History Main / TheLifestream

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1592757298042626100
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gaea.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"So... do we just toss the mother's day flowers into the flowy bits or...?"]]

%% Caption selected per above IP thread. Please do not replace or remove without discussion in the Caption Repair thread:
%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900

The TropeNamer is ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''.

See also SentientCosmicForce. Compare SpiritWorld. May be part of the conflict in a setting where HarmonyVersusDiscipline is used. Not to be confused with AIM's Website/{{Twitter}}-esque status update feature.

* The Galaxy Cauldron from the ''Manga/SailorMoon'' manga.
* Something similar is seen in the {{anime}} ''Manga/{{Mushishi}}'', in which it is called a ''koumyaku''[[note]]"light pulse vein"[[/note]] and described as a river of small ''mushi'', creatures who represent life in its purest form, amidst a flowing substance that is said to be the source of all life, callied ''kouki''.[[note]]roughly, "light wine"[[/note]] Its presence is good for life in general, but it can have weird effects on humans. Stare at a ''koumyaku'' for too long and mushi may come along that [[EyeScream consume your eyes]]. And if you're invited to drink ''kouki'', you can find your ties to the living world loosened as you're transformed into a ''mushi''.
* The Akasha from the {{Franchise/Nasuverse}} is the place where souls of the deceased are recycled to create new souls. However, it is also described as "the root of everything", as the concept of time does not apply; if a conscious being somehow manages to enter, it is basically TheNothingAfterDeath. Akasha is also where [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight the magi]] strive to reach, as "connecting" with Akasha allows the use of True Magic, which are miracles beyond the scope of current science or magecraft, such as [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Zelretch's]] alternate dimension travel.

* In ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion End of Evangelion]]'', there is a brief scene where Shinji Ikari is watching all the souls gathered from Third Impact flowing around in the Black Moon like a stream of water. Not really a surprise since the entire movie is a {{Downer Ending}}.

* The Primary Village serves the same purpose in ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}''. All slain digimon's data recollects itself here as eggs.
* ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'' also has this, referred to as, "The Astral Line".
* The rukh from ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'', which comes in white or black. White rukh is created from those who live within life's flow and follow fate, and is drawn to positive emotions. Black rukh is created from those who try to defy that flow and destiny, and is drawn to negative emotions like malice. [[spoiler:Turns out it's the other way around: White Rukh embodies the free will of mortals and the ability to persevere without destiny. Black Rukh is the will of a "god" who once trapped mortals in a destiny of suffering and wishes to do so again.]]

* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', this is ''kind of'' what the [[spoiler:Eldian "paths" are]]. It's a place where [[spoiler:the Eldian ancestor Ymir Fritz is trapped and made to create and recreate titan bodies out of the earth around her. Once she completes a titan body, it's presumably sent back to "reality". The only people capable of accessing the paths are Eldians who are titan shifters (such as Eren), and they forget about this dimension, along with Ymir Fritz, when they're revived... except those of royal blood. Zeke maintains memories of his human body being moulded by Ymir, and states that it felt like he was there for many years]]. It turns out that [[spoiler:Eren's goal]] is to [[spoiler:rescue Ymir from her eternal prison and thus make it impossible for any more titans to be created]].

* The Speed Force in Franchise/TheDCU is sometimes portrayed like this. In essence, it acts as the Valhalla for all speedsters who use it directly when they die, as a place where they'll be eternally happy and run forever...but also lose their individuality. Its existence is explained two ways:

** When the second ''Franchise/TheFlash'', Barry Allen, was hit by the lightning bolt that gave him his powers that it simultaneously made him the first user of the Speed Force and sent the Speed Force throughout time and the multiverse. Since Barry is the first person to have the Speed Force, every step he takes causes the Speed Force to grow making it its own dimension.
* The Keywork in [[Music/CoheedAndCambria The Amory Wars]] is a subversion: the souls are tortured and used as a fuel source for the entire galaxy. In fact, [[spoiler:there is an entire race, called Stars, who were created just for there to be more souls to burn.]]
* There was an issue of ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}'' (''ComicBook/TheAuthority'''s predecessor) where it was revealed that Heaven and Hell were cosmic siege engines locked in an endless war, powered by the souls of the dead. There was a bar next to a nuclear testing range with a wall of photos of physicists who'd ended their lives at ground zero of a nuclear blast to deny either side their soul.
** Said bar was also visited a few times in ''ComicBook/{{Planetary}}''. ''Planetary'' also offers a more benevolent version of the trope, when the protagonist goes on a VisionQuest and experiences the information field that underlies reality.

