Ishmael

Ishmael is a character in Sunwing. He is a Silverwing bat who was captured by the Vampyrum spectrum, but managed to escape.

Appearance
Ishmael is an adult Silverwing. After being captured by the Vampyrum spectrum, his body became frail and skinny. His talons are shaved down as a result of crawling across the stone during his escape from the Vampyrum temple. He has a rough voice and tends to speak slowly and gently.

Personality
Ishmael is courageous and resilient. Initially coming off as somewhat self-interested, he comes to feel a loyalty with the other northern bats and changes his mind about going back to the Vampyrum temple. He is especially loyal to his brother, willing to risk his own life to go back and free him.

Sunwing
Ishmael was one of the northern bats who was captured by the humans and taken south, but he managed to survive and regroup with other survivors. Ishmael was captured by the Vampyrum spectrum and held prisoner in their stone temple to eventually be used as a sacrifice. He was able to escape the temple while the guards were distracted and make his way back to Statue Haven, though he was malnourished and injured.

Upon returning to Statue Haven, Ishmael is excitedly greeted by the other survivors. Caliban gives him some water and asks him to recount what happened. After concluding his story, Ishmael breaks down in a fit of sobbing. When Shade suggests going back to rescue the imprisoned bats, Ishmael bluntly discourages him, pointing out that Cassiel may already be dead. Faced with more protest from Shade, Ishmael retorts that he left his own brother behind to save himself, emphasizing that there was nothing that he or anyone else could've done. He states the only reason he escaped was because the Vampyrum made a mistake, believing they would not allow it to happen again.

After Shade speaks to Caliban about the message he received from Zephyr about the solar eclipse, Ishmael chimes in that he heard Goth mention killing the sun. He also recalls Goth talking about destroying Bridge City with his explosive disc. When Marina and Ariel arrive with help from the rats, Ishmael recalls that the Vampyrum mentioned needing to make one hundred sacrifices during the solar eclipse in order to kill the sun. A plan is put in motion to infiltrate the temple and save the imprisoned bats.

Ishmael draws out a rough map of the temple's layout, describing its interior and where the prisoners were kept, in preparation for the rescue mission. Having changed his mind about the plan, Ishmael volunteers to accompany the group into the temple. Caliban protests that Ishmael needs to stay and rest, but he doubles down on his decision, reminding Caliban that his brother is still imprisoned, as well as that he is the only one who has seen the inside of the temple.

Once inside the temple, Ishmael is wracked with horror at the sight of the chamber of bones and skulls. He accompanies Shade and Marina to investigate the chamber and find where the bats and the rats are held. After the rats are freed, the group comes to the chamber the bats are held in, but it is empty. Defeated, Ishmael concludes that they were too late and that the bats had already been taken. When the rats' tunnel partially caves in, Ishmael is horrified at the thought of potentially dying in the temple.

Shade and Ishmael sneak into the upper chambers of the temple in hopes of finding the bat prisoners. They arrive at the top of the temple and infiltrate the sacrifice chamber. Shade distracts the Vampyrum with an echo projection of a vulture flying around the chamber, but it is destroyed by Goth. In the commotion, Voxzaco continues the sacrifices. He is about to kill Ishmael's brother, but he is interrupted when Ishmael leaps onto his back and knocks him over. Ishmael hurls himself in a fit of furious hissing at the Vampyrum guard holding his brother. He yells at his brother to fly away, and his brother manages to wrench himself free and fly through the opening of the chamber. Ishmael launches himself into the air to follow his brother to freedom, but Voxzaco grabs him by the tail and pulls him back down, delivering a fatal strike into his chest.

Etymology
In Abrahamic religions, Ishmael is the first son of Abraham. Ishmael is also the name of the first-person narrator in Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick. As a Biblical name, Ishmael generally symbolizes exile and isolation.