What is a Grisha? Magic users of Shadow and Bone, explained

So you started Shadow and bone And they keep saying “Grisha”.

While writer Leah Bardagu’s fantasy saga is full of worldliness and political backstory, a big question has arisen after episode 1 of the TV adaptation of Netflix: What the Heck is a Grisha?

For those unfamiliar with the books of Bardugo (who come with a brief breakdown before the first chapter – or at least copy me) and the lore within, that’s why in the context of the story of Grisha, The difference between a squealer and a tailor, and every other question you were afraid to ask.

The first episode of Shadow and Bone contains about 8 million uses of the word “Grisha”, but uh, what is a Grisha?

Grisha is the magic user of this world – except they don’t call it magic. Magic is referred to by Grisa Wald as “small science” because it is based on case manipulation in its original form and must obey physical laws. Grisha cannot (usually) be made of nothing.

Is Grisha like Benders in Avatar? What are the different types? I saw that a bullet was a fireball.

Grisha fall into three main orders: Corporalki, who deal with living and dead people; Athalki, which deal with natural elements (… basically the benders of the earth, to use Avatar The Last Airbender Lingo); And materials, including manipulating materials such as glass, metals, textiles, and chemicals. Thankfully, they are all color-coded, at least in the Ravana army!

Within those categories, there are even more specialties.

Corporalki is divided into hartrenders, heelers and tailers. Heartbreakers break the body; Healers fix this. The tailors are a strange combination of corporalki and matki and are capable of manipulating their physical appearance and others. They are very rare and there is only one tailor in the entire section of the books. They wear red.