As the most prolific trainer in the core cast of early AMBER, it was perhaps inevitable that Blanket, despite not being among the Season 1 founders, would come to be highly influential.
In a purely competitive tournament, like UMBA or UMBC, more monsters present a direct competitive advantage - more chances to win! The narrative focus of AMBER, however, meant that personal branding became intensely important, and multiple Monsters could easily confuse audiences if their aesthetics and styles conflicted. Equally, there was a risk of audiences becoming bored by too many Monsters from the same stable reducing the potential for interpersonal Trainer drama.
Blanket debuted in Season 2 with Footsie, but by Season 3 had introduced two further Monsters - Crybaby and Midnight Star - and was training four more, which he had inadvertently acquired during the Siege of Bastion.
Crybaby and Midnight Star made an adorable duo, but at first struggled to find a place in the overarching AMBER narrative. Blanket and Footsie were a team: breakdancing vigilantes on a quest for vengeance, the height of cool.
Despite Decibel's best efforts, Crybaby and Midnight Star, debuting with cutesy antics and circus tricks, never fitted comfortably into this niche. Their appeal was all sweetness and light; they weren't badass like Footsie.
It was in the attempt to resolve this stylistic clash that the creative minds behind AMBER came to the realization that it didn't have to be about the Trainers. Crybaby and Midnight Star didn't fit Blanket's brand: they would earn their own.
Through the net few seasons, Monsters became as active players in the ongoing narrative of AMBER as their Trainers; developing their own rivalries, partnerships…even love interests.
The complex tapestry that is the decades-long AMBER narrative is much richer for it.
- From A Brief History of AMBER, by Beam
Heel, The
Classification: Monster
Trainer: Blanket
Seasons Active: 9-12, 18, 23, 27-9
Bio:
Defeated by their proteges-turned-rivals, Jaybird and Decimator, at the climactic conclusion of AMBER Season 8, Footsie was left humiliated, and was conspicuously absent from the starting lineup at the start of the next season.
At the mid-point of Season 9, THE HEEL entered the fray. Ultimately revealed to be the darker, more ruthless alter ego of Footsie, he had returned to seek revenge!
The villainous alter-ego proved extremely popular with fans, and returned on numerous occasions following the acclaimed REDEMPTION ARC during Season 12, in which Footsie was brought back to his senses after inadvertently injuring MALBLEC.
See also: Footsie.
- From The Unofficial AMBER Encyclopedia
