Line #175 Main/MergerOfSouls


1	%%%
2	%%
3	%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order.
4	%%
5	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
6	%%
7	%%%
8
9	->'''Ermac:''' We hunger for new souls.\
10	'''Kenshi:''' Thousands of souls but none your own.\
11	'''Ermac:''' We ''are'' the thousands!
12	-->-- ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX''
13
14	When two or more souls literally ''fuse'' into one singular soul, typically in a ''permanent'' manner. It may result from a FusionDance. It's also possible for [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence transcendence]] to involve several personalities merging together into a single collective.
15
16	An AssimilationPlot can be this on a large scale. SisterTrope to SplitPersonalityMerge, which is when this is done with a character who has dissociative identity disorder. Compare MentalFusion, which is a temporary fusion of ''minds'' ([[OurSoulsAreDifferent though the mind-soul distinction is up to debate in some circles]]).
17
18	Also Compare MindHive and ManySpiritsInsideOfOne, both of which involve multiple separate spirits in the same body.
19
20	Also also compare YourSoulIsMine and SoulPower. It's different from SoulEating because the soul is not consumed, but rather absorbed, still retaining some of its own uniqueness in the bigger whole.
21
22	Not to be confused with {{Soul}} Music.
23
24	----
25	!!Examples:
26
27	[[foldercontrol]]
28
29	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
30	* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
31	** Hollows become more powerful by eating each other (and human souls). At lower stages of strength, this normally leads to them becoming beastial creatures known as Gillians, composed of many thousands of souls and forming the first stage of a Hollow's existence as a Menos. Occasionally one of these hollows contain a soul strong willed enough to remain sapient and somewhat intelligent, which takes control and continues to feed on other hollows to become more powerful. If such a Gillian consumes enough souls, it turns into a more powerful and now-truly intelligent Adjuchas. Adjuchas then begin devouring other Adjuchas, and if they're powerful enough, they will turn into a Vasto Lorde, the final and most powerful form a Hollow can achieve. It's unclear what happens to all of the souls when a Hollow is killed by a Soul Reaper. The dominant soul is "purified" and sent to Soul Society (or sent to Hell if they were evil enough before becoming a Hollow), and reenters the cycle of reincarnation. But it's never specified whether the same thing happens to all of the other souls a Hollow has eaten, or whether they've all been permanently merged and will reincarnate as a single composite soul from then onward.
32	*** It is implied in Literature/BleachCantFearYourOwnWorld that should a sufficiently powerful Hollow be killed, the many souls within would reincarnate at once, and flood the cycle of reincarnation akin to a tsunami. This is the reason why Ikomikidomoe was sealed inside a Zanpakuto instead, and why Squad Zero never killed Harribel, Grimmjow, and/or Neliel - even though they stepped foot in the Royal Palace after the war - their bodies contained countless other dormant souls that would disrupt the balance were they released.
33	** Ichigo's inner hollow formed [[spoiler:when the soul and ''reiryoku'' of the proto-arrancar "White" transferred from Masaki to Ichigo and merged with his Soul Reaper powers and Zanpakuto spirit]].
34	** In general, this is how the AppliedPhlebotinum in ''Bleach'' works regardless. Zanpakutou swords themselves are stated to be built from a conglomeration of souls, everything in the world itself (both the spiritual and physical) is said to be comprised of souls, and the Hyougyoku absorbs pieces of the souls of others in order to power up.
35	* ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'':
36	** Izutsumi is an ArtificialHybrid created by merging a [[CatFolk cat]] with a human baby. This turns out to have permanently mingled their souls as well, making it impossible for her to become human again. The cat part of her soul sometimes affects her behaviour: when {{Succubi\|AndIncubi}} try to appear as something desirable to her, she sees both her MissingMom and a MegaNeko but is unfazed by either of them.
37	** After the Red Dragon arc, [[spoiler:Falin is resurrected with an ImperfectRitual that substitutes the dragon's flesh for the missing parts of her body. This also attaches the dragon's soul to hers, allowing its master, the Dungeon Lord, to take control of her. Unlike Izutsumi, it's reversible, but requires unorthodox measures to separate the dragon soul.]]
38	* Demons fuse all the time in ''Franchise/{{Devilman}}'', preferring to do it to gain more power or when one or both is on death's door. In fact, it is how the titular hero is born, with extremely powerful demon Amon fusing with lowly human Akira. How much of each other's personality remains and the exact reasoning for the fusion depends on the adaptation.
39	* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
40	** In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', by putting his hand on Nail and later Kami, Piccolo absorbs them, gaining not only extra power but also their memories. This process is permanent; Piccolo's personality also seems to undergo slight changes after each absorption.
