History Main / HauntedFetter

* In ''TheVampireDiaries'' [[spoiler: Elena's necklace]] is used by the [[spoiler: Original Witch it once belonged to]] to give her a connection to the living world, and let her cast spells to further weaken the barrier between the world of the living and the dead.

* In ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' story ''Comicbook/KryptonNevermore'', the Quarmerrs -incorporeal beings of an alternate dimension- enter Earth across dimensional portals and bind themselves to different items. One of them penetrates the statue of an oriental war-demon and possesses it, causing it to come alive.

* Obviously used in ''WraithTheOblivion'', where destroying a fetter is one of the best ways to get rid of a ghost, putting them through a BlackBugRoom.

* This is also used in ''{{Exalted}}''. The [[EldritchAbomination Neverborn]] are the ghosts of dead [[OurTitansAreDifferent Primordials]], and ''all of Creation'' is their fetter. Their goal is to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy Creation]] so they can fall into [[CessationOfExistence Oblivion]], as the cycle of rebirth was never designed for Primordials (they never imagined that they could actually die.)

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTelevision]]

[[AC:TabletopGames]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:WebOriginal]]

* AlexVerus faces off against a mind mage who put his brain in his ultimate weapon to possess anyone who picks it up.

* In the GirlsLove VisualNovel ''AkaiIto'', the [[MagicMirror Ryugetsu]] is the fetter for [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Nozomi]] [[CreepyTwins and Mikage]]. Destroying it ''might'' solve the problem permanently in [[CuttingOffTheBranches some routes]]. In other routes... let's say that it's [[OneWingedAngel just the beginning of the battle]].

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' has this in droves. Class 3-A's resident CuteGhostGirl Sayo Aisaka's only initial fetter is [[AcademyOfAdventure Mahora Academy]] (she can't travel far outside the school). Later Kazumi Asakura, who has sat next to her for more than two years, serves as a fetter, a bit of a [[HeterosexualLifePartner different sort]]. Finally, she is given a doll to possess, which lets her travel to the [[MagicalLand magical world]] as well as have a physical body to manipulate.

* The Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Discworld/{{Sourcery}}'' begins with a wizard escaping death by binding his soul to his staff, which he continues to haunt and exert a baleful influence on the staff's next owner.

* ''Literature/TheNecromanticMysteriesOfKyleMurchisonBooth'': The Venebretti necklace acts as this to Madeline Stanhope's ghost in ''[[MacGuffinTitle The Venebretti Necklace'']].

* In the television version of ''Series/TheDresdenFiles'' Bob the Skull becomes the bound soul of Hrothbert of Bainbridge an evil sorcerer and necromancer fettered for eternity to his own skull.

* Obviously used in ''WraithTheOblivion'' where destroying a fetter is one of the best ways to get rid of a ghost
** Destroying all of a ghost's fetters will un-anchor them from reality causing them to be sucked into Oblivion, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Resolving said fetters (using the gun that killed the ghost as evidence to convict their murderer, for instance) will allow them to pass on to the true afterlife instead.

* This is also used in ''{{Exalted}}''. The [[EldritchAbomination Neverborn]] are the ghosts of dead [[PowersThatBe Primordials]], and ''all of Creation'' is their fetter. Their goal is to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy Creation]] so they can fall into [[CessationOfExistence Oblivion]], as the cycle of rebirth was never designed for Primordials (they never imagined that they could actually die.)

* In the pc game ''VideoGame/GhostMaster'', each ghost can only be assigned to certain types of fetters depending on what kind of haunter they are, e.g., electrical themed ghosts can be assigned to a microwave or refrigerator or the like.

* In the GirlsLove VisualNovel ''AkaiIto'', the [[MagicMirror Ryugetsu]] is the fetter for [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Nozomi]] [[CreepyTwins and Mikage]]. Destroying it ''might'' solve problem permanently in [[CuttingOffTheBranches some routes]]. In other routes... let's say that it's [[OneWingedAngel just the beginning of the battle]].

* In the pc game ''GhostMaster'', each ghost can only be assigned to certain types of fetters depending on what kind of haunter they are, e.g., electrical themed ghosts can be assigned to a microwave or refrigerator or the like.
* Spirit Monks in ''JadeEmpire'' could create these, but they didn't like to, finding it morally reprehensible. Emperor Sun Hai, after wiping out the Spirit Monks and stealing the Water Dragon's power, didn't have such qualms. For instance, Death's Hand is [[spoiler:the spirit of his brother, bound into their other brother's armor]].

