Animal-Spirit

An Animal-Spirit is a supernatural power featured throughout '' Wild Souls. ''

An Animal-Spirit is a being and/or ability summoned by its user, generally referred to as a Spirit Master. It is generally defined as a more "animistic" manifestation of the Master's own soul. An Animal-Spirit appears as either having a physical appearance or being bound completely to the Master. If it is the former, it most often takes the form of a unusual-looking creature that possesses both human and animal characteristics, though others can appear as more animistic while others more humanoid. If it is the latter, it can simply manifest itself as an ability the Master possesses, or a physical mutation to the master itself. Regardless of this, all Animal-Spirits possess supernatural abilities far beyond a human or an animal, which are used, depending on the nature of their Master, for good or evil.

Definition
An Animal-Spirit is defined in the series as an entity that is derived from the deepest nature of its user, which is then given an appearance that relates the form of an animal that which is user is most like. For instance, The Elephant is the Animal-Spirit of Benjamin Hastings, whose calm demeanor but immense strength correlate to that of an actual elephant's. The name "Animal-Spirit" is a play on the concept of a spirit animal, which, in pagan religions, is a totem animal whose characteristics relate to the personality of the individual in question.

As a result, an Animal-Spirit can take cues on its behavior from various aspects of its Master's mind, from their fighting spirit to their repressed ideals, and even their idealized or despised self. Animal-Spirits can change and/or develop their personalities over time, in ways that either correspond to or mirror their Master. Although many see Animal-Spirits as an extension of the Master's personality, and therefore sharing numerous similarities, this has proven to be untrue, with many Animal-Spirits acting completely differently from their Masters.

Similar to humans and animals, Animal-Spirits vary greatly in ability. Some, such as Timber Wolf, Electric Eel, The Elephant, Bengal Tiger, Bombardier Beetle, Hammerhead, and Black Scorpion are very powerful. Others, such as Octopus, Crow, 「Flat - Worm」, White Rabbit, Sea Sparkle, and Chameleon prioritize situational versatility. Some, such as March Hare, may not act in tandem with their Masters and actively or inactively become detrimental to their user's mental health.

All Animal-Spirits are derived from a real-life animal, though their appearance can range from similar to barely related. Almost all Animal-Spirits share the name of the real-life animal they are based off of, such as Black Bear, Tawny Owl, and '''Wood Frog. Exceptions can be made with Masters granting their Animal-Spirit a different title: Infierno Cabro, for example, summons his Animal-Spirit with the name Abaddon, '''although its appearance is based off of a four-horned goat.

"Man & Beast Combined"
Animal-Spirits are created from the depths of a Master's psyche. They are said to be present within the Master at birth, although they can actually manifest for the first time at any point during their master's life. Once the Animal-Spirit has presented itself, the Master will automatically know its name. If the Master so wishes, they can rename the Animal-Spirit, although it takes a lengthy amount of time for the Animal-Spirit to disassociate itself from its original name. Animal-Spirits are born via the Master's own human spirit. As a result, Animal-Spirits, in true form, are visible but intangible, and cannot be damaged by ordinary methods. Most often, Animal-Spirits can only be damaged by other Animal-Spirits. Any damage undergone by the Animal-Spirit is not reflected onto the Master, but any damage on the Master is reflected onto the Animal-Spirit. Damage on the Master can be minimized if the user is granted physical alterations as a result of their Animal-Spirit, such as Ben's superhuman durability and Marcus's regeneration. If their Master is killed, an Animal-Spirit will disappear.

Since Animal-Spirits and their Masters are usually closely bonded with each other, Animal-Spirits (if they can) obey their Master's orders without question to the best of their ability, no matter what the Master demand may be. Occasionally, some Animal-Spirits may manifest formerly hidden abilities as a means to an end if their Master needs something to occur, or if their Master is severely injured, on the brink of death, or in mortal danger. Additionally, some Animal-Spirits have the capacity to change their appearance and abilities as their Master develops/matures; examples of this occurring include Hannah with Timber Wolf, Allison with Electric Eel, and Cory with''' Crow. '''

Occasionally, an Animal-Spirit's power cannot be controlled by its master, by either lack of resolve, intelligence, spiritual strength, or other unexplained factors. Such examples include Black Scorpion, Red Scorpion, Abaddon, and '''Crow: Stage 3. '''In this case, the most often route the Animal-Spirit takes is to physically alter its master, but without actual damage to the user's mind. Dragonfly, Hermit Crab, Blue Glaucus, and Scorpion are common instances of this happening; each of their Masters underwent physical mutations, but were still able to control their Animal-Spirit to a sufficient extent.

In addition, there are such instances as Termite and March Hare where the Animal-Spirit actively works against its Master; in the former's case, the Animal-Spirit explodes its user, while the latter slowly entraps its user in a black inky substance and turns the user insane with continued use.

Unless an Animal-Spirit such as Termite invades a person, a person has only one Animal-Spirit their entire life. However, multiple people can have similar or even the same Animal-Spirit, such as Scorpion, Red Scorpion, and Black Scorpion.

Obtaining An Animal-Spirit
The majority of Animal-Spirit users are born with their Animal-Spirits. They appear at puberty. If someone is not born with an Animal-Spirit, they will not develop one. However, they can be given one by an Animal-Spirit user who has the ability to do so (i.e., transfer their own or someone else's Animal-Spirit).

Animal-Spirits cannot be awakened by physical triggers. However, they can be strengthened heavily by use of a certain drug known as "Hell's Rose", which is most often used by DeBach Crudal to boost the power levels of the members of the '''The Collective. '''However, this most often results in the Animal-Spirit physically mutating or even killing its Master if the dosage is too high.

Appearance Type
The appearances of Animal-Spirits can be categorized into three main types. On occasion, Animal-Spirits may contain elements of both types. In addition, they can shift categories over time as they evolve, such as Crow and Tri-Horned Beetle, both of which were Beast-types that transformed into Chimera-types.

Manifestation Types
Animal-Spirits also manifest themselves in four different ways. As with appearance, Animal-Spirits can manifest themselves in ways that contain elements of more than one category; for example, those that are both "Concealed" and "Bound".

Behavior
Most often, Animal-Spirits display no personality traits except for loyalty, as they carry out commands from their Masters. Occasionally, they display bits of personality, although it is not explained whether this is a result of their own behavior or them channeling their Master's emotions.

Occasionally Animal-Spirits can develop their own personality, either by observing the world through their Master's mind or by continuously channeling their Master's emotion.