History Main / OurSoulsAreDifferent

* Souls in ''Literature/CoilingDragon'' are tied to the type of [[EnlightenmentSuperpowers magical abilities]] that a deity can use. When someone becomes a [[PhysicalGod demigod]], they bond their soul to a [[PiecesOfGod divine spark]] of a certain type of magic and a body can only use [[ElementalPowers the type of magic]] for that divine spark.

* In ''VideoGame/DantesInferno'', souls, depicted as glowing orbs, are collected by defeating enemies, breaking open fountains, [[CrateExpectations crates], and other containers, doing the absolution minigame, and completing the challenges in the circles of fraud and deceit before their time limits are up. They are used as currency for purchasing moves, upgrading existing ones, and purchasing relic slots, and upgrades to the health and mana bars. Also, after the final boss, [[spoiler:they help seal away Lucifer again. Sort of.]]

** ''{{Planescape}}'' elaborated on the afterlife and the fate of souls in 2nd Edition, some of which 3rd Edition retained. When a mortal dies their soul moves on to the Astral Plane where the mind is peeled off and left behind to form a "memory core" (which enterprising scavengers can then find and break into for knowledge), while the soul passes to an Outer Plane that matches their CharacterAlignment, or the home of their god(s). There they become petitioners, which are basically naked soul, and work to merge with their plane or god. Some petitioners are instead the least forms of demons, devils, angels, and other Outer Planar races and can ascend the ranks of these races instead of merging with the plane - or, more likely on the evil planes, become currency in the hands of demons and devils and spent to fuel their endless wars.

* The central premise of ''GhostInTheShell'', and its sequels, is the exploration of the true nature of souls and minds. People believe that even when almost the entire body and brain is replaced by implants, [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul cybernetics do ''not'']] eat your soul and that some unique part of a person always remains. It's even hinted that highly advanced machines could possibly create rudimentary ghosts.

* In the ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'', the soul is a concrete spiritual presence, capable of being affected by powerful magic. Should it be separated from the body, the person thus deprived slowly undergoes a [[HeroicBSOD horrific spiritual withering]], eventually becoming a shriveled mockery of their original self that can be easily [[DemonicPossession possessed by ghosts and spirits]]. The soul is completely separate from the mind, and apparently interchangeable with all others; attaching any soul to a victim of soul-theft will restore them to normal in due time. Each supplement deals with souls in various ways:
** TabletopGame/{{Mage|TheAwakening}}s must have their souls to work magic. Some Mages, more properly known as Tremere Liches, learn to prolong their existence by consuming the souls of others. These mages are sometimes known by an apt description: "sociopaths".

** TabletopGame/{{Promethean|TheCreated}}s seek ToBecomeHuman so that they can earn one.

* The idea of body and souls was tackled in the resurrection of Oliver Queen, the GreenArrow. When he returns from the dead, it's discovered that he only remembers about as far as {{the Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}} (thus having no knowledge of Parallax, Arsenal, etc.), and has none of the character development he experienced since. After some digging around, Ollie finds out that when he was resurrected [[CameBackWrong his soul didn't come back,]] so he's really just an empty shell (his "quiver"). It appears the soulless body still possesses free will but can't grow or change emotionally and is stuck in whatever period he remembers, like a projection, and it's alluded that when it dies, the consciousness inside will just cease existing. As for Ollie's soul, it decided to stay in heaven even when being offered outright a chance to come back to life by reuniting with his body, deciding it preferred heavenly bliss and using it as an excuse to duck his lingering problems back on Earth. [[spoiler: Turns out that not having a soul made Ollie's body an easy target for possession by any demon who stumbled on him or even an Earthly sorcerer, and he winds up almost being taken over by a Satanist warlock who wanted immortality. At the end of the story, Ollie reunites with his soul, bringing with him all the memories of what's happened since his death and foiling the warlock's plans.]]

** Apropos of nothing, in the "[[TransformersShatteredGlass Shattered Glass]]" MirrorUniverse, Sparks have an opposite charge and are called "Embers," which was sorta cool.

-->''Mr Krabs:'' Like I was saying, The Flying Dutchman swoops down and starts stealing people’s souls. (holds up a pickle)
-->''Spongebob:'' Do souls look like pickles?
-->''Mr Krabs:'' Aye, as a matter of fact, they do. And he puts them where you can never get them...in his soul bag. (drops the pickle into a bag that has the words "krusty krab" crossed out and the word "soul" written above it. Mr Krabs laughs evily as Squidward appears behind Spongebob in a pirate suit)
-->''Squidward:'' I’ve come for your pickle! (Spongebob jumps up screaming)

* In PoulAnderson's ''Literature/ThreeHeartsAndThreeLions'', the FairFolk have no souls. They can not venture on holy ground. And a nixie is explaining that certain barbarians offer her HumanSacrifice, and her reaction is a light observation that she's not, as they think, a cannibal, but the sacrifices do wear nice clothes -- and [[ObliviouslyEvil gives Holger an innocent look, because she has no soul]].