41	** A similar case is when Goku and Vegeta use the Potara earrings to fuse; however, in this case, they split when they enter Buu's body. The personality of the fused being seems to be a mix of both Goku and Vegeta's personalities. It's later revealed in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' that the potara fusion is only permanent if one of the fusees is a kai, unless the dragon balls are used to undo the fusion, as what was done to defuse Kibito and Shin.
42	%%* Done in many different ways in ''Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist''. ZERO CONTEXT EXAMPLE
43	* ''Manga/GhostInTheShell'':
44	** This occurs at the end of the first manga (and in [[Anime/GhostInTheShell1995 the film adaptation]]). Motoko Kusanagi and the Puppet Master merge souls (or rather, "Ghosts") to become a new being the with personalities of the two, only now moved to the body of a teenage girl android.
45	** In ''Man-Machine Interface'', Motoko has spun off several "daughter" entities that have merged with even more people, including the protagonist Motoko Aramaki ("Motoko 11") [[spoiler:and most of the female cast of the comic. In the end they meet and merge with an extradimensional entity]].
46	* ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'':
47	** Demons do this all the time, fusing together to make more powerful demons. The Shikon Jewel was created when a particularly large number of demons fused to fight a priestess. After a long battle both souls fused and crystallized into the series' MacGuffin.
48	** Naraku was created when the deranged and perverse thief (and Kikyou's StalkerWithACrush) Onigumo merged with thousands of demons. And at one point in order to obtain a stronger body, he perfoms a Kodoku spell: thousands of fierce demons fight inside a cave in a mountain, and the winner absorb and merge with the losers. Eventually Naraku ends up absorbing the surviving demon in himself.
49	* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': [[spoiler:The [[AssimilationPlot Third Impact]] as envisioned by [[AncientConspiracy Seele]]]] would've resulted in all human beings on the planet having their souls merged into one singular whole, with all individuality dissolved. [[spoiler:Although the process is initiated in the middle of the ''End of Evangelion'' movie, it fortunately gets aborted before it reaches the point of irreversibility.]]
50	* In ''Manga/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas'', the Oneroi, four dream gods, have a OneWingedAngel form that fuses four of their souls into a single body. While each souls is still separate, they work in tandem to keep the body from being destroyed by harm and grant it NighInvulnerability. The catch? Attacking all four souls ''simultaneously'' with precision strikes can kill them.
51	* In ''Anime/{{Shinzo}}'', all Enterrans, the new inhabitants of Earth, are reduced to an Encard when defeated. The victor can then decide to keep the card, destroy it (effectively destroying that Enterran's soul) or eat or absorb it. The soul and power of the eaten Enterran are then merged with the eater's, who usually remains in control but does take over some of the physical characteristics of the other Enterran.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Comic Books]]
55	* ''ComicBook/{{Druuna}}'': After the demise of Shastar and Captain Lewis, their spirits continue to live on as a VirtualGhost, with their minds folded into each other in transient stages of consciousness.
56	* Redlance and Nightfall in ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' have their souls merged as an accidental side-effect of Nightfall's love bringing Redlance out of a HeroicBSOD. They get to keep their individual personalities, though.
57	* An arc of ''ComicBook/Hitman1993'' comic features the Mauser, a demonic minion created by merging the souls of several Nazi S.S. officers.
58	* ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'':
59	** While nothing was done with it, this is ultimately what [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] currently is: when Franklin Richards saved ComicBook/TheAvengers and the ComicBook/FantasticFour after their HeroicSacrifice at the end on ''ComicBook/{{Onslaught}}'', he recreated the heroes closer to what he remembered, hence is Tony's case, resurrecting the Tony Stark who died during ''ComicBook/TheCrossing'' and [[https://web.archive.org/web/20170108232712/http://www.cbr.com:80/abandoned-love-the-titanic-tale-of-teen-tony-stark-aka-iron-teen/ fusing him with his teenaged alternate universe counterpart]], even having memories of not just his own life and death, and his life in the ''ComicBook/HeroesReborn'' world, but of Teen Tony's as well.
60	** In "What If ComicBook/TheAvengers Had Lost the Evolutionary War?" from the second volume of ''ComicBook/WhatIf'', many of the superhumans cut their ties to humanity and leave Earth find their own destiny. Eventually, they merge with the {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of Death and Eternity, and the resulting entity leaves to create a big bang for a new universe, after which it splits into just Death and Eternity. Meanwhile, humanity evolves to the point that the humans merge their minds and become one with the planet itself, transforming themselves into a GeniusLoci.
61	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'':
62	** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Steve Trevor of Earth-One was brought back from the dead by housing him in the body of the Steve from Earth-270, whose memories were already a mess due to Eros' actions. The Earth-One Steve didn't fully overwrite the other, as he gained memories he wouldn't have otherwise had from him, so it acts more like a merger with the first Steve being more dominant.
