Souls were the life essences that constituted part of the definition of an individual; they contained a being's conscience – that is to say, their instinctual capacity to be governed by the traditional human philosophies of "right" and "wrong."

Contents 1 Origin 2 Good and Evil 2.1 Angel/Angelus 2.2 Darla 2.3 Spike 2.4 Drusilla 2.5 Dracula 2.6 Ryan Anderson 3 Death 3.1 Resurrection 3.2 Rituals of Resurrection and Restoration 4 Destruction 5 Black Market 6 References

Origin

The origins of souls were never made clear. Angel and Darla's son, Connor, was presented with a soul some time before birth, although it was was not stated whether or not this was due to Connor's special status as the child of two vampires, or whether he was a unique example. There was at least one recorded case of a human boy born without a soul.

Good and Evil

"When you become a vampire the demon takes your body, but it doesn't get your soul. That's gone! No conscience, no remorse... It's an easy way to live. You have no idea what it's like to have done the things I've done... and to care."

―Angel^[src]

Souled beings were defined by possessing the moral capacity to be governed by the moral values of "right" and "wrong." As such, they were commonly associated with good, while soullessness was associated with evil; however, this was a rather fallacious statement, as ensouled creatures were still capable of acts of great evil, and traditionally soulless beings possessed the capacity for ethicality and even virtuousness under the right set of circumstances. It was therefore more accurate to affirm that while souls did grant a creature that ability to accept morality, they did not govern that creature's decision to abide by it.

In general, soulless beings—namely vampires—identified as completely immoral, and were able to kill, maim and torture without the restriction of remorse. Still, they were shown to understand the nature of evil. It was perhaps more factual to state that they simply did not concern themselves with it. There was at least one case of a vampire denying his soulless instincts; though he was in large-part aided by the behavior chip that restricted him from acting out through physical pain, he remained proof that a strong enough motivation to do good could partly overcome simple soullessness. Once re-ensouled, vampires became haunted by their past sins; the returning of a soul could therefore be a very traumatic event for demons, as was witnessed in the cases of all four former members of the Whirlwind.

Angel/Angelus

Angel's soul was cursed upon him by Gypsies as a punishment for brutally murdering one of their clanswoman. 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. Angel lost his soul twice: first, when he slept with Buffy Summers, and again, due to a spell. On both occasions, he reverted to his identity as the murderous and twisted Angelus, and sought to sadistically punish the people around him until his soul was restored again. Unlike Spike or Darla, Angel seemed to possess two distinct personalities that surfaced depending on the state of his ensoulment; Angelus was distinctly evil and took pleasure in his victims' suffering, while Angel remained constantly driven by his conscience to help people in need. The two typically shared memories and experiences, but his confrontation with the the Beast—during which only Angelus could recall information related to the demon—suggested that Angelus did not exist to some extent when Angel was in control of his body. Still, Angelus has stated on numerous occasions that he was always within Angel, trapped by the presence of Angel's soul. Most other evidence lead to this conclusion, as Angelus was briefly able to take control of Angel's form without having his soul removed while he was being driven to derangement by the addition of Rupert Giles' soul in his body.

Darla

When 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. Some time 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.

Spike

As opposed to Angel or Darla, Spike proved capable of doing good even without his soul. Immediately after he was turned, he retained affection for his mother, and formed a strong connection with Drusilla, whom he viewed as his savior. Much later, he purposely regained his soul to prove his worth to Buffy, and while it tested his sanity at first, he was able to recover and become a Champion in his own right. While Spike's possession of his soul did not significantly alter his core persona, he did begin to doubt himself more often, and lost much of the confidence he had maintained during his years as a soulless vampire, becoming somewhat insecure. Naturally, he was also more prone to spells of depression and guilt, though not to the extent of Angel. Faith Lehane even commented that he had become more like Angel since the regaining of his soul, much to his irritation. Still, he showed to be a capable hero both with and without his soul; one could even say that he did not achieve redemption because he won back his soul, but rather, he earned redemption on his own and was prompted to regain his soul to reassure both himself and others of his integrity. If Spike lost his soul (as briefly occurred when he was in Las Vegas), he did not become purely evil and sadistic, as he had overcome his demonic nature to a certain extent without it; however, he did prove more will

ing to make questionable decisions.^[1] Despite the general balance between his soulless and souled selves, Spike appeared to fear losing his soul again.^[2]

Drusilla

Drusilla became ensouled by Willow Rosenberg in Las Vegas per Spike's request; 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.

