History Main / OurWightsAreDifferent

** ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'': Wights (and [[MonsterLord Wight Lords and Overlords]]) are higher-leveled versions of the [[NorseMythology Draugr]], mummified Norse dead buried in ornate coffins, many of which use cold magic, [[MakeMeWannaShout Shouts]], and other powers.

** ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'': Wights (and [[MonsterLord Wight Lords and Overlords]]) are higher-leveled versions of the Draugr, mummified Norse dead buried in ornate coffins, many of which use cold magic and have other powers.

* ''Literature/TheCarpetPeople'': Wights are a clairvoyant, varnish-mining race who can [[MentalTimeTravel remember the future]]; mostly sympathetic, but with something of an OmniscientMoralityLicense attitude. They're really more OurElvesAreBetter with Pratchett simply [[CallAPegasusAHippogriff playing with names]].

* In Myth/NorseMythology, "Wights" (Vaettir) essentially means DifferentlyPoweredIndividual - the term covers any non-divine magical beings, including [[OurElvesAreBetter Elves]], [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarfs]], [[OurGiantsAreBigger Giants]] and [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Trolls]].

[[folder:Literature ]]

* The 1869 translation of the Icelandic ''Literature/GrettirsSaga'' by Creator/WilliamMorris and Eiríkr Magnússon coined the term "barrow-wight" as a translation of the Old Norse ''haugbúi''. A ''haugbúi'' is a resident (''búi'') of a gravemound (''haugr''), meaning the animated corpse of a man buried in a barrow. In the saga, Grettir breaks into the gravemound of Karr to carry off the treasures buried with Karr; he is a attacked by the undead Karr and, after a hard fight, wrestles him down and cuts off his head. The same translations also uses the phrase "evil wight" several times for various trolls and undeads.

* Wights in ''Literature/TheCarpetPeople'' are a clairvoyant, varnish-mining race who can [[MentalTimeTravel remember the future]]; mostly sympathetic, but with something of an OmniscientMoralityLicense attitude. They're really more OurElvesAreBetter with Pratchett simply [[CallAPegasusAHippogriff playing with names]].
* In the ''Literature/BooksOfPellinor'', Maerad destroys "a wight of the abyss". It's implied to be some sort of demon.

* Color Wights from ''Literature/TheLightbringerSeries'' are ''very'' different. A Drafter (someone who uses the local form of FunctionalMagic) can only use so much power in their life; go over that limit and you "break the halo", with your eyes becoming shot through with [[ColorCodedWizardry your color or colors]], your powers enhanced, and usually [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity great insanity following shortly]]. Color Wights are no longer considered human, and many will attempt to remake themselves using magic, resulting in self-inflicted BodyHorror. [[DarkMessiah The Color Prince]], the series BigBad, is a Polychrome Wight- ie, a Wight created from someone who overused ''all seven colors''- and he denies that the WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity part is anything but propaganda.

* The ''Literature/ChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'' features the Cavewights, many of whom live in a system of caves called the Wightwarrens. However, they have nothing whatsoever to do with the undead; being physically powerful but weak-willed subterranean creatures who form the bulk of the BigBad's forces, they're closer to traditional depictions of [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orcs]].
* In ''Literature/MonsterHunterInternational'' wights are high-level undead that can paralyze with a touch and have to be burned. Chopping them up just leaves you with a lot of wiggling undead bits. Can be made and controlled by vampires.
* In O. R. Melling's ''The Hunter's Moon'', two cousins camp out inside an Irish burial mound, and the barrow wight, the spirit of a sacrificial victim, appears to one of them in a dream to warn her that the king of TheFairFolk is about to abduct the other.
* In Creator/MontagueRhodesJames's [[http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/j/james/mr/warning/chapter5.html "A Warning to the Curious"]], the last custodian of an Anglo-Saxon mound becomes a shadowy, implacable guardian spirit who "has some power over your eyes."
* In ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror,'' anyone trapped [[DarkIsEvil in complete darkness]] for several falls in a row ("fall" being [[AlternativeCalendar this universe's word for a 24 hour period]], measured by the [[WrapAround ever-looping]] [[WorldInTheSky descent of a massive distant rock]] called the Plummet, as the day-night cycle is actually [[EndlessDaytime centuries]] [[TheNightThatNeverEnds long]]), becomes a murderous entity of pure evil known as a Shade. Whether or not animals can become Shade has yet to be elaborated on.

[[folder:Religion & Mythology ]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games ]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' Wights are dead knights and guardians of ancient kings; essentially, the PraetorianGuard of an Undead army. In a possible inspiration from Tolkien, they have health-draining weapons.

