Custodian.