Joseph's soul
Reimi showing her intangibility
Shigechi's soul
Bucciarati's soul
Polnareff remaining as a Ghost inside Coco Jumbo
F.F.'s soul
Gyro's soul
Ghost
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“
When a person dies, they become what we call a "ghost." But although some of those ghosts are pure and noble, others are twisted by their grudges into something evil. (人は死ぬと霊体というものになる だがその霊体には清く良い霊もいるが恨みをいだいてドス黒くなった悪い霊体もいる)
”
Ghosts (幽霊, Yūrei) are sentient undead beings featured throughout the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series and other works by Hirohiko Araki. They feature prominently in Diamond is Unbreakable and Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan, generally acting either as allies to the living or vague forces that seek revenge on them.
Summary
When a person dies, their soul (魂, tamashī) passes on to the afterlife. In the case of a fundamentally virtuous person such as Muhammad Avdol, Joseph Joestar, or Bruno Bucciarati, their soul can be seen ascending to heaven as an incorporeal manifestation of themselves. Individuals whose souls are, for one reason or another, incapable of passing through to the other side are forced to wander the earth as ghosts. Entire locations and the objects therein are also capable of becoming ghosts themselves if they are fully destroyed (such as by being burned or bulldozed). Though the ghosts of people are rather common and can be found almost anywhere, most tend to remain out of sight and seek places where they are not likely to encounter the living.[1]
Spiritual Form
There is little difference in appearance between a person and their ghost, as the soul is a reflection of the person. Moreover, a ghost will generally retain the injuries they had at their time of death; these injuries are also a manifestation of the soul, however, and will not appear if the relevant memories are repressed.[2] Unlike living beings, ghosts are unable to develop physically or mentally, though they retain their personalities and are fully capable of rational thought.[3]
Ghosts are invisible to ordinary people, but not to animals.[4] However, they can still make themselves heard by normal people. Stand users are able to see ghosts automatically, and Reimi Sugimoto theorizes that their powers allow them to see and travel to ghost locations such as Morioh's Ghost Girl's Alley.[3] Due to their proximity to the spiritual realm, monks can also develop the ability to see ghosts.[1] Stand users can use their Stand abilities on ghosts, as Rohan Kishibe does against Reimi, but it is unknown whether or not a Stand could inflict pain onto a ghost or damage their spiritual form.
The ghosts of objects and locations can be felt and manipulated by the ghosts of people. These "ghost objects" are incapable of affecting other physical objects, but can be used to attack other spirits. Ghost locations such as Ghost Girl's Alley or Green Dolphin Street Prison's music room are hidden from living beings, as they are able to fit into narrow spaces such as a crack in a wall or a gap between adjacent buildings.[1]
Abilities and Restrictions
Ghosts exist under certain arbitrary rules. For instance, they can only enter a room if it is empty or if they are given permission. However, the nature of "permission" is loose: even opening a mail slot is sufficient to invite a ghost into a room. Open windows and doors also qualify as invitations for ghosts.
Ghosts can freely toggle their tangibility with the physical realm. They are naturally intangible and can freely move through objects, but retain the ability to manipulate objects, albeit without the capacity to feel them. Should someone overlap with a ghost against their will, however, the latter loses the overlapped part of their form, and so most spirits exist in hiding to avoid running into people.
Ghosts who previously had a Stand in life can still use them. Under certain conditions, however, a ghost's Stand can be destroyed after their death, as Yoshikage Kira's Killer Queen is by the spirits of Ghost Girl's Alley. This may also lead to memory loss for the affected ghost, as Kira later finds himself unable to recall the details of his life besides his name.[1]
Revenants
Ghosts with grudges in their hearts may become revenants (地縛霊),[3] who often linger out of sheer determination to accomplish a particular goal. Revenants defy many of the typical rules for ghosts. For instance, they are capable of appearing before ordinary people, and can also possess the bodies of others.[5] While some are bound to a specific location, others are capable of splitting their spiritual form across large distances. Additionally, some revenants display a degree of power over nature: the spirit of a vengeful vagrant is able to manipulate his killer's fortune to bring him prosperity,[5] and the spirit pursuing Sarah Winchester causes an earthquake to destroy her labyrinthine mansion.[6] Once a revenant's grudge is satiated, they are free to pass on to the afterlife.[7]
Known Ghosts
Ghosts
Inanimate Objects
For some unknown reason, objects can become ghosts if destroyed as well. Worded differently, the objects become "made of ghost" as if material. These can be felt and manipulated by normal ghosts, ranging from fire, food, books, guns, places, and entire buildings. However, these objects aren't capable of spreading to other living objects, so it wouldn't be possible to kill someone using a ghost object. It is, however, possible to use them to kill other spirits such as cleansers.Ghostly locations such as Ghost Girl's Alley or Emporio's room are hidden from living humans as they somehow fit into narrow spaces such as the space between two adjacent buildings.
