Kanaya Maryam

Kanaya Maryam, also known by her Trollian handle grimAuxiliatrix, is one of the Hivebent Trolls. Her associated zodiac sign is Virgo (♍), just like Andrew Hussie. Her left horn curves into a hook, emulating the tail of her astrological symbol when viewed from the front. She capitalizes the first letter of every word, and writes in Jade green.

Her name comes from the Indian word for Virgo, 'Kanya'; and from 'Maryam', the Arabic name for 'Mary' as in the Virgin Mary.

She is the last member of the Red Team to enter The Medium.

Biography
Her appearance is similar to that of the other trolls in that she possesses gray skin, black hair, uniquely shaped horns, pointed teeth, and her main outfit consists of a top with her associated astrological symbol in the color she types. Only two of her teeth are protruding, giving Kanaya a vampire-like appearance. The shape of her hair may or may not be reminiscent of a vampire's.

Kanaya seems to be helpful, as perhaps fits with her chumhandle ("auxiliatrix" in Latin means "a helpful woman"). Kanaya contacts Rose Lalonde on her birthday and states that she is on an entirely different timeline than the homestuck kids. However, she also says that they have spoken just minutes ago from her (gA's) point of view. Kanaya asks to be Rose's friend, believing that they were "supposed to". Rose accepts, albeit in a somewhat confused manner. She admits that their plan to troll Rose and her friends wasn't thought all the way through, and appears to be getting tips from Rose.

Hivebent
Kanaya lives in an oasis in a desert, beside a volcano and a red Frog Temple. Her oasis is nearly identical to the island where Jade lives. According to her, her hive originated from The Medium.

She shares other similarities with Jade: both use considerably advanced weapons for their Strife specibi than others and both use a wardrobifier. She also possesses a Lunchtop, like Jade's, except instead of Squiddles, it has cuttlefish on it. They both have a distinct enthusiasm towards botany, and she has had dreams that take place in the Medium before playing Sgrub. Kanaya's blood is even jade green. She has an "affection for the aesthetic", something rare among the utilitarian-minded troll race. As such, she partakes in fashion design and hive decoration. She also appears to share Jade's gnostic abilities, due to a pre-existing awareness of Skaia.

She and Rose also share a taste in literature. While Rose indulges herself in the study of eldritch horrors, Kanaya has a fondness for tales of "rainbow drinkers" and secret passion, possibly the troll equivalent of romantic vampire novels.

Kanaya specifically requested to be the final member of the Red Team to connect to Sgrub. As such, she is Vriska Serket's server player. It is possible that she requested this position specifically to stay close to Vriska, due to their moirallegiance and potential matespritship. Eventually she ended up breaking the chain and became Equius' client, connecting the Red Team with the Blue Team.

Kanaya is the Sylph of Space and resides in the Land of Rays and Frogs, home to the Trolls' Forge.

Post-Hivebent
After the trolls settled on an asteroid in the Veil, she used her chainsaw to amputate Tavros Nitram's legs, allowing them to be replaced by functional robot legs created by Equius Zahhak.

Later she found the Auxiliatrix Key deep inside the asteroid, which unlocked the card she kept the Matriorb in. This confused her, because she had given up hope to rebuild the Troll's race, having been denied access to their new universe. She then quickly realised, that she was supposed to hatch the new Mother Grub inside the core of the asteroid.

She tells Jade about her duty to breed frogs and create the Genesis frog. Unfortunately, she is interrupted by Eridan, who proceeds to KO Sollux and kill Feferi. Eridan destroys the matriorb, enraging Kanaya, who attacks. She is killed by Eridan, who absconds further into the lab. Karkat attempts to revive her with a kiss, but since her dream self was already slain by Jack, it does not work.

Later, when Terezi returns to the computer area her corpse is missing and Feferi has HS 5336 (fang marks)(matching Kanaya's) on her neck along with what appears to be jade green lipstick or blood, even though her corpse was nowhere near Kanaya's. As Nepeta explores the vents, while hiding from Gamzee, she discovers a room with two disabled transportalizer pads and a trail of jade blood between them. One of the pads seem to have been cut apart. Terezi wakes up at some point boasting a similar bite mark, considerately bandaged. How very helpful.

Undead Kanaya finally shows up in HS 5420 ([S]: 3x SHOWDOWN COMBO), with Eridan's cape covering her wound. She appears to exhibit a bright white glow from her skin, rather than the normal ashen grey skin most trolls have, and brighter yellow eyes compared to the rest of the cast. She proceeds to run up to Gamzee and kick him in the groin. Gamzee falls off the cliff honking the whole way down. Kanaya then turns her attention to Vriska, delivering a punch to her nose to establish HS 5444 (matespritship), and Eridan, snapping his wand in half with a "DEBUNK" sound effect. She then gives Eridan a HS 5436 (similar treatment).