* PeterFHamilton loves the subject so much that he wrote a whole SF trilogy about possession in the 2600s. The soul is basically sentience (that is, YOU), but in a form that retains cohesion after death, without physical support (like the brain). This is linked to a theory of strata-less computing, which says (correct me if I'm wrong) that computation (read 'thought') can be accomplished without energy consumption and support if there is no input or output. A dead guy loses his 'input' (senses), and, so Hamilton says, the Universe is wired so that sentience survives and is either transported to the 'beyond' (an input-less hell where souls pass the time by raping each other for memories), or is transported to the end of time, to contribute with its memories to the creation of a new universe. Also, for some reason, if a soul is given the chance to take over a living human body (after suppressing the occupant), its remaining part which is still in the beyond dimension can serve as a massive source of energy for all sorts of evil powers.

* HBeamPiper flip-flopped about souls. While one of his ''Paratime'' novels featured reincarnation as a scientific fact, which makes no sense without some kind of soul...there was also a story in ''Federation'' which revolved around the attempt to settle down a planet's main religion, who were convinced [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt The Last Hot Time]] was coming and were going a bit psychotic with fire-frenzies. To pacify them, a Terran who was very friendly with their culture explained not only that Armageddon ''wasn't'' coming, but also that humans needed the main local product (biocrystals) to build themselves souls, following a curse (ItMakesSenseInContext). When another member of the cast objects to this, a military man comes up with this gem:

->''[[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20040925.html This soul thing. . . can I get one]] [[IsItSomethingYouEat by eating someone else's?]]''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons:'' Bart loses his soul (or just thinks he does, depending) and loses his sense of humor, his breath can't fog glass, and animals fear him (not to mention that he doesn't activate automatic door openers). He and Milhouse seem to believe that a soul is essentially a get-into-the-afterlife-free ticket. In a dream, Bart imagines the soul as a duplicate individual to interact with; since he sold his, the other Bart joins the two Milhouses.

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'', a [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Daedric]] soul, or "Essence", is referred to as ''The Animus''. Unlike a mortal soul, which can ''theoretically'' be permanently destroyed, a Daedric ''Animus'' is both everlasting and protean. As a result, "killing" a Daedra's mortal shell is possible, but it's soul will just take a metaphysical swim through the cosmic sewers and be spat back out again... Eventually.
** Souls are also divided into Black, White and Dragon. A Black soul is a soul of an intelligent, sapient creature, except dragons. It can be a humanoid (human, elf, beastman) or a greater, social Daedric race such as Dremora or Golden Saint. It apparently consists of two parts: consciousness and spirit energy. When such a soul is [[PoweredByAForsakenChild trapped and used]] for enchantment, the energy part powers the item and the consciousness part goes to the Soul Cairn, the realm of the undead. Such a FateWorseThanDeath this is, that black soul gems, used for trapping sapient souls, are banned by law and identify their owner as an user of TheDarkArts. A White soul, on the other hand, is a soul of an unintelligent creature (an animal, a lesser daedra, a non-sentient undead). It can be trapped in any old soul gem without qualms and repercussions. Dragon souls, the most powerful, cannot be manipulated by any soul gems and share the reincarnability property of the Daedric soul; but the Dovahkiin and other dragons can absorb dragon souls of their slain enemies, increasing their powers.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' souls exist, but it is not discussed what happens if you lose one (or even if it is possible), nor is it known what normally happens to it when you die. It is possible for a soul to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence, such as the case of the human Yue becoming the moon spirit. The most interesting example is that of the titular Avatar: the World Spirit which is reincarnated whenever it dies, meaning thousands of Avatars have existed with the same soul, but different minds and identities.

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': All beings have a separate heart and soul. If the heart separates from the body it becomes one of TheHeartless, while the body and soul either die or become [[BetaTestBaddie Nobodies]]. You read that right, "TheHeartless" are in fact ''made from hearts'' (or at least the Emblem ones) and the Nobodies are actually "heartless". Here, the heart contains all your emotions and memories, while the soul is merely the spark that animates the body.
** The soul also seems to be what possesses intellect and reason, as evidenced by the fact that Nobodies can still think rationally, whereas heartless act solely on instinct. Its possible that this is a function of the body's brain as well, its not clear. Furthermore, the body/soul combination does seem able to hold memories as well, as the Organization XIII members are stated to occasionally act like they have emotions because they remember having had them, and long for a return to that state. The heart is more related to one's emotions and ability to connect emotionally to other people. In other words, its responsible for ThePowerOfFriendship. Messing with the heart does seem to have an effect on memory, however, so the topic is somewhat muddled-- its possible that only "people" nobodies, like the Organization members, retain memories, through raw strength of will.