63	** ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfWonderWoman2016'': The Titan is essentially a mecha that houses the souls of a long dead world that have lost their individuality and become one malevolent entity.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Fan Works]]
67	* In ''Fanfic/CodexEquus'', one theory about Emperor Golden Scepter's origins proposed in-universe by tabletop game writers is that he's the divine collective reincarnation of various Pony mages, wizards, and sorcerers, which explains why he embodies Ponykind. [[TakeThat Golden Scepter reportedly laughed at the theory's utter ridiculousness and praised the game writers' creativity]].
68	* Some ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fanfictions resolve Harry's Horcrux problem by having him absorb the bit of Voldemort's soul instead of trying to destroy him.
69	* This is the conclusion of [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7286512/1/A_New_World_in_my_View P. H. Wise]]'s fanfic ''Fanfic/ANewWorldInMyView'' (page pending) with Xander and Divine's souls merging.
70	* In ''Fanfic/TheParselmouthOfGryffindor'', the Sorting Hat ends up absorbing the part of Lord Voldemort's soul inside the Cup of Hufflepuff.
71	* Happens a lot in ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'', normally with Shadows of Existence merging with souls. [[spoiler:The original Rarity dies by merging with the Spirits of Dark Magic to complete them and ensure no Nightmare will ever exist again.]]
72	* Happens to [[spoiler:America and Vale]] at the beginning of the sequel to ''Fanfic/WeightOfTheWorld''.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
76	* In ''Anime/DragonBallZFusionReborn'', Janemba is created when a soul-cleansing machine in the afterlife explodes, causing all the evil souls to merge into the Oni guarding it.
77	* Gaia and the alien Gaia in ''Anime/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'' are two giant aggregates of ghosts. In the end, they merge.
78	* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', the red panda spirit that each of the females in Mei's family gain when they come of age appear to bond with their own and can only be separated during a specific ritual.
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
82	* ''Film/BeingJohnMalkovich'' has a secret society of old people hoping for a second chance at life by reincarnating into the body of one child.
83	* ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'' has the wise Mystics and the wicked Skeksis, who were created when the Dark Crystal shattered. They were two halves of the souls of the creatures which shattered the crystal, and a death of a Mystic also kills their Skeksis counterpart, and vice versa. In the climax of the film, the crystal is mended by the hero Jen, and the two races are made one once more.
84	* Creator/DanAykroyd said that Slimer from ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'' was a "vapor -- a kind of confluence of stored up psychic energy, an accumulation of spirits that haunt the hotel who doesn't want to leave".
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Literature]]
88	* ''Literature/Aeon14'': AI are forbidden to fuse with organic minds under the Phobos Accords[[note]]the treaty establishing civil rights and a legal system for AI in the Sol system, which the ''Intrepid'' crew continues to follow after leaving Sol[[/note]] to prevent [[YourSoulIsMine one from being dominated by the other]], and AI/human partnerships are legally limited in duration to keep it from happening naturally. However:
89	** In ''Outsystem'', Tanis (human main character) and Angela (her AI partner implanted in her BrainComputerInterface) perform a dangerous computing maneuver while leaving the Sol system, linking their minds more deeply than usual in order to share processing power and gain their fighters an edge over mercenaries attacking the ''Intrepid''. [[spoiler:Afterwards it's revealed that their bond is now such that Angela can no longer be removed without killing them both, though for the moment they're still separate personalities in a MindHive. They do start seeing more of each other's thinking, though, and in ''Orion Rising'' they acknowledge to Sera that they'll eventually become a single being, though it's likely centuries off.]]
90	** In ''Orion Rising'', Amanda (a human "avatar", a computer expert whose job is to interface between human crew members and ''Intrepid'''s shipboard AI, Bob) and the shipboard AI Ylonda are seriously injured fighting a rogue AI. They subdue their attacker but the remnants of their minds seek each other out and merge into a new personality in Amanda's body, Amavia (a portmanteau of the Latin forms of their names).
91	* In ''Literature/TheCaseOfTheToxicSpellDump'', exposure to arcane contamination can cause infants to be born [[TheSoulless without a soul]]; this is treated as a medical condition, called "apsychia". The protagonist meets Razman Durani, a [[{{Pun}} Jinnetic Engineering]] researcher who is working on an experimental procedure in which tiny pieces of many souls are fused into, essentially, a synthetic soul which can then be implanted in the apsychic child. Whether this will actually work is still unclear.
92	* In ''Literature/TheDark'', occultists rouse an incorporeal sentience, manifest in darkness, which drives people homicidally insane. The titular Dark seems infused with discarnate deranged souls.
93	* There's a trio of brothers in ''Literature/TheFaerieQueene'' who don't pass on to Heaven or Hell when they die. Instead, the soul of the dead goes into his nearest brother and when that brother dies, his soul goes into the lasting remaining one. When all three souls are in one body, the remaining brother gains the strength and skill of all three men.
94	* In ''Literature/TheGhostsOfSleath'', the souls of HumanSacrifice victims form an amorphous haze.
