Joyboy has one of the most invasive powers in this group. He can reach for something a person desperately wants and turn it into a trap.

Joyboy has one of the most invasive powers in this group. He can reach for something a person desperately wants and turn it into a trap. The floating, baby-like appearance makes him look completely wrong for the violence around him. There is no obvious weapon to watch and no imposing fighter to size up. The danger comes from what he can do with a private desire that the target has never offered him. Kitty provides the example in The Sword Is Drawn. After everything that has happened to her, she wants to be solid again. Joyboy answers that wish through a drastic bodily transformation that leaves her unable to continue the fight. A real source of distress becomes something a stranger can manipulate in public. The scene is drawn as grotesque comedy, but the underlying violation is easy to recognize. Wanting relief from an existing problem does not mean agreeing to any change somebody else decides to impose. Joyboy takes the wish without respecting the person who has it. That makes him a different kind of obstacle from a strong opponent. Knowing your own mind doesn't protect you if the enemy can use it as raw material. There is no negotiation over what the wish means or how it should be fulfilled. Rachel breaks the hold by taking Joyboy out of the encounter. The rescue is quick, but it reinforces why these people need one another. Kitty cannot simply solve this particular problem by wanting harder. Somebody else has to recognize what is being done to her and stop the person doing it. For a creature presented with so much visual absurdity, Joyboy can make a scene feel very personal very quickly.