* The ''Franchise/MassEffect'' fanfic ''[[Fanfic/CrucibleMassEffect Crucible]]'' has The Song, the place where all souls come from and return to. Billion and billion of universes floating in it, tied to it but mortal cannot see it, only hear its sings. Since the scale is so large, each universe has their own AnthropomorphicPersonifications of Life and Death who control the traffic of souls between their world and The Song to make sure things run smoothly since now and then there are souls that refuse to move.
* ''Fanfic/HeartsOfIce'': After dying, [[spoiler:Ranma]] finds himself drifting upwards. Then he is suddenly swimming in an one-mile-wide river, surrounded by countless souls floating in the pale blue water. He can also see that the river downstream forks three ways: the right fork leads to lush green fields where the deceased can become reunited with their ancestors, the middle fork leads to the realm of the beasts, where dead animals' souls await reincarnation, and the left one leads to the Hell. Also, human souls who are meant to be reincarnated end up washed up onto the river's banks.

* In ''Anime/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'', the Earth is described as having a Gaia which is essentially the Lifestream from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' with a different name. The entire plot of the movie is actually that of [[spoiler: the battle between Earth's Gaia and one from a dead world, '''its''' souls having been driven insane after drifting through space for untold aeons until slamming into Earth]].
* In ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', the spirits of the departed live on inside Eywa -- and their memories are accessible if a living person finds a way to directly connect with it.

* The computer system that runs the Afterlife in Paul Robinson's ''Literature/InstrumentOfGod''.
* ''Literature/ThePendragonAdventure'''s Solara.
* Dust in ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials''. It's described as the main factor in the existence of sapience and possibly life itself, and without it the Multiverse is pretty much screwed.
* The mindstream in ''Literature/TheObernewtynChronicles''.
* Roger Elwood's ''Literature/TheWandering'' has the Currents Of The Cosmos, the preferred afterlife of Neshi's homeworld.

* In ''Literature/TheBartimaeusTrilogy'', the [[SpiritWorld Other Place]] combines this with EldritchLocation and AcidTripDimension, though the HiveMind of spirits there is not human.
* In the ''Literature/BlackJewels'' series, the Darkness is the [[DarkIsNotEvil benevolent]] source from which the Blood draw their powers, as well as where their souls go when they die and come from when they are born. It is occasionally appealed to similarly to a deity, but without any anthropomorphic representation. Interestingly, the series never addresses whether the non-Blood [[{{Muggle}} landen]] come from the Darkness, or somewhere else.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2TZhruT-Xs This performance]] by Harry Belafonte on ''Series/TheMuppetShow''.
* "The next emanation" of an alien humanoid species in the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Emanations."
* In ''Series/TheDarkCrystalAgeOfResistance'', all life native to the planet Thra returns their LifeEnergy(called "essence") to Thra once they die. The planet is being corrupted and slowly killed because the Skeksis have learned how to [[LifeDrain drain the essence of living things]] through the Dark Crystal and consume it to preserve their own lives beyond what is natural.

* Myth/ClassicalMythology: The Underworld has some elements of this on top of being Heaven, Hell and Limbo all rolled into one. Souls are said not just go their when someone dies, but it is also the origin of souls. There is an enclosure within either Elysium or Tartarus depending on the version, where new souls are born and carried up to the living world by a great wind to be born.
* In some versions of Buddhism, souls go to the "Bardo" for a time-out between incarnations. Several interludes in ''Literature/TheYearsOfRiceAndSalt,'' an alternate-history novel by Creator/KimStanleyRobinson, are set in the Bardo. The Chinese "Di Yu," or "Earth Prison," is similar to the Bardo although it is usually translated as "Hell" and there is some tormenting of sinners in the lower levels.
* UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}}: The Pleroma is this, combined with PiecesOfGod.