** Warhammer's undead come in two distinct flavours - the cold, wet, barrow-dwelling Old World undead in the Vampire Counts army and the dry, desiccated, pyramid-dwelling Nehekharan undead in the Tomb Kings army. Both kinds have their own wights, known as "grave guard", "black knights" and "wight kings" for the former and "tomb guard", "necropolis knights" and "tomb heralds" for the latter. Both flavours are the partially mummified corpses of nobles, guards and tribal chieftains, and use pretty much exactly the same rules.
* The small-press [=RPG=] ''Nightlife'' had wights (spelled "wyghts") as a PC race, which resembled dried-up human corpses and could drain the youth from victims by touch.
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' borrowed the wight from Tolkien and made it an undead monster that drained energy levels (Character Levels) from its victims and [[TheVirus was created by draining a character of all their levels]]. To make matters worse, they're almost immune to conventional steel weapons and can only be seriously damaged by weapons made of silver, or magical weapons and spells.
** The Third edition did away with their resistance to non-magical weapons, and nerfed their level draining power, making it give a character "negative levels", which they then had to roll against to avoid losing the level permanently. If a character ever had more negative levels then actual levels they died and became a wight.
* The ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' card [[JokeCharacter "Skull Servant"]] is called "Wight" in the original Japanese version. Interestingly, it eventually gained ''[[LethalJokeCharacter support cards]]'' over the years: notably, "The Lady in Wight" and "Wightmare" kept the "Wight" name in the U.S..
* ''TabletopGame/{{Ironclaw}}'' has Barrow Wights, barely intelligent flesh-eating undead that are very hard to kill. They can heal by consuming the flesh of the living and even if destroyed they will rise again on the next full moon unless addressed by name and buried in consecrated ground. Also an [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Oupire]] who starves to death from lack of blood rises as a Barrow Wight.
* In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', a wight is a degenerate vampire who has lost all of their Humanity and became irreversibly bestial. These creatures are very rare, because other vampires actively hunt and destroy them to prevent breaches of TheMasquerade.

[[folder:Video Games ]]

* ''VideoGame/NetHack'' runs with this, usually giving Wights (which are specifically called Barrow-Wights) a long sword, a knife, and immunity to cold, but not an invisibility ring like the more powerful Nazgul. Do not confuse them with Wraiths, which have an attack that can drain character levels. Interestingly, when eaten, Wraiths [[spoiler:provide zero nutrition but also raise the consumer's level]].
* The Wights of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' are a monster class which functions as a stronger PaletteSwap of the Bonewalker class: here, they are reanimated skeleton warriors wielding various weapons.
* ''Franchise/DragonAge'' has a version of wight which is basically a teleporting ghost. [[spoiler:It's implied they're darkspawn, but which race they come from isn't established.]]
* In ''VideoGame/DragonsDogma'', the Wights are... [[NonIndicativeName wights in name only]], they are in fact lesser [[OurLichesAreDifferent Liches]].
* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' game, in the HalloweenTown world, there are [[IncrediblyLamePun Wight Knights]], undead enemies that can best be described as [[{{Mummy}} mummies]] with super-long arms and massive claws.
* The adventure game ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heroes_Of_Karn The Heroes of Karn]]'' had a barrowwight in a place called "the long barrow". No description of it is given, but it can be killed using a bible.
* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic 7.'' Wights, wraiths and barrow wights (in order of increasing power) are a somewhat rare sort of undead that wear long brown robes and tote really nasty knives. Aging, spell point drain and magical terror may result from their attacks.
** And by 'Somewhat rare' we mean 'You fight them every ten feet in The Barrow Downs. And less often in other areas too.'
* Similar to the TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons wights, ''VideoGame/{{Exile}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Avernum}}'' have wights that are higher-level undead who drain experience on hitting.
* Wights in ''VideoGame/{{Myth}}'' are zombies that [[ActionBomb explode]] when attacked or when they get close to enemies, and spray a paralyzing toxin over nearby units.