95	* In ''Literature/TheGodsThemselves'', this is how the Soft Ones in the parallel universe have sex. [[spoiler:It's also how the Hard Ones are formed, when the last mating becomes permanent.]]
96	* Slime spirits in ''Literature/IveBeenKillingSlimesFor300YearsAndMaxedOutMyLevel'' are mergers of the millions of the souls of [[CuteSlimeMook slimes]] Azusa killed over the centuries. They have different feelings; Shalsha wants vengeance for all the deaths while Falfa is grateful for the chance to be reborn as a sentient being. They both consider Azusa to be their mother.
97	* Happens towards the end of "Literature/TheLastQuestion" when the remaining humans (by now bodiless entities) merge one by one with humanity's hypercomputer, the Cosmic AC.
98	* This happens in the ''Literature/KamigawaCycle'' between [[spoiler:Michiko and The Taken One]] so that they can become {{Barrier Maiden}}s.
99	* In ''Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt'', Crenshinibon, an ArtifactOfDoom taking the form of a crystal shard (from whence the first book of ''Literature/TheIcewindDaleTrilogy'' gets its name), was formed from a ritual that merged the souls of seven liches. [[spoiler:Upon its destruction in ''[[Literature/TheSellswords Servant of the Shard]]'', the souls are apparently separated and pass on.]]
100	* ''Literature/TheLockedTomb'':
101	** Becoming a Lyctor requires a necromancer to extract, consume, and successfully integrate the soul of their cavalier, thereby retaining the necromancer's magical abilities, and gaining the physical fighting ability of the cavalier. It kills the cavalier in the process, but if [[spoiler:Ianthe]]'s struggle with [[spoiler:Naberius]]'s soul is anything to go by, something of the cavalier still lives on inside the necromancer.
102	** In ''Literature/NonaTheNinth'', [[spoiler:Palamedes and Camilla create their own version Pal calls a "Grand Lysis", combining into one person who takes the name "Paul"]]. This is an equal fusion of two souls rather than the destructive lyctoral process, which is implied to be a (deliberately) flawed imitation of this true fusion.
103	** Teacher is fifty souls merged into one being, and while he's kind of odd he seems friendly enough though his motivations are unclear to everyone, and he possesses significant and grotesque power if provoked. He's described as a [[FlawedPrototype prototype]], though what exactly he's a prototype for is yet unrevealed.
104	* In George Zebrowski's ''Literature/{{Macrolife}}'', the Agregate of Minds is a distributed artificial intelligence (spread among a fleet of a million or so [[ThatsNoMoon artificial worlds]]) whose countless processors and memory storage systems apparently include a library of simulated personalities. It is apparently capable of reversing the process, allowing a component intelligence to function independently in order to hold conversations and then reabsorbing it when done.
105	* In the ''Literature/PastDoctorAdventures'' novel ''[[Recap/PastDoctorAdventuresMatrix Matrix]]'', the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E3TheDeadlyAssassin Time Lord Matrix]], a database comprised of deceased Time Lords' brain patterns, is revealed [[spoiler:to have been purged of destructive, potentially rebellious thoughts, which, hidden beneath the Citadel, are highjacked by the Valeyard]]. They manifest as a coalescence of shadow and thrive on destruction.
106	* ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'' introduces Lobsang Ludd and his not-quite-twin brother Jeremy Clockson. The awful truth, when it comes out, is that they are not twins at all but the same soul born twice due to a temporal anomaly (their mother is the anthropomorphic personification of Time, and her labour got a bit strange, despite the best midwife in the Discworld being present). The two half-souls are allowed to fuse together towards the end of the book, with Lobsang dominating, so as to take over the job of running Time from their mother.
107	* A couple of examples from ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'':
108	** Slayer, the Shadow's top assassin, was created from merging the souls (and bodies) of two separate men, Luc and Isam; though he still demonstrates separate personalities, the two souls and closely attached to each other in some unspecified manner, and he is known as "the Man with Two Souls" among the Shadow's elite.
109	** Early in the series, [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Mordeth]] tries to pull a GrandTheftMe on [[PunchClockVillain Padan Fain]]. Because of the Dark One's touch on Fain, this failes, and what results is a third personality that combines the worst elements of both men.
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
113	* Hive, the Season 3 BigBad of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', is a parasitic Inhuman, who {{Body Surf}}s into freshly dead corpses whenever he's in need of a new host body. In doing so, he gains access to the new host's memories and personalities, allowing him to impersonate them well enough to convincingly fool anyone. And as it turns out, he keeps the memories of every prior host even after moving onto a new one, enabling him to shift between personalities at a whim.