* The "Rebirth Into Death" setting in ''TableTopGame/AllFleshMustBeEaten'' poses that all life is ultimately part of one overarching source of life. In the beginning, living creatures were born randomly, but once humanity evolved, some souls retained their consciousness after death and figured out how to rig the life force (effectively creating chains of reincarnation). They stopped paying attention to it when some of their number worked out how to get into Paradise, and the system is breaking down - life energy is now going into corpses. Cue the ZombieApocalypse.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has the (rather poorly-defined) Incarnum. It's either souls or LifeEnergy, and the lack of it causes stillbirth. Which happened when a dragon by the name [[BigBad Ashardalon]] sat on [[TheLifestream its source]], gleefully omnomnom-ing it. Some heroes eventually dealt with him, but the source of Incarnum was cracked (or something), causing Incarnum to be available-as-powers like magic or psionic. When it's materialized, it looks like light-blue sands.
* ''TabletopGame/DeadInside'': The Source. The cosmos is structured like a bird's egg, with the real world as the shell, the Spirit World as the white of the egg, and the Source as the yolk, protected by everything else from the void of oblivion on the outside. All soul energy comes from the Source, and all soul energy returns to the Source. That is, unless it rots away through indulging one's vices, or eaten by living holes in reality, or burned away to power magic, or... Well, suffice to say that not enough soul energy comes out of the Source these days to keep up with all the possible ways it might be lost, so one of the ways to lose your soul in the game is to have never had one in the first place. [[ParanoiaFuel And nobody knows if the Source can be tapped out, and if so, how close it might be...]]
* [[SpaceAmish Eldar Exodite]] Maiden Worlds in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. The planets have thin crystal veins running through the world's crust, which the Exodites use as repositories for the spirits of their dead, in a manner similar to the Infinity Circuits on Eldar Craftworlds. This a good thing for the Exodites in a few ways; it means they don't get [[FateWorseThanDeath claimed by Slaanesh]] when they die, the spirits often serve as guides and mediators to living Exodites, and due to the fact that Eldar are inherently psychic, this means that the planets themselves are sentient and will direct native creatures to fend off any threatening invader
* Present in ''TabletopGame/AnimaBeyondFantasy'' as the Stream of Souls, and being quite based on ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'''s Lifestream. Souls of the dead go there, circling the planet and being sort of purified, before being reincarnated. The [[TarotMotifs Arcana]] are said to come from there, representing basic emotions.
* The Afterlife is partially like this in ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': The souls of the dead go to the River of Souls, where(barring interference from Night Hags or other predators) they are taken to the Boneyard, where they are judged by the Goddess of Death, Pharasma.

** The Lifestream in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', which is the TropeNamer. It's both a metaphorical afterlife in which the LifeEnergy of every living thing returns to "the Planet" upon their death to be recycled into more life, and a very physical mass of [[GreenRocks green energy goo]] that you can use to run your blender, [[FunctionalMagic power your Fire spells]], or turn you neighbor into a HumanoidAbomination.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' has a similar concept running behind the scenes; the EvilPlan is to [[spoiler: prevent the souls of the people of Gaia from reincarnating, so the souls of the people of Terra can replace them]].

