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A Spirit Animal is a lifelong partner that is bonded to a human. Spirit animals usually appear to a human of the age of 11-12. The bonds between spirit animals and humans are preserved by The Evertree.
History[]
Not much is known about spirit animal bonds prior to the First Devourer War. However, in the First Devourer War’s early stages, the first Devourer, King Feliandor of Stetriol, was offered the Bile so that he could grow a powerful army by using it to force spirit animal bonds.
By the end of the First Devourer War, the Evertree was damaged and people started to develop the bonding sickness. After the sickness emerged, Ninani gave the first Keeper her talisman to produce the Nectar with. The Nectar was then distributed by the Greencloaks and given to 11-13 year-old children at their Nectar Ceremonies, as it allows a child who is destined to bond to summon a spirit animal without risk of bonding sickness.
During the events of The Book of Shane, the Bile reemerged in Stetriol. This time, the Bile was also used as a cure for bonding sickness, which had proliferated in the continent as a result of the Greencloaks neglecting to provide its people Nectar. By the events of Wild Born, the Conquerors then began spreading their influence to other regions of Erdas and had brought the Bile with them, as evident by the unnatural number of spirit animals involved in the Siege of Jano Rion.
After the events of The Evertree, the bonding sickness ceased to exist because of the Evertree’s rebirth repairing its damage. Spirit animal bonds thus began to form naturally at any time between 11-12 years of age with no need for the Nectar and no risk of bonding sickness.
Summoning a Spirit Animal[]
Natural Bonds[]
After the First Devourer War, people needed to drink the Nectar of Ninani to safely call a spirit animal, because failing to drink the Nectar before summoning a spirit animal meant the summoner and their animal would contract bonding sickness. However, drinking the Nectar did not guarantee a spirit animal, and many people did not have access to the Nectar. The continent of Stetriol in particular was deprived of the Nectar, which thus caused thousands of people to develop the bonding sickness and die.
When summoned, a spirit animal is always an adult[1] (Although a kitten appears in Broken Ground as a spirit animal). It can also be any gender. Their names are decided mutually between the spirit animal and the summoner. (In the case of Great Beasts, they already had names they were known by, so their summoners did not name them). Usually, people summon spirit animals that are native or common to their area/region. Although there is a vast range of animals that could be summoned, insects, fish[citation needed] and humans cannot be summoned. However, arachnids, such as spiders and (presumably) scorpions can be summoned, but it is rare.[citation needed]
When exposed to Kovo's Trap in The Burning Tide, spirit animal bonds are reversed.
Bile Bonds[]
The Bile was created from the Jade Serpent of Gerathon the Serpent and, in the early stages of the Second Devourer War, was presented as a cure to bonding sickness and substitute for the Nectar. Drinking the Bile would cure bonding sickness, but it also caused the human to be in total control of their spirit animal, and allowed Gerathon to take over the human and spirit animal’s conscience and control them as she pleased.
By the end of The Evertree, Bile bonds ceased to exist due to Gerathon’s death. After she died, all Bile bonds were broken immediately. Once their Bile bonds broke, former spirit animals who had been controlled by the Bile and were not in passive upon her death either fled or vengefully hunted the people who were once bonded to them. Those whose spirit animals were in passive when Gerathon died were instead afflicted with a condition where the former spirit animal was no longer able to be brought out of passive state and their human partner would begin developing features of their former spirit animals. The people with this condition were then invited to join the Redcloaks. For more information about the progression of this condition, see here.
When exposed to Kovo's Trap in The Burning Tide, the Redcloaks had an unusual reaction. As the bells rang, they began to writhe on the ground in agony.
Wyrm Bonds[]
When the Wyrm's parasites take control of people, some retain some degree of independence. Zerif is the most notable example of this, as he was capable of thinking ahead (such as when he had said he knew Raisha would summon Gerathon) and thinking independently (such as when he targeted the Greencloaks to get revenge). However, Zerif may also be an exception to how these bonds function, as Zerif was bonded to the Wyrm itself.
Regardless, Zerif was capable of bonding to infected spirit animals, as seen by when he had bonded to 9 Great Beasts at once and summoned them to act independently during a conflict. Maddox may potentially have been a similar case, as in the game, he would summon multiple animals while playing the animation Conquerors use when summoning spirit animals.
