History Main / AnAstralProjectionNotaGhost

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/DoctorStrange https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doctor_strange_the_oath_comic.png]]]]

* In the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz's ''Dziady'', part II shows a ritual where villagers summon souls from the Purgatory to hear of their plight and help them. At the end, a spectre shows up which doesn't speak a word, and ignores all commands to leave. In part III, the leader of the ritual speculates that it was the soul of someone still living, accidentally summoned.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGhostAndMollyMcGee'': Wraiths are what happens when someone loses their soul, losing all meaning in life. [[spoiler:Molly becomes one in the Season 1 finale to save Scratch, while her brother Darryl becomes one in "Double, Double, Darryl, and Trouble". The series finale reveals that Scratch, the titular ghost, is one; his human body is Todd Mortenson, a recurring extra who facially resembles Scratch.]]

* Neal Shusterman's ''[[Literature/TheSkinJackerTrilogy Skinjacker Trilogy]]'' (''Everlost'', ''Everwild'', and ''Everfound'')]] has this as a plot point.

* Given how often ComicBook/DoctorStrange uses AstralProjection, this sort of thing is inevitable. As a master of the art, he never mistakes astral forms for spirits of the deceased, and he has to make a conscious effort to render himself visible to normal sight. When he does so, other (non-mystic) characters will often refer to his astral form as his 'creepy ghost.' He uses this effect on one occasion to convince a bank robber he will be haunted forever unless he releases his hostages and surrenders. It works... apparently the "criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot" trope is not franchise-specific.

* In ''Series/{{Constantine}}'' a spirit possessing children and killing their parents for the last few decades was originally believed to be the spirit of a dead child. While it was indeed a child's spirit, they weren't dead. After killing his abusive parents, his soul was unable to stand to trauma and fled his body, leaving it in a catatonic state. At the end of the episode his soul and body were reunited in a high security psych ward where he'll receive some much needed counseling.

* KoreanDrama ''Series/WhoAreYou'' is an ISeeDeadPeople story about a cop who wakes up from a six-year coma and finds out that she can now see ghosts, who give her help in solving their murders. But episode 13 establishes that she can also see the astral projections of people in comas. That quickly becomes plot-relevant when her old boyfriend, believed to have been killed in the stakeout-gone-bad that put her in a coma, is revealed to have also been in a coma for all these years.

[[folder:Urban Legend]]
* In a famous UrbanLegend, a woman has a recurring dream where she is wandering around a strange house. One day while she is driving she sees that house with a for-sale sign out front. She goes in to look at and finds out that it is extremely underpriced. When she asks the realtor why, the realtor says the house is haunted, but she doesn't have to worry about that, because ''she'' is the one who is haunting it!

* In ''Webcomic/BeneathTheClouds'' the evil spirit possessing the Emperor turns out to be the spirit of the main character Genza, whose bitterness and resentment at being exiled created a living spirit. He sacrifices himself to exorcise the spirit. It is implied that Genza's sacrifice redeemed him, as he's reunited with his late wife in the afterlife.
* In ''Webcomic/MobPsycho100'', a ghost peeking at one of the clients through the window turns out to be an astral projection of a psychic.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E1DayOfTheDaleks "Day of the Daleks"]], the ghosts the Doctor is asked to investigate turn out to be [[LaResistance time-travelers from the 22nd Century]] making "an unstable transfer" into the 20th. (The rebels need a "stable point" which exists in both 20th and 22nd centuries. Auderley House no longer exists in their time, but a nearby tunnel does.)
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E12ArmyOfGhosts "Army of Ghosts"]], the ghosts appearing all over the world are actually an [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin army]] of Cybermen trying to come to Earth from their home dimension.

* ZigZaggedTrope in ''Series/TheMagicians''. Penny astral projects out of his body shortly before he dies and becomes something similar to a ghost. He meets another Traveler who did the same thing and thinks he's a ghost, but Penny points out that since they both astral projected, they're on the astral plane. [[spoiler: The waters get further muddied when Penny's body is burned and he eventually ends up working in the Underworld branch of the Library.]]
* ''Series/{{Oz}}'' At the very end of the episode Laws of Gravity, [[PreacherMan Jeremiah Cloutier]] was able to appear as an apparition into the solitary confinement cell of [[BadassBiker Jaz Hoyt]] and Hoyt is absolutely terrified at the image as a result despite Cloutier being unable to move his own body due to third degree burns over 90% of his body.

* Played with in an episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. Geordi and Ro wander the halls of the Enterprise thinking they're dead, but in reality [[spoiler: they're under the influence of an experimental Romulan phasing cloak that makes them invisible and intangible]].

* [[spoiler:Misao]] from ''LightNovel/AsuraCryin'' is initially believed to be a ghost accompanying the main character before it is revealed that [[spoiler:she is very much alive, but serves as the main power source of the Asura Machina under the main characters control]].

* In ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'', [[spoiler:the ghostly antagonist of the first chapter/movie turns out to be an out-of-body experience of a bedridden, blind girl named Fujou Kirie]].

* ''LightNovel/SundayWithoutGod'' has CuteGhostGirl Dee, [[spoiler:however, while Ai initially believes she's dead, she's actually alive, and the reason she appears as a ghost is because her physical body is trapped by the seal over Ostia, the GroundhogDayLoop created by her classmates of Class 3-4, and while within the seal she has a physical body.]]

* Given a twist in ''LightNovel/InvadersOfTheRokujyouma'', where CuteGhostGirl Sanae turns out to be a mass of spiritual energy that split off from a powerful [[PsychicPowers psychic]] and was concentrated enough to retain her personality and appearance. In book 11 she and the human Sanae are forced to recombine, after which [[SplitPersonalityMerge she acts like the timid "Sanae-san" around family and the energetic "Sanae-chan" around her friends]]. [[ResidualSelfImage She still takes on Sanae-chan's younger appearance while astrally projecting]], though in later books she learns how to [[SplitPersonalityTeam leave Sanae-san behind in her body]] as a LiteralSplitPersonality.

* In one episode of ''Series/TheXFiles'', a quadruple amputee was using astral projection to commit a series of murders.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** In ''Literature/GravePeril'', Harry uses a FlatlinePlotline loophole to create a temporary ghost ''of himself'' as an ally.
** [[spoiler:Specifically in ''Literature/GhostStory'', Harry Dresden himself believes he is a ghost allowed to return to help his friends; turns out he is having an OBE while Queen Mab and Demonreach heal his body.]]

* Happens to Ash Ketchum and Pikachu in the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' episode "The Tower of Terror" after getting struck by a falling chandelier. As the three Ghost Pokemon show them what it's like to be ghosts, Ash befriends Haunter and, after being reunited with his body, asks him to help him against Sabrina back at Saffron City.