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', Another in-universe name for [[BigBad Dagoth Ur's]] [[EliteMooks Ash Vampires]] are "Heartwights." This is doubly more fitting since they, like [[PhysicalGod Dagoth Ur]], are bound to the Heart of Lorkhan and are not vampire-like in the least.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', Wights (and [[MonsterLord Wight Lords and Overlords]]) are higher-levelled versions of the Draugr, mummified Norse dead buried in ornate coffins, many of which use cold magic and have other powers.
* In ''Franchise/TheWitcher'' Wights are undead monsters resembling unwrapped mummies typically found in deserts and cemeteries that use VampiricDraining and summoned Barghests to attack their prey. In ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'' it's said that there was once a larger, more dangerous subspecies known as Spotted Wights that was eradicated by the witchers.
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', Wights are one of the rarer types of Undead in the Scourge. They appear as zombies mutated to monstrous sizes, though are otherwise fairly unremarkable.
* In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'', the wight is the name given to a stronger enemy that appears when you defeat several [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghouls]] in an area. As for ghouls, they are only a PaletteSwap of zombies.
* Wights in ''VideoGame/DungeonCrawl'' are insubstantial undead monsters that can drain your experience with their attacks.
* In the expansion for ''VideoGame/{{Majesty}}'', one of the missions requires the player to defeat two Wights, named Styx and Stones, described as the Queen and the most trusted General of said queen, respectively. Apparently, their bond in life was so strong that it still exists after death. When they are awakened, the player is supposed to kill them both. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. If you kill one and the other one isn't killed in less than 2 minutes (on normal game speed), then the one you killed comes back to life. To make matters worse, they summon speedy undead predators and they can teleport at will to the other one's location.
* The Wight enemy in ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' is a dark blue PaletteSwap of the orange and much weaker Zombie enemy.
* The titular creature in the upcoming ''VideoGame/ProjectWight'' is some form of monstrous creature rather than an undead entity. It's also capable of [[NotQuiteFlight gliding long distances]] and a [[MakeMeWannaShout sonic shriek]].
* The [[OurLichesAreDifferent Lich]] in ''VideoGame/NexusClash'' can summon lantern-eyed, spectral Wights from the corpses of their fallen enemies. Wights pack an extraordinarily deadly punch and are played as an EliteMooks alternative to the MookMaker strategy favored by most Liches.

[[folder:Webcomics ]]

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick:'' Tsukiko uses D&D wights as a [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0513.html commando squad]]. Being somewhat free-willed and [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0516.html not especially bright]], they [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0514.html take a simple pleasure]] [[PunchClockVillain in their nasty business]]. [[spoiler:And in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0830.html betraying their mistress]] when a stronger cleric comes along.]]

[[folder:Fanworks]]

Like {{ghouls}}, [[OurGnomesAreWeirder gnomes]] and [[AllTrollsAreDifferent trolls]], "wights" are a kind of supernatural creature whose details no one quite agrees on. Usually [[AlwaysChaoticEvil evilly affiliated]] and somehow related to TheUndead, but even ''that'' is up for debate. Can be an umbrella term for any magical creature, and occasionally a wight is a poorly understood, vaguely undead creature ''in-universe'' as well as in its description.

In much of modern fantasy (specifically of the MedievalEuropeanFantasy variety), wights are a kind of undead. This is owed to ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', in which "barrow-wights" appear as undead creatures haunting gravemounds. In this, Creator/JRRTolkien was inspired by the 1869 translation of the Icelandic ''Literature/GrettirsSaga'' by Creator/WilliamMorris and Eirik Magnusson, which used 'barrow-wight' once to translate the Old Norse ''haugbui'', which is a type of undead (namely, the living corpse of a man buried in a barrow, intent on defending his residence from graverobbers and trespassers). Following that trail, ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' and other works of the fantasy genre have loosely based their concept of 'wights' on the ''haugbuar'' and ''draugar'', the undeads of Literature/{{the Icelandic sagas}}. Many modern fantasy works, therefore, use 'wights' as more or less a stand-in for [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombies]], especially in settings where [[NotUsingTheZWord ''calling'' them zombies]] would seem out of place.

In much of modern fantasy (specifically of the MedievalEuropeanFantasy variety), wights are a kind of undead. This is owed to ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', in which "barrow-wights" appear as undead creatures haunting gravemounds. In this, Creator/JRRTolkien was inspired by the 1869 translation of the Icelandic ''Literature/GrettirsSaga'' by Creator/WilliamMorris and Eirik Magnusson, which used 'barrow-wight' once to translate the Old Norse ''haugbui'', which is a type of undead (namely, the living corpse of a man buried in a barrow, intent on defending his residence from graverobbers and trespassers). Following that trail, ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' and other works of the fantasy genre have loosely based their concept of 'wights' on the ''haugbuar'' and ''draugar'', the undeads of Literature/{{the Icelandic sagas}}. This equation of wights and undeads is entirely a modern development.

* In Myth/NorseMythology, "Wights" (Vaettir) essentially means DifferentlyPoweredIndividual - the term covers any non-divine [[NatureSpirit magical beings]], including [[OurElvesAreBetter Elves]], [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarfs]], [[OurGiantsAreBigger Giants]] and [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Trolls]].