** Iorek Byrnison mentions that his armor his is soul - bears make their own soul.

** Considering Piper committed suicide apparently as a result of a bad time and a belief in reincarnation...

* In Creator/JRRTolkien's Middle-earth mythos, the precise nature of the soul (''fëa'', in Quenya), and its fate after death, varies depending on race: the souls of Elves are bound to this universe, and when they die they go to hang out in the Halls of Mandos, eventually to be reincarnated (unless they've committed acts of irredeemable evil in life) in a body identical to the old one. The souls of Men, on the other hand, are only meant to stay in this world for a limited time; after death they make a brief stop in the Halls of Mandos and then depart from the universe for an unknown destination. Disembodied Elvish souls are capable of refusing the summons to the Halls of Mandos, in which case they will drift around wherever they like -- but such souls are then susceptible to being captured and controlled by black magic (remember how Sauron was sometimes called the "Necromancer"? Yeah...).

* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' souls are reincarnated countless times throughout history, what happens between incarnations isn't discussed. The souls of Heroes get a slightly different treatment, they spend their time between lives in [[DreamLand Tel'aranh'rhiod]], but lose their memories between the time they are reborn and their next death. [[spoiler: Birgitte]] proves a soul ''can'' be forced into the real world before its time, but the full effects are far from certain.

** ''Machin'Shin'' (The Black Wind) is an entity of the Ways, an encounter with it may be fatal, or it could destroy the soul, leaving the victim alive but an EmptyShell.

** The TNG novel ''Ghostship'' deals with the idea of whether Data has a soul.
* In ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space 9]]'': ''Once more unto the breech'' Kor is sent on a suicide mission and promises to convey Worf's greetings to Jadzia in [[WarriorHeaven Sto'Vo'Kor]]. While Ezri is back at Deep Space 9 chatting in Quark's Bar. Which makes one wonder. What does happen to the soul's of a Trill's previous hosts?
** Jadzia even (re)introduced herself to some old friends of a previous host with the phrase "Don't mistake a new face with a new soul…" clouding the issue a bit. The symbiant which carries the memories to new hosts might be counted as having it's own soul, mingled with but distinct from the soul of the individual host.

** ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' souls can also be eaten (by Famine,) turned into demons via torture in Hell and used as an incredibly potent power source by various beings. Interestingly, while humans, monsters and demons all have souls or ''are'' souls, angels apparently don't have them -- although apparently, they're like batteries, and touching one can recharge a wounded or winded angel back to full strength.

** Of course, those are only the effects if your soul is ''cut'' away. If your soul is ''eaten'' away by a [[EldritchAbomination Specter]], it leaves you a completely hollow body that does not react to any stimulus whatsoever, which is why there are apparently no adults in Cittagazze.

** ''His Dark Materials'' also holds that the mind and the soul ''are'' separate, though intrinsically connected, and that a person's mind (ghost) retains its composition upon death, while a soul (Daemon) dissolves upon death. The mind feels incomplete however. On the bright side, a dead-but-still-intact ghost is [[LikeABadAssOutOfHell the perfect fighter]] against the aforementioned soul-eating Specters.

** Furthermore, if your Daemon is injured or separated from you by a certain distance, it causes the both of you intense physical pain. Physical contact with another person's Daemon is all but forbidden (except for certain circumstances, If You Know What I Mean). And the ''final chapters'' of the third novel explain some of the ways around all of these handicaps.
** Daemons are also described as being made from Dust, as are angels, and in fact the product of the interference of the fallen angels (the result of the fruit of knowledge, or the wheel oil). While the panserbjorne's existence seems to prove this is not necessary for intelligent life, their attachment to armor and a stricter culture could be seen as a suggestion that it helps, and lacking it a surrogate needs to be found. Then again, we only have the one example to go on.

* In Creator/JRRTolkien's Middle-earth mythos, the precise nature of the soul (''fea'', in Quenya), and its fate after death, varies depending on race: the souls of Elves are bound to this universe, and when they die they go to hang out in the Halls of Mandos, eventually to be reincarnated (unless they've committed acts of irredeemable evil in life) in a body identical to the old one. The souls of Men, on the other hand, are only meant to stay in this world for a limited time; after death they make a brief stop in the Halls of Mandos and then depart from the universe for an unknown destination. Disembodied Elvish souls are capable of refusing the summons to the Halls of Mandos, in which case they will drift around wherever they like -- but such souls are then susceptible to being captured and controlled by black magic (remember how Sauron was sometimes called the "Necromancer"? Yeah...).
** It's uncertain what happens to dwarves, not being part of the original divine plan for the world, but they believe that Aule their maker (who they call Mahal) has prepared some sort of afterlife for them. Tolkien speculates in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' that Aule made some sort of arrangement with Mandos to get his creatures a space in his Halls. Hobbits, as a kind of sub-species of Men, are probably subject to the same fate as them.