114	* Echo and Alpha from ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' both have 40+ personalities inhabiting a single body. It is clearly shown in Echo's case that her "main" personality is an amalgamation of all the personalities she has been imprinted with, though she can seamlessly slip into one specific personality when needed. With Alpha, it's not as clearly defined and there are even a couple scenes where two or more of his personalities are openly arguing with each other. He does seem to have one "main" personality that is in overall control, though it is never clearly shown if this "main" personality is an amalgamation of all his personalities like Echo's is.
115	* Joined Trills in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' fuse the consciousness of the [[RubberForeheadAliens near-human]] host with the consciousness of the slug-like symbiont to produce a new individual with personality traits of both. The symbiont is removable, but after 93 hours joined doing so will kill the host, and removed symbionts retain memories of past hosts.
116	* Castiel, an angel from ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', became something far more powerful by absorbing the souls of Purgatory. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, one set of them was too powerful for him and took over.]]
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Music]]
120	* In the ''Music/EvilliousChronicles'', [[spoiler:Ma, the BigBad of the Chronicles' latter half, is a fusion of three separate souls, Irina Clockworker, Elluka Clockworker/Levia Barisol and Eve Moonlit. A major plot point of her arc is her desire to gain her own identity]].
121	* The Music/{{Faithless}} song "We Come 1" deals with the merging of the speaker and the one addressed.
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:Religion]]
125	* The concept of UsefulNotes/{{Animism}} is loosely connected to this. Under an animistic belief, every individual object has a "soul". However, this becomes ambiguous when you consider that every "object" is made of smaller objects, and is itself part of a larger object. (For example, each speck of dirt makes a rock, which together make up mountains.) Thus, most animistic faiths have larger [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Deities which personify any concept]] are likely to be this, especially considering that no two worshippers interpret ''anything'' exactly the same way.
126	* This is the most common difference that UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} has from other "Dharmic" belief systems (such as Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism). While the latter three all believe in an eternal, unchangeable, immutable soul that is stuck in the hellish cycle of rebirth, Buddhism instead argues that there is no such thing as a "self" and that once one lets go of the illusion that there ''is'' one, you are fully free to become one with this world and the one beyond. As such, the state of Nirvana is one in which there is one massive harmony of souls existing as one.
127	* In high UsefulNotes/{{Hindu\|ism}} philosophy, the goal of the soul, over however many incarnations it takes, is to unite with the Brahman, the absolute reality.
128	* The Greek philosopher Plotinus ([[OlderThanFeudalism c. 204-270 AD]]) postulated "Emanation ''ex deo'' (Out of God)". Basically, in the hierarchy of being, there is The One (who is all good, transcendent, and unchanging). The nature of the One is simply that it filters down itself, but the One never loses anything or changes. Next comes the Nous, or Divine Mind, and then bellow that is the Oversoul. From the Oversoul comes individual Human Souls. So what does this have to do with this trope? It's possible for a human soul to reunite with the One again, forever (at least in Neoplatonic tradition).
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
132	* In ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'', Sin-Eaters are created when a newly dead human makes a pact with the titular Geist. In exchange for a new lease on life, the Geist will tag along, leading to an intimate merging of the 2 entities. Although separate and distinct, they are bound as long the Sin Eater lives, and removal of the Geist results in [[TheSoulless The Vacant]]. This is also why Sin Eaters are also known as The Bound.
133	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'':
134	** [[CelestialParagonsAndArchangels Solar angels]], unlike less powerful celestials, are usually created from an amalgam of [[CharacterAlignment Good]] souls and pure divine energy. They function as individuals, and it's unclear whether or how their previous mortal identities carry over.
135	** In general, the souls of mortals, called ''petitioners'' once in their afterlife, lose their individuality and merge with the plane itself after an unspecified, [[TimeAbyss but presumably lengthy]], period of time. This is the raw material that both the outer planes and many outsiders are made from.
136	** Pharaonic Guardians are created by a powerful {{Necroman\|cer}}tic rite that [[YourSoulIsMine extracts the souls]] of several mortal victims and fuses them into a single spiritual entity with an [[MacGuffinGuardian overriding sense of purpose]].
137	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
138	** The GodEmperor of Mankind was said to be the reincarnation of thousands of prehistoric shamans' souls, merged into a singular being.
139	** Slaanesh, an EldritchAbomination and one of the setting's four [[GodOfEvil Gods of Evil]], was born when countless Eldar souls that died in extremely decadent orgies and sadistic slaughters coalesced together into a single entity, creating the NegativeSpaceWedgie known as the "Eye of Terror" in the process. The other three Chaos Gods formed in a similar manner, but more slowly and less dramatically.
140	** The Craftworld and Exodite Eldar have been trapping the souls of their dead in stones to keep Slaanesh from eating them and to eventually form a new god they call Ynnead, the God of the Dead. [[spoiler:As of 8th Edition, they've partially succeeded.]]