Dracula

Though Dracula's status in regards to the actual possession of his soul was never elaborated on, he did once state that he "risked his very soul" to attain his unique abilities.^[3]

Ryan Anderson

Ryan Anderson 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 merely because she received more marshmallows in her hot chocolate than he did. He was possessed by an Ethros demon, who became terrified of the boy's soulless nature, which he described as a literal "void". The demon sent messages for help simply so that he could be exorcised and killed.

Death

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 Calendar. The actual location and conditions of this dimension were unknown, and was never made clear if a person's actions in life determined the state of their "afterlife." It was, however, confirmed that Buffy Summers went to a heavenly dimension at the time of her death, and that Cordelia Chase completed her metamorphosis into a Higher Being in another dimension when she passed away. It was possible that upon being sired, a vampire's human soul was displaced to a state of limbo connected to earth's plane, as such souls were much more easily recalled and there had never been any evidence of them "moving on". When Rupert Giles died, his soul was dispersed between nine separate locations important to his past as a result of his connection to Ehygon the Sleepwalker.

Resurrection

A soul was the most necessary component to resurrection. As Spike aptly put it, the body was simply "the tip of the theological iceberg."^[4] A body could either be magically recreated (such as with Darla) or restored (such as with Buffy), but without a soul, there could be no resurrection, and a zombie was very often created as a result.

Rituals of Resurrection and Restoration

Apart from the rituals of resurrection that involved a soul being returned to a deceased body, 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; the Ritual of Mok'tagar allowed a Mok'tagar Demon to steal and use a human's soul, and the Ritual of Restoration allowed a vampire's soul to re-enter his or her body, though Angel was the only vampire known to have been successfully treated with this spell.^[5][6]

After murdering Rupert Giles, Angel was able to use an item known as the Tooth of Ammuk to absorb the fragments of his soul; he visited different locations significant to Giles in order to assemble his soul in the h

opes of returning him to life again.^[7] 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 sto

re it within an object called the Essuary instead.

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.

Destruction

The permenent destruction of a soul was possible. According to Alasdair Coames, Enders obliterate souls upon consuming them.^[8] Wo-Pang claimed after extracting and temporarily housing Angel's so

ul in a glass jar that it would be possible for the soul to be destroyed, though the specific parameters for such a destruction were not made clear.^[9] Other cases of supposed soul "destruction" were less clear, usually where soul 'consumption' is concerned. When Winifred Burkle was used as a host to restore the Old One Illyria, her soul was apparently consumed by the strain of resurrecting Illyria in her body, rendering it impossible for her to be resurrected or go on to an

afterlife, at least according to Doctor Sparrow. Illyria possessed Fred's memories,^[10] and even reverted to Fred's appearance and personality on more than one occasion,^[11] but these were confirmed to have been mere remnants of Fred rather than a sign that her soul still existed as an entity in itself.

Additionally, while Angel Investigations confronted Soul Eaters on at least two occasions, it was never specified whether the demon feeding permanently destroyed the soul it consumed, or if the soul was eventually allowed to pass on after it was 'digested', or released intact or not when its consuming demon dies.

Black Market

Angel, Cordelia and Doyle investigated a case involving a demonic black market where souls were brought and sold, with 'rare' souls—such as the soul of an innocent child or a saint—being particularly valuable. This encounter also pitted them against Shug, the last of the demonic race known as the Kurgarru, who consumed the souls of other beings to survive; Shug, the last of his kind, survived by violating his species' most sacred rule and devouring the souls of his own family. Shug attempted to take Angel's soul so that he could consume it, but he was killed by his traitorous partner, who was disgusted at Shug's new state and preferred the possible financial opportunities that would be offered by the bidding war on such a unique soul as Angel's. It was presumed that the deaths of Shug and his business partner resulted in the end of the trade in souls as they were the key players in the black market, and showed no signs of having heirs to carry on their work.^[12]

References

1. ↑ Spike (IDW series)
2. ↑ Spike and Faith
3. ↑ Wolves at the Gate, Part Two
4. ↑ Shells
5. ↑ Becoming, Part Two
6. ↑ Orpheus
7. ↑ Daddy Issues, Part Three
8. ↑ Spike and Faith
9. ↑ Awakening
10. ↑ Shells
11. ↑ The Girl in Question
12. ↑ Soul Trade