Harry Potter: 10 Facts About Fawkes The Phoenix Only Die-Hard Fans Know
Warning: This list contains some spoilers for Fantastic Beasts 3.
With all the recent speculation about who the phoenix is in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Fawkes from the original Harry Potter series is on every fan's mind. There's definitely a lot to know about the famous bird and how he came to be, and the book Harry Potter Film Wizardry (which can be purchased on Amazon) spilled all the fun secrets a Potterhead could ask for.
Not only are there amazing stories from the behind-the-scenes of Fawkes' creation, but there are also plenty of things to remember about him from the lore of Harry Potter. He's one of—if not the most—important creatures in the series, and Fantastic Beasts has only further proved the relevance of this striking bird.
When creating the Fawkes for The Chamber of Secrets, where he needed to be present in many scenes, the artists used actual pheasant and other game bird feathers to create a more realistic-looking bird. They then combined them with dyed feathers to make the phoenix look as though it could exist and fit in with other members of its species.
The primary animatronic artist, Val Jones, was the one to pick these diverse feathers during the initial design phase, and it helped inform the entire color scheme of the project.
Many fans know the story behind Harry and Voldemort's wands—that they contain twin cores, both from a phoenix that miraculously shed two separate feathers. But not everyone remembers that the phoenix who gave those feathers is actually Fawkes, which makes the story that much more incredible.
Not only were Harry and Voldemort chosen by brother wands, but both just so happened to contain feathers taken by Fawkes' plumage. And while readers or viewers might see this as too coincidental, they need to remember how entwined and prophetic the relationship between Harry and You-Know-Who actually was. It's a magical world, after all, and nothing is truly happenstance.
Although fans and most viewers know that Fawkes is a magical bird, only die-hard Potterheads know the full extent of his abilities. Not only is he immortal and able to heal most injuries with his tears, but the phoenix is also able to apparate and carry incredibly heavy loads.
The song of the phoenix also has magical properties that inject bravery and courage into the listener, which is described in the Harry Potter universe as equivalent to drinking a warm beverage. The phoenix also has fighting prowess, as Fawkes easily blinded the basilisk in The Chamber of Secrets.
Many believe that Albus Dumbledore named the fabled army after Fawkes, but Fantastic Beasts revealed that the phoenix plays a much bigger part in the Dumbledore family than just one pet. Since the phoenix is the symbol of these wizards, it's no wonder the Order was given the name that it did.
And while it is slightly disappointing to learn that the Order wasn't named specifically after Fawkes, especially since this lore has remained untouched for so long in the fandom, it adds a nice twist to the original Harry Potter storyline.
Given that so many of the creatures in Fantastic Beasts are completely CGI, it can come as somewhat surprising that the original Fawkes in Chamber of Secrets was an actual mechanical bird. It could move its wings and nod its head, and it's pretty amazing that the prop department managed to input such minute control.
Of course, in all the flying scenes that Fawkes appears in, he is completely CGI, so the team wasn't able to complete an entirely functioning replica. But they certainly came very close, and it's a very commendable accomplishment.
Fans will definitely get a kick out of this one. The design team did such an extraordinary job on Fawkes in The Chamber of Secrets that actor Jason Isaacs (who played Lucius Malfoy) thought he was a real bird. The Harry Potter HBO Max reunion revealed a lot of secrets, and one of the best was that Richard Harris (the original Dumbledore), also thought Fawkes was alive on set!
Director Chris Columbus told the camera that Harris, upon seeing the bird for the first time, exclaimed that "Wow, they train these animals marvelously these days!" It was obviously a special memory that he shared with Daniel Radcliffe as they sat reminiscing, and it only adds to the charm behind Fawkes' presence in the series
The lore behind Fawkes' name is that J.K. Rowling took inspiration from the historical figure Guy Fawkes. Born in 1570, Fawkes was a British soldier renown for his participation in the Gunpowder Plot. The scheme aimed to blow up the Westminster palace, but he and his accomplices were exposed and executed before anything could happen.
Fawkes' connection to burning and "blowing up" then aligns with the fiery nature of the phoenix's life cycle, which makes the name all the more fitting for the fictional bird. There's even a sneaky reference to the man in the Sorceror's Stone book when the weatherman mentions "Bonfire Day"—that's another term for "Guy Fawkes Day!"
Although the Fawkes as seen in the Harry Potter series is a hybrid animatronic/CGI creature, he was actually based on a real-life bird. Fans can't ever witness his majestic flight as seen in the movies, but there is a similarly shaped animal called a sea eagle that might just satiate their desires.
The artist Adam Brockbank created the concept drawings of Fawkes for The Chamber of Secrets, and he needed a tangible bird to base these designs after. He chose the sea eagle for its majesty and enormous wingspan, and needless to say, it was the right decision.
One of the biggest behind-the-scenes shockers in The Chamber of Secrets is when Fawkes cries onto Harry's leg at the end of the film—they were real, liquid droplets coming out of his eyes. The animatronic was so complex they were able to fill the eyes with water that could be triggered by the controls during the filming of the scene.
It's pretty spectacular, and it undoubtedly helped the young Daniel Radcliffe feel the emotion of the scene in a much grander, tangible way. CGI tears just wouldn't have been the same, and it's a great magical detail in The Chamber of Secrets.
One of the biggest roles that Fawkes filled in the Harry Potter series was his protecting spirit. He came to Harry's defense all the way down in the Chamber of Secrets, he helped Dumbledore disapparate in The Order of the Phoenix, and he even swallowed Voldemort's killing curse in order to save Dumbledore's life in the Ministry of Magic.
What most fans don't think about, however, is that he never appeared at the top of the Astronomy Tower when Dumbledore was killed by Severus Snape. And given that he traveled hundreds of miles to save the headmaster in The Order of the Phoenix, it was definitely in his power to do so. This insight only further exemplifies how Dumbledore's death was his own choice, and it's one of the best Fawkes hidden details out there.
Source: Screenrant
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