141	[[/folder]]
142
143	[[folder:Video Games]]
144	* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'':
145	** The first of the Lords of Cinder, the powerful souls who once linked the fire, that the [[PlayerCharacter Ashen One]] faces on their journey is actually an entire army called the Abyss Watchers, who all partook in an oath and drank wolf blood, a process that fused their souls together. As such, they can only use the full extent of their [[PlayingWithFire powers]] while the soul inhabits a single individual and the player receives a single soul upon defeating them, entitled ''Soul of the Blood of the Wolf''.
146	** The FinalBoss is implied to be one of these. [[spoiler:Specifically, it is implied to be the combined might and Souls of every being that ever Linked the First Flame, as its Japanese name translated is "Incarnation of Kings". It also borrows quite a few design cues from The Chosen Undead from ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'', and its second phase move set and theme is a direct CallBack to Gwyn, the first Lord of Cinder.]]
147	* ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'':
148	** [[SuccubiAndIncubi Morrigan Aensland]] fused with Lilith, who was originally a part of her soul SplitAtBirth and henceforth exists as a SplitPersonality capable of [[LiteralSplitPersonality manifesting in an independent body]], as can be seen in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom''.
149	** Also, this is the basis of [[DarkMessiah Jedah]]'s AssimilationPlot in the third game. He plans on absorbing all of Makai's souls into his body, creating a perfect being (the Shintai) and then resetting all of reality [[WellIntentionedExtremist so that he can save his world]].
150	* In TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon of ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga 2'', [[spoiler:Serph and Sera]] fuse into the androgynous Seraph, gaining a new Atma form and pooling their learned skills in the process.
151	* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'', [[spoiler:TheHero and Carver become merged with their Real World counterparts, granting them new powers. The Hero's counterpart takes a bit of work, though]].
152	* Towards the end of ''VideoGame/DustAnElysianTail'', it's revealed that [[spoiler:Dust himself]] has the souls of [[spoiler:Ginger's brother and the BigBad's [[TheDragon henchman/best friend]], who slew each other]]. It's explicitly stated that the resulting being has its own mind and body, with either soul just providing moral guidance and power respectively.
153	* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series' lore, this is one of the more prominent theories regarding the [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence apotheosis]] of [[GodEmperor Tiber Septim]], the [[FounderOfTheKingdom founder of the Third Cyrodiilic Empire]] who posthumously became the [[DeityOfHumanOrigin Aedric Divine Talos]]. It states that Tiber Septim's [[CourtMage Imperial Battlemage]], Zurin Arctus, who was tasked with finding a replacement power source for the [[HumongousMecha Numidium]], attempted to [[YourSoulIsMine soul-trap]] Wulfharth Ash-King (a notable [[EternalHero Shezarrine]], [[GodInHumanForm physical manifestations]] of the soul of Shezarr/Lorkhan, the [[GodIsDead "dead"]] creator god of Mundus, the mortal plane) using the [[SoulJar Mantella]]. Arctus succeeded, but Wulfharth killed Arctus with his [[LanguageOfMagic dying breath]]. The two beings are theorized to have been merged into the undying entity known as the Underking. Following the [[TimeCrash Warp in the West]], the Underking recovered the Mantella and freed his soul, allowing him to finally die. Septim, who had possibly [[BecomingTheMask "mantled" Shezarr]], thus ascended with them into godhood as a merged entity. Another theory states that Septim, Arctus, and Wulfharth were all part of the same [[CompositeCharacter "oversoul"]] from the start. Needless to say, things get very {{Mind Screw}}y within the ''ES'' universe when divinity and mantling are involved, and even this theory is hotly debated (in-universe and out).
154	* ''VideoGame/EverQuestII'' introduces the Duality. The combined essences of the great wizard Al'Kabor and a powerful necromancer named Dartain sharing one body. His physical body morphs between the two personalities at frequent intervals.
155	* Exdeath, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', came about after a multitude of evil beings were sealed within a tree in the Forest of Moore.
156	* In ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'', [[spoiler:the final boss of Ultimate Cup Z, Chaos Elfilis, is a combination of Soul Forgo, the souls of Beast Pack mooks absorbed by Fecto Forgo, and souls stolen from Morpho Knight]].
157	* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5BruYsd8rc Jalhalla]], the end boss of the Earth Temple, is essentially a collective of poes who merge into one massive poe. They (he) can only be harmed when they separate.
158	* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
159	** There's conflicting evidence for this and MindHive in the case of the Reapers. They're created from the amalgamation of millions of sapient minds but it's unclear whether the souls are fused or exist separately: [[spoiler:Legion]] states the latter, but Reapers act like single entities and refer to themselves with singular pronouns (contrast [[spoiler:Legion]], who always uses "we").
160	** By the end of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', [[spoiler:Legion's varying programs have knitted together to form a personality core]]. Unfortunately, he has to die to save his people soon after.
