Spirit: Difference between revisions

Spirit
Creature Type
	(Subtype for creature/kindred cards)
Beeble Scale	3
Statistics	648 cards 0.5% 24.5% 21.5% 19.3% 8.5% 13.7% 4.2% 0.9% 0.3% 0.3% 0.5% 1.9% 0.3% 0.5% 0.9% 0.3% 1.5% 0.5% 145 Spirit creation cards 2.1% 40.7% 5.5% 5.5% 3.4% 6.9% 5.5% 1.4% 10.3% 0.7% 4.8% 3.4% 6.2% 3.4% as of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
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	type:"Spirit"

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Revision as of 16:04, 13 January 2024

Spirit is a creature type that represents an entity composed of energy that's related to a deceased person or a worshiped object or concept.

Description

A spirit's origin may be related to the way the previous being was killed; as a vengeful spirit (as featured in Shadowmoor), as a form of undead (as seen in the Orzhov Syndicate), or as an aspect of life (as the kami of Kamigawa).^[2]^[3]

Spirits appear in all colors, though they are most promenient in white. The first creatures printed with the type were Radjan Spirit and Thunder Spirit in Legends. After the Grand Creature Type Update, Spirit became a common "tribe" which incorporated several earlier creature types. Retroactively Dancing Scimitar from Arabian Nights became the first Spirit in the game. Along with Zombie and Illusion, Spirits can also act as either a class or a race, though the interpretation of spirit can be either as a ghost or as an abstract embodiment.

Cards in Kamigawa block with Spiritcraft have triggered effects whenever a Spirit or Arcane spell is played. In the Innistrad block blue and white Spirits (Geists) are a supported tribe.^[4]^[5]^[6] They were again supported in Shadows over Innistrad block and since then precedent put Spirit Lords in blue. Strixhaven: School of Mages gave a shift in strategy by giving it Spirit tribal effects.

Storyline

Alara

The Elves of Naya utilized spirits as protectors of their settlements.^[7]

In the Cesspools of Esper, various species of undead developed.^[8] Brinewraiths — vicious, incorporeal undead — are said to be the revenant spirits of those who died in water. Hauntcreeps, shadowy ghosts that drift around the Cesspools, make no sound other than a hissing white noise.

With the Conflux, it was possible for the first time to contact the Sovereigns of Lost Alara.

Arcavios

The Lorehold mages of Strixhaven on Arcavios supplement their study of history by calling on the spirits of the ancient dead. While dustspeakers and pastraisers conjure spirits and interview them for knowledge of the past, battle mediums and other Lorehold mages sometimes draw on the magical power of those spirits or turn them into hardy soldiers by housing the spirits in statues depicting their living selves.^[9]

Dominaria

Spirits found on Dominaria were often associated either with the restless ghosts of the dead or nature spirits. Several of these spirits were less ethereal than those found on other planes, instead resembling physical creatures. On Urborg, spirits of many different shapes and sizes have even built their own towns.^[10]

During the Ice Age, animal spirits known as fylgjur (singular fylgja) accompanied people in connection to their fate or fortune.

Fiora

On Fiora, the Custodi are able to keep a person's soul anchored to the physical world, creating a spirit. Additionally, spirits can return from a person with unfinished business.^[11] Few persons end up purposefully as a spirit. Even in their spectral existence, many retain habits of their former lives, akin to muscle memory.^[12]

Innistrad

Spirits on Innistrad, often called geists, come in all colors of mana. White features the “helpful ghost” tropes while blue features the “mischievous ghost” tropes.^[13] While Avacyn stood as guardian over Innistrad, she and the angels of Flight Alabaster ushered the spirits of the departed into the Æther, where they rejoined the essence of the plane. In her absence— and later her madness— many spirits cling to the world of the living, unable or unwilling to find their way to the Blessed Sleep.^[14] The moon appears to govern the interaction between spirits and the world of flesh.^[15]

While most spirits are that of humans, animal spirits like the Moon Heron and the Pack Guardian also exist. They take a form similar to that which they had in life, though often chains manifest on spirits to symbolize past regrets that keep them anchored to the world.^[16] They are oten not visible to the naked eye.^[17]^[18]^[19]

When Emrakul was summoned to Innistrad, several benevolent Geists bonded with Cathars to protect them from the corruption and madness the titan spread. The Order of Saint Traft was formed from this union.