Ghost Girl's Alley
Main article: Ghost Girl's Alley
In the Japanese town of Morioh, a particular place nicknamed the Ghost Girl's Alley is said to be the border between the world of the living and the afterlife, essentially serving as a purgatory. Not only the alley is a closed space, but malicious spirits lurk in it. Any soul passing through here should never look back or else countless disembodied hands will drag the spirit into the unknown.
In the case of Yoshikage Kira it is revealed that spirits dragged by the hands will become wandering vagabonds, without any memory of their past life and forced to find a purpose on Earth. Stands are destroyed when dragged by the hands, as shown with Killer Queen being torn to shreds and eventually not showing any traces of its existence later. It seems that the Ghost Alley itself, the hands of the alley, or some different entity altogether can talk as Koichi hearing something whisper that he can turn around when he was near the end of the maze.[1]
Burning Down the House
Main article: Burning Down the House
Burning Down the House is a Stand that allows its user, Emporio Alnino, to interact with the ghost of a room as well as various ghost objects, such as a computer, a piano, a gun, and food. Burning Down the House's room and objects share the same or similar rules to other ghost objects and locations, such as them not being able to affect living objects. Emporio is also able to bring in other people into the room as well and he is able to enter and hide inside Burning Down the House through cracks in the walls of Green Dolphin Street Prison.
Vengeful Spirits
Vengeful spirits are depicted as supernatural entities born from grudges of a previous life, which break some of the established conventions of common ghosts; for example, these spirits are capable of interacting with non-Stand users and can be seen by them. When The Confessor unintentionally causes the death of a vagrant, the vagrant reappears as a spirit cursing the confessor for his cruelty. The vagrant's spirit demonstrates super-human capabilities, being capable of knocking away a fully grown man and slicing the head of the Confessor's Servant clean off. They are also able to possess the bodies of people. To pass on to the next life, these spirits need to satiate their grudge.
Spirit Cleansers
Spirit Cleansers (魂の掃除屋, Tamashī no Sōjiya) are small creatures that, as its name suggests, cleanse spirits. They are born from eggs touched by a spirit. When they touch a normal ghost, plants begin to grow from the ghost, trying to change them into something else similar to a plant by eating him from the inside. When they eat a ghost object, they turn those into bugs. They have the function to clean the world from spirits, so that it won't be overflowing with vagabond spirits of the dead. They can be killed either by cracking their eggs or with a ghost object, but their dead remains can still clean whatever it touches.
Under the Moon
Main article: Under the Moon
The painting Under The Moon, featuring Nanase, was created by painter Nizaemon Yamamura with the blackest and purest ink in the world, taken from the pigment of an ancient tree's trunk. The pigment that Nizaemon extracted from the 2000-year-old tree came from a substance taken from insects living in the very core of the trunk. These infinitely black creatures, resembling spiders, were hidden in the darkness since the dawn of time.
According to legend, Nizaemon had drawn the most evil and black painting in the world. The hate in his heart for being executed was transferred and sealed to the painting, giving it life and a murderous intent. As a result, Nanase was cursed to sacrifice people for 300 years and eventually seal the curse away using a descendant by cutting her link to said descendant.
The painting can sense when someone approaches it, and attacks them by summoning creatures similar to ghosts out of the victim's memories such as their ancestors or others who died in horrific ways. If their victim touches a ghost created by the painting, the victim dies by experiencing the same death as the ghost.
Gallery
Joseph's soul
Shigechi's soul
Rohan's soul
Reimi cries for Rohan's death
Bucciarati's soul
Polnareff remaining as a Ghost inside Coco Jumbo
Gloria Costello's soul (anime exclusive)
F.F.'s soul
Trivia
- In Deadman's Questions, Araki explains that the series's take on ghosts spawned from the idea that "In the world of life after death, if the spirit lives on, it would not be a place where everyone goes, but where there are "rules" similar to this world. The ghosts should go through just as much hardships as we do, if not more."
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Deadman's Questions
- ↑ Chapter 438: Town Guardian Spirits
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Chapter 332: Rohan Kishibe's Adventure, Part 3
- ↑ Deadman's Questions Chapter 1
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan Episode 16: At a Confessional
- ↑ The Lives of Eccentrics Episode 5: The Mysterious Manor the Widow Kept Expanding: Winchester Mystery House
- ↑ Chapter 439: Goodbye, Morioh - The Golden Heart