*** Later expansions elaborate on the Lifestream/Aetherial Sea more: most importantly, there is no one singular Aetherial Sea, it's implied every planet with life has its own lifestream. This includes the different [[AlternateUniverse Shards]] - if you die in a Shard, your soul remains within that Shard's Lifestream. ''Endwalker'' also implies the existance of a formless 'great flow' that courses through the universe in which both souls and aether move. [[spoiler:This ends up being particularly important, as the countless souls trapped by the Endsinger are released after her destruction, allowing them to flow back into the universe and be properly reborn.]]
%%* Glaive Le Gable in ''VideoGame/{{Wild ARMs 2}}''.
%%* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' has the titular [[{{MacGuffin}} Kingdom Hearts]].
* In the game ''{{VideoGame/Darwinia}}'', each creature has a digital "soul" that rises into the sky and merges into a soul collector which hovers over the world when they die, and which feeds them back down as a rain of souls on another location, where they go on to be processed into new creatures. In this manner, even the souls of TheVirus that infects the digital world of Darwinia can be reincarnated as clean darwinians. One virus creature permanently destroys the souls of those it eats, however.
* The [[spoiler:Chroma]] in ''VideoGame/{{Fahrenheit}}''. While its nature is not fully explained, it ''is'' mentioned that [[spoiler:this is where all living things derive their life energy from, hence, a person with high concentration of chroma in their body (like Lukas) is extremely energetic, like, bare-handedly-fighting-off-a-police-squad-and-then-jumping-atop-of-a-moving-train energetic.]]
* In ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga II'', the Sun holds the "data" of dead people until they reincarnate. Or, at least, it used to, before [[AfterTheEnd something went horribly wrong]]...
* ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' and ''VideoGame/BioShock2'': ADAM has become a variant. Once a human Splices with it, their genetic blueprint, personality, memories, and powers are imprinted in the substance contained in their bodies due to crossover of genes during genetic sampling, caused by the use of recycled ADAM harvested from corpses. This explains why Jack sees ghosts throughout Rapture. [[spoiler: [[KnightTemplar Sophia Lamb]] wishes to fuse her daughter with the aggregate genius of Rapture to make her the first "[[PhysicalGod Utopian]]".]]
* The Sea of Souls in ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVI''.
* How Mantra is portrayed in ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath''. [[spoiler: Controlled by Chakravartin, a God who's a major asshole that thinks he does good deeds by testing the demi-gods that use the mantra he bestowed upon them by sending monstrous gohma to try and kill them.]]

** The Sea Of Souls in the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series is, effectively, the human collective unconcious made manifest, and is also the origin point of all souls. Personas, Demons, Shadows, and the various god-like entities in the franchise all come from the Sea Of Souls, due to being unconciously created by humanity itself.
* The world of Eora in ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'' and [[VideoGame/PillarsOfEternityIIDeadfire its sequel]] has the adra network (the titular Pillars) that funnels [[OurSoulsAreDifferent souls]] to the Great Wheel, where the souls churn through to their next reincarnations. Everything living [[spoiler: including the gods]] depends on it in order for life to continue. [[spoiler: The conflict in Deadfire involves a god ''destroying'' said Wheel so that sentient beings can be free from the other gods, who were actually created by long-lost technology running on SoulPower. He's hoping that people will be able to make their own Lifestream eventually (if you ask, it's clarified that the process of setting up the divine siphon and override of the natural stream made it more efficient but also permanently made it dependent on that control, hence how destroying the Wheel won't just bring back the pre-gods system.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In ''Webcomic/TwoKinds'', Dark Mana is actually life-force energy siphoned from the planet and people. It's used to cast shadow magic.