What would you say if I said a dutiful girl raised in the daylight was protected by a bulb-headed guardian, and learned to glow in the dark after death? - Doc Scratch

Personality
Kanaya is a unique troll in the sense that she has the unusual ability to withstand the sunlight of Alternia, even going to the extent of enjoying its rays. She is the only troll yet to have taken a liking to the art of landscaping, using her chainsaw/lipstick to saw away at the trees to create topiary outside of her hive. Kanaya is also very creative, taking a particular interest in fashion (not a standard troll attribute) and colorful patterns. She is also an avid reader of horror and romance novels, and also has a fascination for Alternia's version of vampires, the rainbow drinkers, even going as far as to taste her lusus' blood (though she quickly discovered that she HS 4240 (did not enjoy its taste)). Kanaya is very reluctant to troll Rose, attempting to leave after typing only a few lines. As it turns out, her first trolling victim is not Rose but John, who answers Rose's computer while Rose is asleep. As a result, Kanaya gains the impression that Rose is mixed-up and not very smart. It is later shown that she had discovered Rose's Walkthrough and began to idolize Rose, which may explain some of her behavior. Kanaya also has a wardrobifier like Jade. However, she uses it to change her entire outfit rather than just change the shirt's image. Interestingly enough her Virgo sign stays on her outfit as a belt or a clasp regardless of the outfit. She is the only troll that chooses to change her clothes for the sake of fashion.

Kanaya is like Rose in that, despite her understated personality, she has no qualms about letting the blood fly if it must be done, such as when she pulls the Matriorb off her dead lusus or amputates Tavros' legs. Given her chumhandle of Grim Auxiliatrix, this suggests she is the kind of person given to perform unpleasant actions for another's benefit (she did not appear to relish the act herself).

Further establishing her helpfulness, more than one troll has called her a meddler, and Vriska has referred to her as "Lousy st8pid godd8mn supportive fri8nd!".

How turning into a rainbow drinker has affected her personality remains to be seen. While she does appear more angry and violent it may simply be due to the trolls she encountered, as while she bit Terezi, she did not kill her and even bandaged her bite mark afterward. In fact, she has only killed another as an act of revenge, and has only subdued the other trolls she's come across. During Aradia's trip through the Dream Bubbles, Jade makes reference to a future conversation where Kanaya reveals her undead nature to her, and then give her fashion advice, suggesting that her Rainbow Drinker state has not fundamentally changed her personality.

Relationships
Kanaya has had unrequited matesprit feelings for Vriska in the past, though she denied it, acting as Vriska's moirail. Learning of Vriska's romantic feelings for Tavros was a great shock for her. Whether she still is attracted to Vriska at this point in time is unknown; not long after entering the Medium, she mentioned to Karkat that she was planning to abandon this "preposterous infatuation". In the Veil, Kanaya acts very terse towards Vriska, refusing to talk to her, evidently still bitter over her heartbreak.

After displaying incredible skill and brutality in dealing with Vriska, Gamzee and Eridan's 3X Showdown, Vriska sees Kanaya in a new light and begins to wax red for her.

Karkat and Kanaya are on very good terms, as Karkat is far less crabby with her than any other player. Kanaya has no special feelings for Karkat other then an unspoken respect, and Karkat claims that she was his really good friend.



Kanaya becomes very deeply attached to Rose during her trolling time, and learns to emulate Rose's sarcastic behavior. She worries about Rose immensely and tries to change her mind off her crazy plans at every opportunity she can.

Kanaya, being an "auxiliatrix", has been turned to more than once in order to help relationships in the past. Kanaya is referred to as "the vvillage twwo wwheel devvice wwhen it comes to auspisticing" by Eridan. Eridan says he'd never kill her when he kills all "land-dwellers". Obviously, he goes back on this later.

Shortly before her death, Kanaya becomes friends with Jade, as they share very similar backstories.

Kanaya was put in the position to auspistice between Tavros and Vriska, however her feelings presumably interfered with her mediation of the relationship. Seeing as how Vriska killed Tavros, the point is moot.

Kanaya has also been solicited by Eridan to auspistice between him and Vriska, due to their apparently turbulent relationship. Seeing as how she has cut Eridan in half with a chainsaw, the point is moot.

Lusus/Kernelsprite
Kanaya's Lusus is a virgin Mother Grub that abdicated the role of progenitor and took on the role of a Lusus, an act which according to Kanaya would doom it to an early death. It, and presumably all Mother Grubs, resembles a large, flying moth-like creature. It has a skull-like face, lips, and two horns, one of them bent like Kanaya's. It is possibly based off of the Grammia virgo, or Virgin Tiger Moth. The Mother Grub died of natural causes. She rejects the idea that the Mobius Double Reacharound Virus is responsible for the deaths of the Lusus, believing it instead to be a consequence of playing Sgrub. Trolls can only be selected and raised by a virgin Mother Grub if they have jade green blood, such as Kanaya. This occurrence is so rare that it apparently eludes documented precedent, which, considering how old Alternian civilization is, seems pretty rare. It was extremely helpful for Kanaya when it was alive, defending her from the desert threats surrounding her. We also know that Kanaya had agreed to provide the Mother Grub with progeny after its death, and she extracted and captchalogued the Mother Grub's Matriorb for this purpose. The fact that her lusus was a "virgin mother" may also foreshadow her rise from the dead.