** Jadzia even (re)introduced herself to some old friends of a previous host with the phrase "Don't mistake a new face with a new soul" clouding the issue a bit. The symbiant which carries the memories to new hosts might be counted as having it's own soul, mingled with but distinct from the soul of the individual host.

** Of course, those are only the effects if your soul is ''cut'' away. If your soul is ''eaten'' away by a [[EldritchAbomination Specter]], it leaves you a completely hollow body that does not react to any stimulus whatsoever, which is why there are apparently no adults in Cittàgazze.

** ''His Dark Materials'' also holds that the mind and the soul ''are'' separate, though intrinsically connected, and that a person's mind (ghost) retains its composition upon death, while a soul (Dæmon) dissolves upon death. The mind feels incomplete however. On the bright side, a dead-but-still-intact ghost is [[LikeABadAssOutOfHell the perfect fighter]] against the aforementioned soul-eating Specters.

** Furthermore, if your Dæmon is injured or separated from you by a certain distance, it causes the both of you intense physical pain. Physical contact with another person's Dæmon is all but forbidden (except for certain circumstances, If You Know What I Mean). And the ''final chapters'' of the third novel explain some of the ways around all of these handicaps.
** Dæmons are also described as being made from Dust, as are angels, and in fact the product of the interference of the fallen angels (the result of the fruit of knowledge, or the wheel oil). While the panserbjørne's existence seems to prove this is not necessary for intelligent life, their attachment to armor and a stricter culture could be seen as a suggestion that it helps, and lacking it a surrogate needs to be found. Then again, we only have the one example to go on.

* In Creator/JRRTolkien's Middle-earth mythos, the precise nature of the soul (''fëa'', in Quenya), and its fate after death, varies depending on race: the souls of Elves are bound to this universe, and when they die they go to hang out in the Halls of Mandos, eventually to be reincarnated (unless they've committed acts of irredeemable evil in life) in a body identical to the old one. The souls of Men, on the other hand, are only meant to stay in this world for a limited time; after death they make a brief stop in the Halls of Mandos and then depart from the universe for an unknown destination. Disembodied Elvish souls are capable of refusing the summons to the Halls of Mandos, in which case they will drift around wherever they like -- but such souls are then susceptible to being captured and controlled by black magic (remember how Sauron was sometimes called the "Necromancer"? Yeah...).
** It's uncertain what happens to dwarves, not being part of the original divine plan for the world, but they believe that Aulë their maker (who they call Mahal) has prepared some sort of afterlife for them. Tolkien speculates in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' that Aulë made some sort of arrangement with Mandos to get his creatures a space in his Halls. Hobbits, as a kind of sub-species of Men, are probably subject to the same fate as them.

** Jadzia even (re)introduced herself to some old friends of a previous host with the phrase "Don't mistake a new face with a new soul…" clouding the issue a bit. The symbiant which carries the memories to new hosts might be counted as having it's own soul, mingled with but distinct from the soul of the individual host.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2273 the Devil can add some soul to his recipe.]]

** Also worth nothing, in TheElderScrollsOnline it seems that even though your soul is in the hands of Molag Bal and your body separated from it, your body is still quite conscious, and suffers no ill effects. If anything it's [[CursedWithAwesome beneficial]], as you are apparently immortal. If your mortal shell is slain, you can reconstitute at the nearest wayshrine.

* In ''Manga/SailorMoon'', souls are represented by starseeds, which can be readily stolen by Sailor Galaxia and her minions. When a normal human loses their starseed, they become a [[TheHeartless phage]], when a Sailor Soldier loses hers, she dies.

* In the ''FanFic/PonyPOVSeries'', a being's soul is composed of two parts -- a Light of Existence (the heart) and a Shadow of Existence (the appearance), both containing parts of the being's personality. If erased from existence, the Shadow ends up in [[EldritchAbomination Entropy]]'s Realm (the Light, according to WordOfGod, either returns to Fauna Luster from whom all souls spring, enters the afterlife, or is reborn as a new individual). What's more, it's stated that there's not a "Law of Conservation of Mass" when it comes to souls, meaning [[spoiler: the same person can have ''multiple'' {{reincarnation}}s ([[BadFuture Dark World]]!Twilight being the reincarnation of G3 Minty's Light and Minty Pie being the reincarnation of her shadow, for example), but the soul will still exist independently of the reincarnation.]]