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Soul

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Soul was an essence from an individual[1] associated with their conscience[2] and remorse[3] — that is to say, their capacity to be governed by the traditional human philosophies of "good" and "evil."[4]

Origins[]

Connor was presented with a soul some time before birth, to the point of influencing his pregnant mother, a soulless vampire.[5] On the other hand, there was at least one recorded case of a human — Ryan Anderson — who did not have a soul.[6]

D'Hoffryn had stated that vengeance demons had souls, which, along with their lives, were claimed by the Fates should any vengeance demon wish to reverse her work that resulted to several human lives.[7]

According to Primals, wild animals did not possess souls on the same level as humans, but instead possessed their own separate form of spirits which they deemed holy.[2]

History[]

Angel[]

AngelCursedEyes

Angelus is cursed a soul.

Angel's soul was cursed upon him by the Kalderash people with a Ritual of Restoration as a punishment for murdering a girl. He was forced by his restored conscience to reconcile with his sinful past; however, the curse came with an additional danger: Angel could never experience true happiness, as it would result in the removal of his soul.[8]

Angel lost his soul twice: first, when he slept with Buffy Summers,[9] and again, due to a spell.[10] On both occasions, he reverted to his murderous persona and sought to punish the people around him[11][12] until his soul was restored again.[13][14]

Buffy Summers[]

MokTagar01

Kathy extracts Buffy's soul.

Buffy's soul was partially extracted after the Mok'tagar demon Kathy Newman repeatedly performed the Ritual of Mok'tagar on her. This caused Buffy to become increasingly unstable and attentive in her belief that Kathy was a demon out to get her. While correct, Buffy's strong desire to kill Kathy caused her friends to believe she was possessed due to her violent behavior.[4]

Dracula[]

Dracula once stated that he "risked his very soul" to attain his unique shapeshifting abilities.[15] However, both Giles and Xander later referred to him as soulless.[16][17]

Ryan Anderson[]

Ryan was a human boy born without a soul. Replicating many of the tendencies found medically in sociopathy he was incapable of remorse or sadness, and was quick to anger, attempting to kill his sister Stephanie merely because she received more marshmallows in her hot chocolate than he did. He was possessed by an Ethros demon, an evil demon in his own right, the evil demon himself became horrified of the boy's soulless nature, which he described as a literal "void" and it terrified him enough to be deemed as the one thing he ever feared. The demon sent messages for help simply so that he could be exorcised and killed.[citation needed]

Darla[]

When the vampire Darla was resurrected as a human by Wolfram & Hart, she returned with her soul intact. Although it took her time to fully acknowledge the presence of her soul, she became increasingly guilt-ridden as a result of her vampiric history. Just as she had managed to accept her human fate and embrace her soul, Lindsey McDonald had Drusilla sire Darla once more.[citation needed]

Sometime later, Darla returned to Angel and his friends pregnant with Connor, the son she and Angel had somehow managed to conceive. She became increasingly influenced by the soul of her unborn child, and developed the ability to express genuine emotion once more. Afraid she would be incapable of loving her son after his birth and unable to naturally deliver him, she staked herself in one final act of redemption, and placed him in Angel's care.[citation needed]

Spike[]

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Spike wins back his soul.

Spike underwent the Demon Trials to prove his worth to the demon named Lloyd in exchange for what he asked: to be what he once was, what Buffy deserved. After his completion of the trials, the demon restored Spike's soul.[18] With the returning of his soul came a conscience filled with guilt and self-hatred. Spike took shelter in the basement of the newly rebuilt Sunnydale High School, where the First Evil took advantage of his vulnerable state to torment him.[19]

In the battle at the Hellmouth against the First's Turok-Han army, Spike wore an amulet meant for a being who possessed a soul but was more than human: a Champion. He was able to feel his soul as the amulet channeled the sunlight through him against the Turok-Hans, defeating the army and collapsing the Hellmouth.[20]

When John temporarily extracted Spike's soul, Spike remained good due to his strength of character and the fact that he had partly overcome his "evil" nature during his time with Buffy and the Scoobies in Sunnydale.[21]

Drusilla[]

Screen Shot 2013-04-05 at 4.24

Drusilla receives Spike's soul.