Banshee

Banshees are spirits of those who died with grudges in their heart.^[20]

Drogskol

The Drogskol are a group of spirits patrolling the moors. They were once a large militia, that fell to a horde of the unhallowed.^[14]

Marei

Marei are the spirits of the drowned, in most cases sailors or shipwreck victims. They are most prominent along the coastlines of Nephalia.^[15]

Niblis

Niblis are spirits of frost. They often manifest as rags filled with an unholy light that drains the environment of warmth.^[15]

Skathul

The Skathul are those spirits who are consumed by revenge. The cause can be something as simple as cremating their body to something so grave as the desecration of their grave by necromancers. The ghosts of the unavenged are some of the most dangerous geists on Innistrad, sometimes appearing as living fire or as "blood mist" entities that engulf a hapless victim and inflict cuts and welts that are slow to heal.

Whisperers

The souls of villagers of the Approaches, commanded by the Bog Entity. Terrible, twisted creatures only vaguely shaped like people. Sickly green in appearance with distorted, inhuman faces and dropped jaws.^[21] They give off a noise that sounds like a thousand whispers overlapping.

Geist-Powered Devices

Some humans of Innistrad use geists to power machinery.^[22]^[23]^[24]

Ixalan

The vampiric Legion of Dusk of Ixalan are able to create revenants. Some of Ixalan's seas are haunted by the ghosts of fallen pirates who attach themselves to passing ships.

Echoes are spirits found throughout the caverns and Core of Ixalan.^[25] which range from human in appearance to more animalistic or half-formed wisps of teal fog.^[26] Each Echo has a focus object that their spirit is bound to and manifested from.^[27] Many of these focus objects resemble Mesoamerican death masks, commonly made from jade. Souls of the Lost, in particular, appears to depict the mask of the Moche deity Ai apaec.^[28]

Echoes can be human or nonhuman, sentient or lost, autonomous or trapped in ghostly routine— it all depends on how they were created and how they are remembered.^[25] They are generally the benevolent spirit of a single being, though malevolent Echoes exist: those of murderers or beasts, cruel people or victims of great loss, and others who have experienced or committed worldly terror without reconciliation or healing. Echoes are able to possess mycoids, causing them to dissolve into blue smoke.^[29]

Kaldheim

Spirits in Kaldheim belong to the realm of Istfell, where the ignoble dead, not worthy of Starnheim, go. The spirits of Istfell include those of people who died of natural causes or accidents, or who showed cowardice in combat. The spirit of every animal or monster that ever lived also runs free in Istfell, and it's not uncommon to see a giant spirit wolf or dragon emerging from the mist. The spirits who inhabit Istfell resemble whoever or whatever they were in life, but they are wispy, transparent, and grayish or bluish in color, lacking the warm colors of living blood. The longer they linger as spirits, the more they blend into the perpetual mist and foggy background of the realm. When the spirits move together in groups, they form great misty clouds that drift across the landscape, virtually indistinguishable from the constant fog. Many spirits retain the memories of their lives, but they have lost all passion and, with it, the motivation to fight or form relationships. Rather, they simply move aimlessly in groups, drifting like the fog across the fields and along the rivers. With the aid of powerful magic, it is possible to rouse them to anger or convince them to fight. Many spirits vaguely accept that Egon, the god of death, is the ruler of that land, but even he must use his own god-magic to get them to perform tasks or fight for him.^[30]

Kamigawa

Main article: Kami

Mercadia

Nether Spirits haunted Mercadia and its underworld, but were unable to find rest in either.

Mirrodin/New Phyrexia

On Mirrodin, a breed of spirits called Emissaries existed that embodied certain virtues like hope or despair.

Since the Vanishing, no spirits have been observed. It is likely that they were sent back to whatever plane they originated from.

Rath

Entropic Specters were active on Rath, resembling the hooded forms of wraiths but lacking the mount. Rath's cloudscape was inhabited by nature spirits that were revered by the Kor, along with the spirits of their own ancestors. Spirits also inhabited the Furnace of Rath.

Ravnica

Ravnican spirits come in several variants, some mirroring the species they were in life, others twisted into near animalistic forms. Since the spirits of the departed usually stay active on the plane, the denizens have learned to cope with their existence, usually by leaving them small offerings to avoid their wrath. Others find themselves harassed by goblins. Ways to ensure a spirit does not rise is to pay the exorbitant fee for a Proper Burial conducted by the guilds.