* Near the end of ''Webcomic/ThePhoenixRequiem'' it is revealed [[spoiler: that instead of an afterlife, the dead souls merge into a spirit ocean from where they can later be reborn. Originally, the Hellions were the guardians of the spirit ocean, but they negotiated with an alien race of spirits to switch duties. But instead of doing their new jobs, the spirits have been eating soul energy, paying humans with magic spells to off a few 'demonic hellions', until most of them were imprisoned in retaliation. The heroes argue that this pool would dry up over time, so they refuse to free the spirits.]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Endtown}}'': There is a well of souls somewhere in the multiverse. Unfortunately, the meta-apocalypse has allowed someone to hijack the stream. This is implied to be the grand finale of the comic.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': The strange world of Ever After, in ironic contrast to its name, runs on the lifestream. Afterans that die, fulfill their purpose, or lose sight of it are ''devoured'' by the WorldTree, which regrows them as new creatures with reset memories. [[spoiler:Part of what got Remnant's gods banished from this place was inventing a creature that could devour an Afteran's soul [[DeaderThanDead permanently]].]]
* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' mythos, the Force is described as working like this, and characters who die are often described as becoming "one with the Force." ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' goes into it more. Everything is made up of the Living Force and when living things die, their Living Force flows into the Cosmic Force to be rejoined with all things.
* The [=AllSpark=] in the ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' series. At least, as far as the ''Anime/UnicronTrilogy'' is concerned.[[note]]Annoyingly, the name changes as the concept stays the same. But for all Transformerdom, this trope is the best way to describe it. All Sparks come from a source when they're incarnated and return to this source when they terminate, taking with it its knowledge and experiences to share with and improve the whole. "Where all are one," as Rhinox put it. You can ''sometimes'' communicate with it.[[/note]]
** In ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' and ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines,'' it was interchangeably called the Matrix (which is ''also'' the name of a MacGuffin that isn't really related to it).

* [[SpaceAmish Eldar Exodite]] Maiden Worlds in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. The planets have thin crystal veins running through the world's crust, which the Exodites use as repositories for the spirits of their dead, in a manner similar to the Infinity Circuits on Eldar Craftworlds. This a good thing for the Exodites in a few ways; it means they don't get [[FateWorseThanDeath claimed by Slaanesh]] when they die, the spirits often serve as guides and mediators to living Exodites, and due to the fact that Eldar are inherently psychic, this means that the planets themselves are sentient and will direct native creatures to fend off any threatening invaders.

* In the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist 2003 anime version]] of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', the souls of people who die in our Universe is [[spoiler:converted to energy that fuels alchemy in their Universe]]. Ouch.

-->-- '''"[[OminousLatinChanting The Promised Land"]]''', ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren''

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has the (rather poorly-defined) Incarnum. It's either souls or LifeEnergy, and the lack of it causes stillbirth. Which happened when a dragon by the name [[BigBad Ashardalon]] sat on [[The Lifestream its source]], gleefully omnomnom-ing it. Some heroes eventually dealt with him, but the source of Incarnum was cracked (or something), causing Incarnum to be available-as-powers like magic or psionic. When it's materialized, it looks like light-blue sands.

* The Sea Of Souls in the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series is, effectively, the human collective unconcious made manifest, and is also the origin point of all souls. Personas, Demons, Shadows, and the various god-like entities in the franchise all come from the Sea Of Souls, due to being unconciously created by humanity itself.

* The Source in ''[[TabletopGame/ProseDescriptiveQualities Dead Inside]]''. The cosmos is structured like a bird's egg, with the real world as the shell, the Spirit World as the white of the egg, and the Source as the yolk, protected by everything else from the void of oblivion on the outside. All soul energy comes from the Source, and all soul energy returns to the Source. That is, unless it rots away through indulging one's vices, or eaten by living holes in reality, or burned away to power magic, or... Well, suffice to say that not enough soul energy comes out of the Source these days to keep up with all the possible ways it might be lost, so one of the ways to lose your soul in the game is to have never had one in the first place. [[ParanoiaFuel And nobody knows if the Source can be tapped out, and if so, how close it might be...]]

See also SentientCosmicForce. May be part of the conflict in a setting where HarmonyVersusDiscipline is used. Not to be confused with AIM's Website/{{Twitter}}-esque status update feature.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has the (rather poorly-defined) Incarnum. It's either souls or LifeEnergy, and the lack of it causes stillbirth. Which happened when a dragon by the name [[BigBad Ashardalon]] sat on [[The Lifestream its source]], gleefully omnomnom-ing it. Some heroes eventually dealt with him, but the source of Incarnum was cracked (or something), causing Incarnum to be available-as-powers like magic or psionic. When it's materialized, it looks like light-blue sands. [[TheForce Sounds awfully familiar, don't it?]]

** In ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' and ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines,'' it was interchangeably called the Matrix (which is ''also'' the name of a MacGuffin that isn't really related to it.)

