Soulless Beings

Soulless Beings

Soulless Beings is a phenomenon that found in some fantasy, science-fiction and supernatural works of fiction where the reason of a villain or other character's evil and/or amorality is that they are intelligent entities who do not possess any soul.

Some Soulless Beings are naturally (born) soulless, while others originally had souls but have been separated from them for various reasons.

Some elements in this page based from two tropes: The Soulless and Soulless Shell.

Lacking any/Loss of Soul (Became Soulless)

When people use the phrase "soulless monster," they usually mean the person they are referring to is not acting like a (decent) human being, not that they actually lack a soul and are a monster*. In fiction, some characters, even villains, really are soulless, and often act like monsters because of it.

Soulless villains are motivated by one thing only: getting a soul, as it this case, it was said they used to have one, but lost it for various reasons which in either way, they somehow survived in spite of their soul has been removed from their body. Any old soul will do to restore themselves to their original state, but frequently they want their own soul back for sentimental reasons. While a soulless character does never necessarily become a soulless killing machine, sanity and humanity do not fare very well without one. Even if both of these traits are independent of the soul and do not suffer in its absence, most Soulless characters have a change in worldview that does erode their former nature, if they have one.

Things can always get worse, of course. The loss of a soul enables villains to freely jump headfirst down the slip and slide of The Dark Side, or simply smile and carry on as if nothing happened... and kill anyone who disagrees. Like an appendix, it was just a useless organ weighing them down. If they lucky, its absence will be felt before long. Their allies eventually leaves them because they are never treated the same, they don't feel happy or sad. What they do feel is a keen emptiness that gnaws on their conscious mind like an ever-growing black hole slowly siphoning a star's outer layers. With any luck, they will try to get their soul back using mostly moral means.

Following situations that made a character became Soulless Being includes:

• Consequence of Make A Deal With The Devil/Other Antagonistic Forces: One of the known terrible prices of making the deal with The Devil or other antagonistic (preternatural) forces includes having their soul taken as the payment. After this character make the said deal and gained what they wanted, they ended up behave different because the Devil/Antagonistic Force has taken their soul as the Payment.
• Survive from Soul Reaping Incident: A character somehow survived when their soul taken away by a Collector of Souls or certain Soul Collecting Device which in any case, somehow still alive.
• Birth Without Soul: The individual is revealed/said technically born/created without any soul, which drove him/her to obsessed to getting a soul so they can perfect their own essence.

As Soulless Shell

This case is almost similar with above, but the character whom become one of soulless shells usually those whom having their body restored/remain intact after their demise, and lacks any will to regain their lost soul. After revived/brought back to life (either with magic or scientific means), they may looks like their former selves, as well as breathes and moves like they used to be.

But compared with when they still a mortal being, there's nothing inside. They just like a puppet. Their eyes are frighteningly empty. Whatever magic or technology used to bring them back couldn't quite finish the job and couldn't restore the essence of what they was to the body. They are no longer a character whom both heroes and other villains known. Now, they are just a thing masquerading as their former selves.

Villains that became soulless shell, like The Soulless retain their goal despite their twisted nature albeit lack any will to retrieve their lost soul. As explained before, Soulless Shells are came to being due to the partially success of resurrecting attempt on an individual where the said attempt not includes/failed in restoring the soul of the revived one.

Naturally Soulless

Rare case of Soulless Beings whom naturally soulless often portrayed as entities that said to lived since ancient times or since the dawn of creations. Unlike other cases above, the naturally soulless being had no difficulties to live without any souls at all. Some even shown being act or think like normal entities that possesses soul, which made them difficult to differentiate with those who has soul. These entities sometimes portrayed as either complete monster or hostile beings that made them notorious adversary for heroes, as some of this villain shown with powers to took other being's soul which also enable them to amplify their powers. Perfect example of this was demons in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Although, beings that can be considered naturally soulless not always have bodies, as some of these are already spiritual beings. This means that nature of their physical manifestation are not so different with nature of soul of living beings.

Conclusion

Regardless, lack of soul can be a hindrance for a soulless being to attain a genuine moral agency, let alone feeling emotions such as remorse or empathy. Worse, this nature of theirs make them susceptible to possession or manipulation from antagonistic forces. Even without influence of malicious beings however, soulless being's unnatural nature still pose potential problem to either side.

Examples

Literature

• Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter series, partially. This is due tho the fact that his soul (which still in his body) has already torn apart since he creating 7 Horcruxes. Also, while technically not the same as soullessness, Voldemort was born without the fundamental ability to love due to being conceived under a magic-induced fake love.
• The Dementors are soulless spectral creatures that are dangerous to every living being in the Harry Potter universe.

Comic Books

• Blackheart (Marvel comics) conceived from the accumulated dark energy born out of centuries of murder by the hands of the hellish dark lord Mephisto, and he is clearly equally sadistic as his father as well as believed to be even dangerously powerful than he is, and like Mephisto, his only son Blackheart is skilled in the "fine" art of corruption, capable of making other mortal beings to choose the lesser of two evils.

Live-Action

• Vampires and other demons from Buffy the Vampire Slayer are seemed or said to be soulless creatures of darkness.
• Ryan Anderson from Angel is confirmed as a human who was born without a soul, and is feared even by demons because of it.
• Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter series, partially. This is due tho the fact that his soul (which still in his body) has already torn apart since he creating Horcruxes. Also, while technically not the same as soullessness, Voldemort was born without the fundamental ability to love due to being conceived under a magic-induced fake love.
• The Dementors are soulless spectral creatures that are dangerous to every living being in the Harry Potter universe.
• Supernatural:
  • Angels have been confirmed to naturally lack souls due to their nature as spiritual beings, unless they lose their grace and are rendered human.
  • Soulless victims of Abaddon's soul-mining operations, in Supernatural'.

Videogames

• Elaine Heyworth from Shadow Hearts, an example of Soulless Shell that became evil due to controlled by demonic forces that originally used to revive her.
• The Heartless in the Kingdom Hearts series alongside their dangerously negative counterparts known as the Nobodies are beings of darkness born from the moment any living creature with or without powers lost their heart upon their passing, even such deceased individual's heart full of negative feelings such as rage and greed and sorrow.
• Most of the man-made transformers of KSI are soulless, with Galvatron as the exception for he was in fact the new body of Megatron. Later, 50 KSI transformers were controlled by Galvatron and became Decepicons.
• The Leviathans in Supernatural are presumably soulless, as they are said to be beings which predate the soul.