Willow Rosenberg ensouled Drusilla per Spike's request when his own soul was briefly extracted. However, the restoration of her conscience proved to be too traumatic for her damaged mind. Drusilla was so tormented by the guilt of her victims that Spike decided to take his soul back from her, as she was more stable without it.[21]

Dawn Summers[]

Due to her status as the Key, Dawn Summers had a particularly powerful soul; when the Soul Glutton attempted to consume her soul, just coming in contact with Dawn drained him of most of his accumulated energy as her status as the Key made her soul too powerful for him to absorb.[citation needed]

Afterlife[]

“[We saw] her body, yeah. But her soul... her essence... I mean, that could be somewhere else.”
―Willow Rosenberg[src]
Screen Shot 2013-04-08 at 1.23

Buffy's body and soul are magically restored.

When an ensouled being died, or when a human became a vampire, their soul left their body and was transported to another plane, originally referred to as the "ether" by Jenny.[citation needed]

Buffy went to a heavenly dimension at the time of her death.[citation needed]

Cordelia completed her metamorphosis into a higher being in another dimension when she passed away.[citation needed]

Matthias Pavayne and those who knew of him appeared certain that he would go to hell for his various murders in life if he hadn't taken precautions to send others to Hell in his place.[citation needed]

When Giles died, his soul was dispersed between nine separate locations important to his past as a result of his connection to Ehygon the Sleepwalker preventing him from simply passing on to an afterlife.[citation needed]

Restoration[]

Body swap

Marcus and Angel exchange souls.

Apart from the rituals of resurrection that involved a soul being returned to a deceased body,[1] there were numerous other spells and rituals that also involved the manipulation of souls. The Algurian body-switching spell caused two souls to switch bodies, though the body of the individual who did not cast the spell would collapse after an extended period of time;[22] the Ritual of Mok'tagar allowed a Mok'tagar demon to steal and use a human's soul,[4] and the Ritual of Restoration allowed a vampire's soul to re-enter his or her body.[13][14]

After murdering Giles, Angel was able to use an item known as the Tooth of Ammut to absorb the fragments of his soul; he visited different locations significant to Giles in order to assemble his soul in the hopes of returning him to life again.[23] The pieces rejoined within Angel's body, causing him to take on Giles' habits (drinking tea, speaking in a British accent and wearing glasses). Giles' soul eventually began to cause conflict with Angel's other inner-beings, and his friends were forced to store it within an object called the Essuary instead.[citation needed]

The demon Jenoff was known for making deals with others where he would acquire them particular merchandise in exchange for their souls at some future date, but it was never specified whether he used any particular ritual for this; the only shown example of this deal being made was with Charles Gunn and the only part of the ritual shown was the initial handshake to seal the deal, Gunn managing to escape the contract when the rest of Angel Investigations helped him defeat Jenoff when Jenoff sought to collect.[citation needed]

Destruction[]

Wo-Pang claimed, after extracting and temporarily housing Angel's soul in a glass jar, that it would be possible for the soul to be destroyed.[10]

According to Alasdair Coames, Enders obliterate souls upon consuming them.[24] The Old One Lohesh was also described as a "four-winged soul-killer."[25] Soul eaters were demons known for consuming souls.[12]

According to Dr. Sparrow, when Winifred Burkle was used as a host to restore the Old One Illyria, her soul was consumed by the strain of resurrecting Illyria in her body, rendering it impossible for her to be resurrected or go on to an afterlife.[26] However, with the return of magic to the world, Fred was spontaneously restored to life along Illyria, an event speculated to be the result of the new rules of magic causing past spells to be "reset" as new rules were established.[27]

Appearances[]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel

References[]

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