161	* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'':
162	** Shang Tsung's power is said to be derived from his having absorbed the souls of his vanquished opponents. He is dangerous because he is not one opponent, he is thousands.
163	** Ermac is made up of the thousands of souls whose shells died resisting Shao Kahn's rule fused together to make a body. Ermac serves as an enforcer for Shao Kahn, killing dissenters and adding their souls to his collection. [[spoiler:His body is starting to degrade in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' due to Shao Kahn's death.]]
164	* In ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2: Mask of the Betrayer'', the Thayan Academy of Shapers and Binders has a wizard who can fuse souls and bound his own soul into a clay {{golem}} to do it more safely. A sidequest on the same level requires you to trade a particular soul to two [[OurDemonsAreDifferent pit fiends]]. Unfortunately, they can't agree on what the soul should have; in fact, each gives mutually exclusive requirements. [[spoiler:The solution ends up being to have the aforementioned wizard fuse two completely opposite souls together.]]
165	* If ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' states that Personas come from "the sea of human souls", then fusing Personas is this.
166	* ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'': The Pokémon Spiritomb is a collection of 108 souls that have amalgamated together out of negative emotions.
167	* ''Franchise/StarCraft'': The various [[EnergyBeing "archons"]] created by the protoss.
168	** [[VideoGame/StarCraftI The first game]]'s high templars can perform a one-way fusion into an archon, a ghostly psionic entity that is very damaging and quite hard to kill[[labelnote:*]]barring use of the science vessel's EMP, which strips their shields to leave them with just a small amount of HP[[/labelnote]]. The ''Brood War'' expansion allows two dark templar to fuse into a dark archon, a caster unit.
169	** The ExpandedUniverse and ''Enslavers II'' add-on campaign have Ulrezaj, a rebel Dark Templar who eventually fuses with ''five'' others to form an AxCrazy super-archon of sorts. He's eventually defeated in ''[[Literature/StarCraftTheDarkTemplarSaga The Dark Templar Saga]]'' by [[spoiler:having the last of the templar Preservers [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice herself]] to [[SealedEvilInACan seal him with her into a khaydarin crystal]]]].
170	** ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' dispenses with the dark archon, allowing archons (initially called twilight archons, but this was dropped in early patches) to be created from any combination of two high templar or dark templar.
171	* At the very, very end of ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', it's explained that this is what happened to the souls of the various [[spoiler:Chosen Ones who sacrificed their lives in the Journey of Regeneration]] -- they merged together along with [[spoiler:Martel, the woman they were trying to revive]], with the latter emerging as the dominant personality of the new [[spoiler:mana tree]]'s guardian spirit.
172	* At the end of the undead campaign in ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III: The Frozen Throne'' [[spoiler:Arthas merges his soul with the Lich King]].
173	[[/folder]]
174
175	[[folder:Webcomics]]
176	* ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'':
177	** Acibek was a golem created by an ancient Elven tyrant who powered him with several souls combined together, many of them collected unwillingly, and [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters not happy about it]]. The Sylvan Oracle and her own creation "Dirk the Mighty" were similar golems.
178	** There's also the Storm of Souls, a raging maelstrom of souls formed from deceased members of the chaos-worshipping cult The Chosen and intended to be their weapon to destroy the world with. Acibek sacrificed himself to trap it in a cage forged from his own souls, [[spoiler:and centuries later, the Sylvan Oracle sacrificed herself to destroy it]].
179	* In the backstory chapter of ''Webcomic/TheDragonDoctors'', [[RealityBreakingParadox a massive time-destroying paradox]] (the ghost of a woman who used time-travel to kill her past self) is merged with the soul of a cyber-shaman, giving her a new physical existence and ending the unravelling of reality. Later, the shaman explains she had to undergo an "emergency meditation" to resolve her identity and that she's not entirely the Shelinda the other characters know.
180	* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'':
181	** Kernelsprites are game constructs resembling floating orbs that can be "prototyped" up to two times, merging the things placed in them into a composite entity. If two deceased or living beings are prototyped, the result is a sprite with a merged name and personality. Overall, the fusion of a person and an animal will result in the person's mind being dominant with only some animal traits, while two people will form a more even blend.
182	*** Jade's kernelsprite is originally prototyped with her god-dog Becquerel, forming Becsprite. Later, this is prototyped against with the body of her dead dream-body to create Jadesprite, which retains Jade's appearance and personality with Becquerel's ears, powers, and occasional bark. In [S] Cascade, [[spoiler:when Jade ascends to the God Tiers, a process that involves a player dying and then reawakening in their dream body with godlike powers, she fuses with Jadesprite to result in waking Jade with Bec's held-over traits and some of Jadesprite's memories]].
183	*** Vriska's and Tavros' dead bodies are thrown into Jane's sprite, yanking their souls out of the afterlife and fusing them together as "Tavrisprite". Their personalities are so irreconcilable that the sprite explodes (sending the two souls back to the afterlife) mere moments later.