* [[FallenHero Arthas]] from ''WarcraftIII'' and ''WorldOfWarcraft'', who has been corrupted by the sword Frostmourne which contains the spirit of the Lich King.
* ''GhostbustersTheVideoGame'' has these like no-one's business, from the Sedgewick Hotel's candelabra-crawlers to the Public Library's book-bats.

* In ''GhostTrick'', one character, Ray, possessed a lamp. [[spoiler: Ray turns out to be an older version of Missile from ten years ago. Missile possessed the lamp so he could be there when Sissel died and thus coerce Sissel into saving not only the city but also everyone involved with Yomiel's case.]]

* In ''GhostTrick'', one character, Ray, possessed a lamp. [[spoiler: Ray turns out to be an older version of Missile from ten years ago. Missile possessed the lamp so he could be there when Sissel died and thus coerce Sissel into saving not only the city but also everyone invovled with Yomiel's case.]]

* TanithLee's ''Kill the Dead''. Ghosts have an item from their previous life that links them to this plane. If the item is damaged or destroyed the ghost is sent to its final destination.

* This is also used in ''Exalted''. The [[EldritchAbomination Neverborn]] are the ghosts of dead [[PowersThatBe Primordials]], and ''all of Creation'' is their fetter. Their goal is to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy Creation]] so they can fall into [[CessationOfExistence Oblivion]], as the cycle of rebirth was never designed for Primordials (they never imagined that they could actually die.)

* In the television version of ''Series/TheDresdenFiles'' Bob the Skull becomes the bound soul of Hrothbert of Bainbridge an evil sorceror and necromancer fettered for eternity to his own skull.

[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
* ''MahouSenseiNegima'' has this in droves. Class 3-A's resident CuteGhostGirl Sayo Aisaka's only initial fetter is [[AcademyOfAdventure Mahora Academy]] (she can't travel far outside the school). Later Kazumi Asakura, who has sat next to her for more than two years, serves as a fetter, a bit of a [[HeterosexualLifePartner different sort]]. Finally, she is given a doll to possess, which lets her travel to the [[MagicalLand magical world]] as well as have a physical body to manipulate.

[[AC:Videogames]]

A subtrope of [[BodyAndHost Host]], and sibling to the HauntedHouse, a Haunted Fetter is an object that sympathetically binds a ghost to the world of the living. Typically, the item had some significance to the deceased in question before (s)he died. However, the item has to have once been owned or been in the presence of the deceased in order to become a fetter, else millions of ghosts would be fettered to a celebrity or a dream house in a foreign country.

Exceptions to the rule are when a necromancer binds a ghost to an item (sometimes called a "SoulJar"), or an important loved one of the deceased puts specific emotional memories on a specific item that reminds them of the specific ghost.

* The {{Discworld}} novel ''Discworld/{{Sourcery}}'' begins with a wizard escaping death by binding his soul to his staff, which he continues to haunt and exert a baleful influence on the staff's next owner.

[[AC:{{Live Action Television}}]]

[[AC:Tabletop Games]]
* Obviously used in ''WraithTheOblivion'' where destroying a fetter is one of the best ways to get rid of a ghost

** ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'' likewise has Anchors, which in some cases can be objects that a ghost can directly influence through its Numina. The Sin-Eaters also make good use of Fetters, objects created when a troublesome ghost is bound into its own Anchor. Use of a Fetter allows a Sin-Eater access to new power sources, as well as one of the ghost's Numina.

* In the pc game ''GhostMaster'', each ghost can only be assigned to certain types of fetters depending on what kind of haunter they are, e.g., electrical themed ghosts can be assigned to a microwave or refrigerator or the like.

* [[FallenHero Arthas]] from ''{{Warcraft III}}'' and ''WorldOfWarcraft'', who has been corrupted by the sword Frostmourne which contains the spirit of the Lich King.
* ''GhostbustersTheVideoGame'' has these like no-one's business, from the Sedgewick Hotel's candelabra-crawlers to the Public Library's book-bats.