Wednesday season 1 failed to explain the species name or powers of the faceless students at Nevermore Academy, who seem to have a mythological basis.
Wednesday season 1 features several supernatural species at Nevermore Academy, but the series fails to explain the school’s curious group of faceless students. In Netflix’s The Addams Family spinoff, Wednesday Addams is sent to Nevermore Academy, a school for outcasts, which hosts supernatural species like psychics, vampires, sirens, gorgons, shape-shifters, and werewolves. Wednesday season 1 manages to give a spotlight to at least one character from every confirmed species, with the noted exception of the eerie unnamed faceless students.
Nevermore Academy’s faceless students hardly appear throughout Wednesday season 1, though they’re seen when Wednesday first arrives at the school, when Weems debriefs the students before Outreach Day, and later during parents’ weekend. Since the faceless students seem to have a larger presence than other Nevermore Academy outcast species like shape-shifters, it’s curious that Wednesday never introduced any of these supernatural teens as characters or confirmed what their species is called. All that’s known about them is that they’re pale with no eyes, nose, mouth, or discernable facial features, though, like many of their classmates, the faceless students do seem to be based on mythological figures.
RELATED:Wednesday: Every Addams Family Member’s Powers Explained
Wednesday’s Faceless Characters May Have A Japanese Mythological Inspiration
Most of the species present at Nevermore Academy are inspired by creatures from real cultural mythology, such as sirens and gorgons being pulled from Greek mythology. Likewise, Wednesday’s faceless species closely align with a supernatural species from Japanese mythology called noppera-bō, which roughly translates to “faceless ghost.” Since one of the few classic supernatural species seemingly missing at Nevermore was ghosts, Wednesday’s faceless teens being The Addams Family universe’s version of a noppera-bō makes sense.
In Japanese mythology, the noppera-bō is part of a class of supernatural spirits that look human but have no face. They’re generally thought to be harmless creatures aside from frightening humans, which typically happens when the noppera-bō are encountered at quiet roads, inns, or shops. Some folklore tales about the supernatural species suggest that they take on the guise of humans with their backs turned to their targets, only revealing their true selves when turning around. It’s also believed that they can imitate the appearance of someone familiar to the victim, later wiping away their facial features to show their true form. However, Wednesday season 1’s faceless Nevermore students have yet to demonstrate these abilities.
Wednesday Season 2 Needs To Explore The Faceless Species’ Powers
Wednesday season 2 will give the series greater opportunities to explore some of the neglected aspects of Nevermore Academy and the characters’ journeys. After the psychics, werewolves, sirens, and even Tyler’s banned Hyde species received significant attention during Wednesday’s first year at Nevermore, Wednesday season 2 can highlight the powers and identities of more vampires, gorgons, and faceless students at the school. At the very least, Wednesday season 2 can give a name to one of the faceless teens.
Since Nevermore Academy seeks to help student master their supernatural powers, the abilities of the faceless students should also be depicted on-screen. If truly inspired by the Japanese noppera-bō myth, the faceless species could be depicted imitating the faces of other students or purposefully frightening their classmates in Wednesday season 2. The many different powers of Nevermore Academy’s students are what helped Wednesday and her friends defeat Crackstone, Laurel, and Tyler in the season 1 finale, so the faceless students could use their gifts to assist in overpowering Wednesday season 2’s new threat.