* In Myth/NorseMythology, "Wights" (Vaettir) essentially means DifferentlyPoweredIndividual - the term covers any non-divine magical beings, including [[OurElvesAreBetter Elves]], [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarfs]], [[OurGiantsAreBigger Giants]] and [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Trolls]].

In much of modern fantasy (specifically of the MedievalEuropeanFantasy variety), wights are a kind of undead. This is owed to ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', in which "barrow-wights" appear as undead creatures haunting gravemounds. In this, Creator/JRRTolkien was inspired by the 1869 translation of the Old Icelandic ''Literature/GrettirsSaga'' by Creator/WilliamMorris and Eirik Magnusson, which used 'barrow-wight' once to translate the Old Norse ''haugbui'', which is a type of undead (namely, the living corpse of a man buried in a barrow, intent on defending his residence from graverobbers and trespassers). Following that trail, ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' and other works of the fantasy genre have loosely based their concept of 'wights' on the ''haugbuar'' and ''draugar'', the undeads of Literature/{{the Icelandic sagas}}. This equation of wights and undeads is entirely a modern development.

Has nothing to do with the UsefulNotes/IsleOfWight nor Wrestling/{{WWE}} wrestler Wrestling/TheBigShow (whose real name is Paul Wight, [[DoNotCallMePaul but don't call him that]]).

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Religion & Mythology ]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* The [[OurLichesAreDifferent Lich]] in ''[[NexusWar Nexus Clash]]'' can summon lantern-eyed, spectral Wights from the corpses of their fallen enemies. Wights pack an extraordinarily deadly punch and are played as an EliteMooks alternative to the MookMaker strategy favored by most Liches.

Has nothing to do with the UsefulNotes/IsleOfWight.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'', as a LiveActionAdaptation of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', follows the same rules as the source material.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', the wights are the reanimated corpses of humans, used as [[NightOfTheLivingMooks undead foot soldiers]] by the mysterious Others. They're cosmetically similar to Tolkien's (right down to the fact that in their first appearance a hand is chopped off but keeps moving by itself), but their origins are very different. Also, the Others have been seen using wight horses and other animals as [[HellishHorse mounts]]. They are [[KryptoniteFactor vulnerable only]] to [[KillItWithFire fire]] or [[ChunkySalsaRule being chopped into little bits]] - not even RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain does them in, and contrary to some characters' belief [[spoiler:they aren't vulnerable to [[DepletedPhlebotinumShells dragonglass]] like their eldritch masters are.]]

* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'', "heartwight" is an alternate name for an ash vampire. It fits better, since they aren't vampires at all.
* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', Wights (and [[MonsterLord Wight Lords and Overlords]]) are higher-levelled versions of the Draugr, mummified Norse dead buried in ornate coffins, many of which use cold magic and have other powers.

%%[[VideoGame/{{TheWitcher3WildHunt}}[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wight_tw3.png]]]]]]

[[VideoGame/{{TheWitcher3WildHunt}}[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wight_tw3.png]]]]]]

[[VideoGame/{{TheWitcher3WildHunt}}[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wight_tw3.png]]]]

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', Wights (and [[MonsterLord Wight Lords and Overlords]]) are higher-levelled versions of the Draugr, mummified Norse dead buried in ornate coffins, many of which use cold magic and have other powers.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* The 1869 translation of the Icelandic ''Literature/GrettirsSaga'' by Creator/WilliamMorris and Eiríkr Magnússon coined the term "barrow-wight" as a translation of the Old Norse ''haugbúi''. A ''haugbúi'' is a resident (''búi'') of a gravemound (''haugr''), meaning the animated corpse of a man buried in a barrow. In the saga, Grettir breaks into the gravemound of Karr to carry off the treasures buried with Karr; he is a attacked by the undead Karr and, after a hard fight, wrestles him down and cuts off his head. The same translations also uses the phrase "evil wight" several times for various trolls and undeads.
* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': Traversing the barrow-downs, the Hobbits have a nasty encounter with a "barrow-wight", which is described as "a tall dark figure like a shadow against the stars... two eyes, very cold, though lit with a pale light that seemed to come from some remote distance. Then a grip stronger and colder than iron seized him. The icy touch froze his bones and he remembered no more." The creature traps them in an underground burial chamber and is apparently trying to kill them when Tom Bombadil comes to the rescue. From what Tom says about the barrow-wights, they seem to be evil spirits possessing the corpses of long dead kings in their barrows, and using magic to lead travelers astray.

[[AC:{{Religion}} & {{Mythology}}]]

[[AC:TabletopGames]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:Webcomics]]