* In Webcomic/TwoKinds, Dark Mana is actually life-force energy siphoned from the planet and people. It's used to cast shadow magic.
* In Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt, while those who die may go on to some sort of afterlife, in the end, everyone is brought back into the Ether, which is the source of all magic in this verse.

* Something similar is seen in the {{anime}} ''Manga/{{Mushishi}}'', in which it is called a ''koumyaku''[[note]]"light pulse vein"[[/note]] and described as a river of small ''mushi'', creatures who represent life in its purest form, amidst a flowing substance that is said to be the source of all life, callied ''kouki''[[note]]roughly, "light wine"[[/note]]. Its presence is good for life in general, but it can have weird effects on humans. Stare at a ''koumyaku'' for too long and mushi may come along that [[EyeScream consume your eyes]]. And if you're invited to drink ''kouki'', you can find your ties to the living world loosened as you're transformed into a ''mushi''.

** The Farplane in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' and ''Final Fantasy X-2''. A young Spiran genius named Shinra speculates on its use as a power source, and as it turns out, [[WordOfGod that wide-eyed boy's descendants developed space travel, found a planet with a similar afterlife, and made his dream come true]]. [[DontExplainTheJoke I'm talking about the Planet from FFVII]].

*** Another older spell called Flow can be used more quickly and without the aid of the aethernet, but [[TeleporterAccident is considerably less reliable]] and is considered [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique too dangerous to be used outside of extreme emergencies]] thanks to the various ways it can mess things up. Such mishaps can include spitting the user out hundreds of miles from their destination, taking a very long time to resolve, or even leaving them trapped in the Stream indefinitely. Those last two are particularly troublesome as, also like in ''VII'', overexposure can be damaging to individuals who still possess a corporeal body. [[spoiler: This is shown rather dramatically in the aftermath of 2.55, when Y’shtola is forced to use it in a last-ditch attempt to escape from the Brass Blades and both she and Thancred sustain significant injuries as a result of entrapment and overexposure, respectively.]]

* The [[spoiler:Chroma]] in ''VideoGame/{{Fahrenheit}}''. While its nature is not fully explained (which might place it into TheForce category instead), it ''is'' mentioned that [[spoiler:this is where all living things derive their life energy from, hence, a person with high concentration of chroma in their body (like Lukas) is extremely energetic, like, bare-handedly-fighting-off-a-police-squad-and-then-jumping-atop-of-a-moving-train energetic.]]

* The Speed Force in Franchise/TheDCU is sometimes portrayed like this. In essence, it acts as the Valhalla for all speedsters who use it directly when they die, as a place where they'll be eternally happy and run forever... but also lose their individuality. Its existence is explained two ways:

** When the second Flash, [[Franchise/TheFlash Barry Allen]], was hit by the lightning bolt that gave him his powers that it simultaneously made him the first user of the Speed Force and sent the Speed Force throughout time and the multiverse. Since Barry is the first person to have the Speed Force, every step he takes causes the Speed Force to grow making it its own dimension.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': Creation always has a number of souls necessary to animate the living beings in it, since the Ewer of Souls always provides exactly that much. The problem that Autochthon, a machine-god who is also a self-contained world, is facing in his self-imposed exile is that he needs to eat souls (to put it simply), and he's dying because he can't get fresh ones. Note that there's no Lifestream in the traditional sense; souls normally reincarnate, thus they enter Creation but don't leave it. The only way souls meet FinalDeath is by falling into Oblivion. The Neverborn want to [[OmnicidalManiac toss everything, themselves included]], into Oblivion.

** Said bar was also visited a few times in ComicBook/{{Planetary}}

* Near the end of ''Webcomic/ThePhoenixRequiem'' it is revealed [[spoiler: that instead of an afterlife, the dead souls merge into a pool from where they can later be reborn. The spirits were actually eating these souls instead of letting them enter this pool, giving people magic in exchange. The heroes argue that this pool would dry up over time, so they refuse to free the spirits.]]

