The Soulless: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:FetchSpawn3.jpg|link=Changeling: The Lost|frame|[[Creepy Child|It's]] [[Knife Nut|playtime.]]]]

 

When people use the phrase "soulless monster," they usually mean the person they're referring to [[Kick the Dog|isn't acting]] like a (decent) human being, not that they actually lack a soul and are a monster.<ref>* (well, a literal as opposed to a [[Complete Monster|figurative one, anyway]])</ref> In fiction, some characters really ''are'' soulless, and often act like monsters because of it.

 

{{examples}}

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* The Homunculi in the ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' anime.

* In [[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]], [[Unreliable Narrator|according to Beatrice]], furniture is like this, including [[Shrinking Violet|Shannon]], [[Pinocchio Syndrome|Kanon]], and [[Extreme Doormat|Genji]]. Presumably not Kumasawa though.

* ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'' has an instance of something that is not technically alive ({{spoiler|a clone of the protagonist... magical clones do not count as "alive" in this series}}) gaining a soul anyway. Without said soul (or a fragment of someone else's soul), that being was devoid of any personality or morals, and single-mindedly pursued its main objective in a manner not unlike the Terminator.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* Explored in ''[[Warbreaker]]'' because of how the magic system, Awakening, is powered by Breaths, a form of mystical energy everyone possesses and is considered analogous to the soul in-universe (though per [[Word of God]], a Breath seems more like ''part'' of a soul). Everyone is born with one breath, but they can be given away- someone who holds a lot has various innate supernatural abilities, and using Awakening requires a pretty large supply. To the Austrist religion, a Drab (someone with no Breaths) is conisdered to have suffered [[A Fate Worse Tha Death]], while to the state religion of Hallandren, it's seen as no big deal. [[Word of God]] puts it somewhere in between- a Drab's humanity is still intact in all meaningful ways he or she retains identity, memory, personality, and such, but they ''are'' more irritable, more prone to sickness, and have duller senses.

 

* Vampires in ''[[Angel]]'' and ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' have no souls. Instead a demon takes up residence in the body, having all the original person's memories and seemingly believing themselves to be that person. Essentially a human soul is replaced with a demonic one, but retains the same mind.

** Angel himself can become one of these if the conditions of his curse are met (Perfect Happiness). When his human soul departs, the demon is able to take over again and really enjoys being let off the chain in a [[Complete Monster]] kind of way. As the series progressed, he actually fit this trope less well because they started playing up the duality of Angel and Angelus as seperate consciousnesses (with Angelus trapped within Angel as long as a soul was in place).

* We've yet to see a soulless individual on-panel in ''[[Candorville]]'', but apparently it's common practice for at least one secret faction to feed children's souls to monsters—the resultant shells are still capable of following orders, [[Tyke Bomb|and can easily be trained as assassins]].

 

* Every. Single. [[Promethean: The Created|Promethean.]] The imbalance of being a soulless homunculus makes every Promethean emotionally unstable and at odds with humanity. Though they never had one to begin with, they can create one for themselves when their pilgrimage succeeds. If they live that long, anyway.

** This has some interesting theological implications. One of the books in the line states that some Ulgans are rather enthusiastic about creating new Prometheans - after all, every time a Promethean completes the Pilgrimage, it brings a new soul into the world. (Most, however, note the rate of attrition and keep their expectations minimal.)

* In the ''[[Ravenloft]]'' setting, this is true for nine out of ten citizens of Barovia who are not Vishanti. The soulless ones seem human for all practical purposes, but they are, in effect, born out of the consciousness of Barovia's ruler, the Darklord Strahd von Zarovich. He subconsciously causes these loyal subjects to come into being to feed his massive ego. Soulless Barovians are dour, grim, cynical folk, who can experience no emotions except fear; while not cowards, they learn from childhood to fear the night and "That Devil Strahd" as they call their king. As a vampire, Strahd cannot draw nourishment from drinking the blood of soulless Barovians, and if a soulless Barovian leaves his domain, he or she fades away into nothing. The few ''with'' souls are more energetic and emotional, and seem to be part of the curse that made him a Darklord. When one of them dies, his or her spirit is trapped in Barovia for years - possibly decades - before being reincarnated in a body that resembles the one they previously had. The reason for the soulless Barovians is [[Fridge Logic|actually easy to discern]]; the souls of the original residents of Barovia can never go to any afterlife, and are instead reincarnated endlessly; however, after many centuries the population has grown, and more children are born than there are souls available. This is why Strahd is constantly tormented by women who look exactly like Tatyana, the woman he loves but can never have. They all ''are'' Tatyana given new life.

** Also in Ravenloft, Tindal, The Amazing Soulless Man, a barker at the Carnival. He has no reflection or shadow; while his memory of the event is a little vague, he claims his soul fled from him due to a magical experiment gone wrong. {{spoiler|In truth, [[Inverted Trope|he has it backwards]]; he ''is'' the escaped soul of an [[Evil Sorcerer]] named Tindafulus who botched one of his diabolical spells. Oddly, Tindal is a far more benevolent person than Tindafulus is.}}

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* A rare ''heroic'' example: Gireon Arkiof from ''[[Chaos Fighters]]: Chemical Warriors-RAKSA''. He doesn't even want his soul back. This is lampshaded when Mifrent lamented why people with souls mostly fight against themselves and with a chapter titled ''Soulless Hero VS Soulful villain''.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* Solomon Grundy from ''[[Justice League]]'' started off as a villainous, gray [[Hulk]] [[Expy]]. Then in the episode "The Terror Beyond", Grundy learned his own backstory—that he was a [[Our Zombies Are Different|zombie]] and had no soul. Once he realized this, regaining his soul suddenly became Grundy's first priority.

* In Transformers: [[Beast Machines]], {{spoiler|Rhinox, the [[Genius Bruiser]] and [[Reluctant Warrior]] in [[Beast Wars]], undergoes a [[Face Heel Turn]] and becomes an example of this trope in [[Beast Machines]]. When Rattrap inadvertently discovers that Rhinox's [[Our Souls Are Different|spark]] has been removed and reprogrammed into evil general Tankor, he makes a plan to simply reprogram the Tankor out of him, reverting him to the happy good guy that was a shining example of all the Maximals represented. Optimus Primal decides that because Rhinox says he actually [[Evil Tastes Good|prefers being the evil thing]] he has become, it would would make the Maximals just like [[Big Bad|Megatron]] to [[Utopia Justifies the Means|to force him to change back.]] }}