Among the guilds, the Azorius, Orzhov, and Dimir dealt with spirits. The Azorius utilize spirits as untiring bureaucrats and protectors of the laws of the Guildpact. The Orzhov are ruled by an aristocracy of undead ghosts that form the highest council of the guild, the Deathless. Being raised as a spirit is a high honor for guild members, while it is an unfortunate fate for those unable to pay their debts in life to the lesser ranks. The Dimir use them as spies and infiltrators, often turning to those spirits that are so ancient that their names are all but forgotten.

Agyrem acted as the quarter for the ghosts of the departed. Even after the Guildpact broke, its laws still held sway there.

Caryatid

Caryatids are the last remnants of the original forests on Ravnica. Most survive in the form of carved woodwork under the protection of powerful individuals.

Ephemera

Ephemerae are spirits bound to continued existence by an oath or similar vow that prohibits them from rest.

Rusalka

Rusalkas are spirits of those who died a violent or otherwise wrongful death. Their motivation to remain behind determines their color affiliation, with some staying behind to ensure that no other die the death they died, while others reenact their own deaths on unwitting passengers to understand why they died.

Taj

Ghostly Orzhov agents who can take possession of someone's body.

Shadowmoor

While spirits are dormant in daylit Lorwyn, they emerge with a vengeance during the dark Shadowmoor phase. There are few locations in Shadowmoor that aren't haunted by some tormented presence. Light and warmth ward off these restless spirits, but those conditions can be hard to come by.^[31]^[32] These spirits range from the ghosts of the deceased, like Bloodied Ghost, to entities more akin to Lorwyn's Elementals. Some, like the Suture Spirit, are benevolent, while others are explicitly malevolent and take great pleasure from tormenting others. Light and warmth ward off these restless spirits, but those commodities are hard to come by.

Shandalar

Ogre spirits infest the ancient ruins on Shandalar.

Tarkir

On Tarkir, spirits are utilized by the Abzan Houses. Each family kin-tree is a hub for its ancestors' spirits. Some among the Abzan have learned to communicate with these spirits, and even call them forth to either protect their descendants or harm their enemies. The Abzan have discovered that amber, tree resin, and sap aid in spirit magic. Amber wards are found in Abzan homes and Abzan soldiers carry amber with them to war. Spirit speakers consume distilled tree resin to help them connect to spirits. Weapons made from the wood of fallen kin-trees are said to be blessed. When disowned Abzan die, their spirits have no place to go. Some Abzan mages seek out these lost spirits. This is a taxing feat because these spirits are vengeful and malicious. However, in times of war, the malevolent spirits are channeled by Abzan mages to be unleashed against the enemy.^[33]

In the new timeline, trafficking with spirits has been outlawed as necromancy by the Dromoka. Anyone who acts against this edict is destroyed as a heretic. Persons killed by the breath of a dragon do not leave a spirit behind.^[34]

Theros

Theran spirits are called Eidolons. When a dead person escapes the Underworld, they lose their identity and become one of the faceless Returned. But in this process of severing the physical body from the "soul," an eidolon is also created. An eidolon is the spectral embodiment of the lost identity, but without its body, it has no agency. Unlike the Returned, it has no sense of what it lost. The Returned and its severed eidolons are never reunited, nor are they aware of one another's existence.

While some eidolons forever wander, others linger in a certain place. This "haunt" isn't chosen because of a connection to its former life. More often, it's near a place where a nymph lives. It's believed that eidolons are instinctually drawn to nymphs' magic like a cub is drawn to the warmth of its mother. The nymphs are usually sympathetic to these creatures.^[35]

Zendikar

On Zendikar, the flow of mana can trap the soul of a deceased in the physical world.^[36]

Elves and Kor are known to practice ancestor worship, and in return, these spirits remain in the world to protect their descendants. Sometimes, such a spirit is separated from its community and transformed into a Forsaken One. Vampires are able to call on spirits to become possessed by them, transforming into a Bloodghast.

Notable Spirits

Arcavios

Dominaria

Fiora

Brago

Innistrad

Ixalan

Kaldheim

Ranar
Vega

Kamigawa