[[quoteright:320:[[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gaea.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:320:"So... do we just toss the mother's day flowers into the flowy bits or...?"]]

* ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' and ''VideoGame/BioShock2'': ADAM has become a variant. Once a human Splices with it, their genetic blueprint, personality, memories, and powers are imprinted in the substance contained in their bodies due to crossover of genes during genetic sampling, caused by the use of recycled ADAM harvested from corpses. This explains why Jack sees ghosts throughout Rapture. [[spoiler: [[KnightTemplar Sophia Lamb]] wishes to fuse her daughter with the aggregate genius of Rapture to make her the first "[[AGodAmI Utopian]]".]]

* The world of Eora in ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'' and [[VideoGame/PillarsOfEternityIIDeadfire its sequel]] has the adra network (the titular Pillars) that funnels [[OurSoulsAreDifferent souls]] to the Great Wheel, where the souls churn through to their next reincarnations. Everything living [[spoiler: including the gods]] depends on it in order for life to continue. [[spoiler: The conflict in Deadfire involves a god ''destroying'' said Wheel so that sentient beings can be free from the other gods, who were actually created by long-lost technology running on SoulPower. He's hoping that people will be able to make their own Lifestream eventually.]]

* [[UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}} The Pleroma]] is this, combined with PiecesOfGod.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

* In the ''StarWars'' mythos, the Force is described as working like this, and characters who die are often described as becoming "one with the Force."
** ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' goes into it more. Everything is made up of the Living Force and when living things die, their Living Force flows into the Cosmic Force to be rejoined with all things.

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': Creation always has a number of souls necessary to animate the living beings in it, since the Ewer of Souls always provides exactly that much. The problem that Autochthon, a machine-god who is also a self-contained world, is facing in his self-imposed exile is that he needs to eat souls (to put it simply), and he's dying because he can't get fresh ones.
** Note that there's no Lifestream in the traditional sense; souls normally reincarnate, thus they enter Creation but don't leave it. The only way souls meet FinalDeath is by falling into Oblivion. The Neverborn want to [[OmnicidalManiac toss everything, themselves included]], into Oblivion.
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has the (rather poorly-defined) Incarnum. It's either souls or LifeEnergy, and the lack of it causes stillbirth. Which happened when a dragon by the name [[BigBad Ashardalon]] sat on [[The Lifestream its source]], gleefully omnomnom-ing it. Some heroes eventually dealt with him, but the source of Incarnum was cracked (or something), causing Incarnum to be available-as-powers like magic or psionic. When it's materialized, it looks like light-blue sands. [[TheForce Sounds awfully familar, don't it?]]

* [[SpaceAmish Eldar Exodite]] Maiden Worlds in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. The planets have thin crystal veins running through the world's crust, which the Exodites use as repositories for the spirits of their dead, in a manner similar to the Infinity Circuits on Eldar Craftworlds. This a good thing for the Exodites in a few ways; it means they don't get [[FateWorseThanDeath claimed by Slaanesh]] when they die, the spirits often serve as guides and mediators to living Exodites, and due to the fact that Eldar are inherently psychic, this means that the planets themselves are sentient and will direct native creatures to fend off any threatening invaders.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* The Sea Of Souls in the ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona Persona]]'' series is, effectively, the human collective unconcious made manifest, and is also the origin point of all souls. Personas, Demons, Shadows, and the various god-like entities in the franchise all come from the Sea Of Souls, due to being unconciously created by humanity itself.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has the (rather poorly-defined) Incarnum. It's either souls or LifeEnergy, and the lack of it causes stillbirth. Which happened when a dragon by the name [[BigBad Ashardalon]] sat on [[TheLifestream its source]], gleefully omnomnom-ing it. Some heroes eventually dealt with him, but the source of Incarnum was cracked (or something), causing Incarnum to be available-as-powers like magic or psionic. When it's materialized, it looks like light-blue sands. [[TheForce Sounds awfully familar, don't it?]]

[[quoteright:320:[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lifestream.jpg]]]]