184	*** Eridan and Sollux were successfully fused into an Erisolsprite (which spends most of his time flipping people off at random), and Equiusprite is fused with Dirk's sapient AI auto-responder to create Arquiusprite. Feferi and Nepeta are also fused into a Fefetasprite, which had a peaceful life for six months but doesn't last long once Erisolsprite and Arquiusprite start arguing over her -- the mental dissonance of having two composite people arguing over different parts of herself causes her to also explode and return Feferi and Nepeta's to the afterlife.
185	*** [[spoiler:Squared kernelsprites (made from the merging of two seperate kernelsprites) not only merge the two souls that comprise their being, but give them the memories of both their hosts across all timelines. Davepetasprite^2 (Davesprite and Nepetasprite) and Jasprosesprite^2 (Jaspersprite and pre-retcon Rosesprite) are the only two sprites of their kind.]]
186	** [[spoiler:During a battle with Caliborn, Dirk ripped out his soul and shoved it into Lil' Cal. Unfortunately, Arquiusprite (Autoresponder + Equius) and half of Gamzee were dragged in as well. Lord English is a combination of Caliborn, the Autoresponder, Equius, and at least half of Gamzee's souls, though Caliborn seems to be the dominant party.]]
187	** [[spoiler:Sburb lore has an unconsious version of this called the "Ultimate Self", where the experiences and memories of doomed and retconned timelines shape the meta-narrative of a person. While regular kernelsprites and players aren't aware of it, some higher beings like squared sprites can access their ultimate self's knowledge.]]
188	* This happens in ''Webcomic/{{Spinnerette}}'', unfortunately the souls are evil souls from Hell merging together into a {{Kaiju}}[=-sized=] demon.
189	* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': The leader of the mixed troll and ghost herd going after the crew later in the story is this. It is initially made of the fusion of several human ghosts, but quickly assimilates the spirits of PlagueZombie animals as well. Some of its compenents are heard complaining about their FateWorseThanDeath by the crew's mages, but there is an obvious "main mind" calling the shots for both the resulting "body" and the rest of the herd. That one is set on either killing or assimilating the members of the crew.
190	[[/folder]]
191
192	[[folder:Web Original]]
193	* In ''Literature/TheHomestuckEpilogues'', [[spoiler:Dirk is somehow able to ascend to his ultimate self,]] giving him access to the memories of both his alternate timeline selves and [[spoiler:his pre-scratch counterpart Bro.]] Since this includes any splinter selves that have gotten merged with other people, this unfortunately also means he has access to [[spoiler:''Lord English'']].
194	* ''Website/OrionsArm'':
195	** "[[http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-topic/45f0c580310bf The Amalgamation]]" is an artificially intelligent ''disease'', spread by {{Nanomachines}}. Occasionally, crews of ships sent to aid efforts to halt the Amalgamation become infected and turn against their allies.
196	** It isn't uncommon for a number of people to merge themselves into a single mind as part of Transcending into a higher intelligence. The difference between this and the Amalgamation is that this is done voluntarily, whereas the Amalgamation just [[TheAssimilator assimilates everything]] with no choice given.
197	* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', [[spoiler:Ozpin's]] reincarnation works like this, attaching his soul to that of a like-minded individual and starting a process of them slowly merging into the same person. Neither he nor his new incarnation [[spoiler:Oscar Pine]] are happy about this, as both see it as a DeathOfPersonality they can't control, and [[spoiler:Oscar]] spends most of his screentime resenting, dreading, or outright resisting it.
198	[[/folder]]
199
200	[[folder:Western Animation]]
201	* Tigerhawk in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' was originally a [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Vok]] Emissary made from Tigatron and Airazor's bodies. However, their [[OurSoulsAreDifferent Sparks]] followed their bodies, and after Tigerhawk was defeated, Airazor and Tigatron's sparks merged and took control of the shell.
202	* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': [[spoiler:"Dark Danny"]] is the result of a FusionDance between [[spoiler:the ghost selves of Danny and Vlad in an alternate timeline, though Danny is the dominant personality due to being the one to overshadow Vlad (though he definitely took after Vlad's evilness), which is why he's treated as an older Danny even if he's actually closer to an EnemyWithout]].
203	* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' featurs an advanced anti-ghost robot designed to destroy (actually disperse) ghosts instead of capturing them. As soon as the dispersed essence concentration goes above a certain threshold, [[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101026075728/ghostbusters/images/5/53/Giantmassghost.jpg well]]...
204	* Tengu Shredder from ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'' is the result of the Shredder Tengu fusing his soul with Oroku Saki.
205	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'', Will is forced to absorb her dying Altermere duplicate into herself so that her memories and feelings will live on in her. Will gains the Altermere's memories in the process.
206	[[/folder]]

Context Main / MergerOfSouls