“If I was a good friend, none of this would have happened.” ― Tessa
Tessa Quinn was once Alchemical Aether, the leader and the strongest member of Team Alchemical until its untimely end. She lost her powers while healing Undine and is now attending Easttown High School.
Tessa carries a lot of guilt over the death of her teammates because she wasn't there to save them. She considers Gwen's, Sally's, and Sylvia's deaths her fault. Upon learning of The Purple One's role in their deaths, Tessa confronts her and is ultimately possessed by her.
Appearance[]
As Alchemical Aether (Light side magical girl era)[]
Tessa as a Magical Girl
When she still had her powers, Tessa had long, light pink hair and darker pink eyes with yellow pupils. Her symbol was two pink triangles linked together, which was the combination of all the elemental symbols.
Tessa's magical girl outfit had bright pink as its main color and was similar to the rest of her team's, with a short, puffy skirt and yellow accents. She wore a bright pink headband with golden wings on each side, a gold choker, and short, lacy white gloves. Tessa's dress had a light pink bow on its front and puffy, bright pink sleeves trimmed with white lace that left her shoulders bare. Her top was bright pink with a large, white stripe down its middle, similar to Undine and Sylvia. Tessa had a large, light pink bow on the back of her costume attached to a light pink belt with her symbol on its center. Tessa's skirt had two layers: the peplum was bright pink with curly yellow accents and the bottom layer was white with a yellow stripe, trimmed with bright pink lace. She also wore long white stockings with yellow trim and shin-high, bright pink boots with yellow accents. Similar to her magical girl symbol, Tessa's costume seemed to combine elements from all of the other girls' costumes.
After she loses her powers[]
After Tessa loses her powers while healing Undine, she reverts back to a normal girl. In this state, Tessa has tan skin, brown hair, and darker brown eyes. Since she has lost her powers, the location on her chest where her symbol formerly was has now been replaced by a scar.
Tessa's clothing choices lean towards darker shades of pink and gray.
Possessed (Dark side magical girl era)[]
Upon being possessed by The Purple One, Tessa's appearance changes to one similar to her Alchemical Aether form, but with drastic changes. Her hair now extends down to the ground, starting out pink at the top, but quickly fading to violet. Her eyes, which now lack pupils, glow white and have bright violet sclerae. Her symbol is now the alchemical symbol for platinum.
Tessa's new magical girl outfit is bright violet with pink accents. She wears a bright violet headband with matching violet wings on each side, a pink v-shaped choker, and short, lacy bright violet gloves with pink trim. The same trim can be seen at the top of her sleeves, which are now longer, bright violet, and trimmed with pink lace at the bottom. The bows on the front and back of Tessa’s dress have become a light violet and are connected by loops of fabric similar to those on Undine’s original outfit. Tessa’s top is bright violet with a large faded pink stripe down its middle. Her belt is light violet and pink and sports her new symbol on its center. Tessa's skirt now has three layers, similar to Undine’s outfit. The peplum is bright violet with curly pink accents, the middle layer is a light violet semicircle of fabric with a pink stripe, and the bottom layer, which is now longer and without lace trim, is faded pink with a light violet stripe. Tessa no longer wears stockings and her boots are bright violet with pink accents. The boots now each sport a pink wing similar to the bright violet ones on Tessa’s headband.
Trivia[]
- Aether was considered to be the fifth element by the ancient Greeks.
- Tessa's symbol is a combination of the alchemical symbols for air, earth, fire and water.
- Following her possession, her symbol is the alchemical symbol for platinum. In alchemy, platinum was considered an amalgam of silver and gold, or the moon and the sun. This likely represents the amalgamation of Tessa and The Purple One/Goops.
- Like all members of Team Alchemical, Tessa's name is a pun based on another word for aether, quintessence.
- Early concept art shows Tessa's hair was a much lighter shade of pink with more colors in her design elements.[1]
- The concept for Tessa's possessed form was created in 2016.[2]
Comparison of Contessa (right) and HP (left) color schemes
- The coloring of Tessa's outfit on the dark side is almost similar to that of Heartful Punch. On the other hand, there are also many pairings, such as "Tessa, Undine's former teammate, and HP, Undine's current partner," "Tessa, who became a magical girl on the enemy side, and HP, who became a magical girl on the ally side," and from their fight in Chapter 19, we see many pairings, such as HP, and Some say that she was created as the antithesis of HP. It is unclear if this is just a coincidence or if it was intended.