In The Burning Tide, Zerif's bond to the Wyrm was finalized after it hatched. When the Wyrm bonded to Zerif, it assumed complete control of his body, which transformed him into The Thing. The Thing had grey skin, writhing black eyes, and veined flesh. It retained the Wyrm's strength and allowed the Wyrm to speak in Common instead of its native alien tongue.
When exposed to Kovo's Trap in The Burning Tide, Wyrm bonds were reversed like Natural bonds were. The infected became unresponsive and Zerif was given temporary control over his body.
General Information[]
A spirit animal dying was once described as being "like losing a limb". In extreme cases, a spirit animal dying may cause the summoner to go insane, possibly resulting in death. The same applies if a summoner were to die and the spirit animal live. The spirit animal may become extremely aggressive and unstable. It’s unknown if this applies to forced bonds between a human and a non-spirit animal, like Bile bonds.
It is possible to have more than one spirit animal in a lifetime, but never multiple at the same time. The only characters to have multiple spirit animals were Lishay, who bonded to her deceased brother’s spirit animal when her own was killed, and Zerif, who was an exception, as he had bonded to the Wyrm and used the parasites from the Wyrm to capture the Great Beasts as his spirit animals.
It's unclear if having multiple spirit animals at once would be a possibility using Bile bonds, as the question was never asked and there was never a Bile-bonded person noted as having two spirit animals at once. Bonds created using the Wyrm's parasites seem to be the only method of having multiple spirit animals at once, but Zerif was the only confirmed example of this.
Passive State[]
Spirit animals can also be summoned into passive state, transforming them into a tattoo somewhere on the summoner’s skin. The spirit animals can also be summoned out of the state. How much spirit animals can sense of, and react to, the outside world while in passive is unknown.
Tattoos[]
Abeke's tattoo of Uraza
It was once said that you must gain a spirit animal's trust for it to enter passive state.[2] The spirit animal enters passive state as it chooses,[3] and when it does, the summoner then chooses where the tattoo will go.[4] However, as Kovo places his tattoo on his summoner's neck without his summoner's input, these are likely only generalizations and not firm rules.
Spirit animals appear as a tattoo when called into passive state. These tattoos are often black and are outlines or silhouettes of the animal. When a spirit animal dies, the tattoo fades. The tattoos also faded for Bile-drinkers whose spirit animal was in passive after end of the Second Devourer War.
Finn Cooley had many tattoos over his skin, which Meilin saw as a clever tactic to confuse someone what his spirit animal might actually be among the many tattoos.[5] Kalani, however, has hundreds of other green tattoos surrounding her black dolphin tattoo.[6]
Recalling[]
A spirit animal cannot reemerge from passive state until their summoner releases them.[7]
When called from passive state, the spirit animal reappears in a flash of light. What color the light is varies, but in the game, Conquerors and other enemies release their spirit animals in bursts of red light, and the player characters, which are the only non-Conqueror (and thus, presumably non-Bile bonded) characters to summon spirit animals, release their spirit animals in a burst of bright yellowish-white light. In Hunted, Jhi is released in a purple burst and Uraza is released in a green burst.
When Tembo would call his spirit animal, Omika, out of passive, Omika could appear anywhere. Uraza observed she hadn’t seen that before and it must have taken a lot of practice.[8]
Tarik mentioned that sometimes people have difficulty calling their spirit animals back out of passive when first learning[9], but the only known example of a spirit animal being difficult to call from passive that was no longer a learner was Donn, who went into passive for years prior to Hunted. However, Donn’s unwillingness to appear was unusual, as it happened after his summoner faced a near death experience, and their bonding sickness may also have contributed to the severity.
Awareness While in Passive State[]
Spirit animals may possibly react to happenings around their summoners while in passive state. "Uraza’s tattoo stirred"[10] as her summoner saw a captive cat pressing its paws against the bars of its cage, but it’s unclear if this was literal. Donn also reappeared from passive for the first time in years when his summoner encountered a battle.
It seems possible that the spirit animal can still sense their surroundings while in passive in some way, as certain bonds, like Rollan’s bond to Essix, have at least proven that it’s possible for summoners to see from the perspective of the spirit animal.
Redcloaks[]
A group of people called the Redcloaks are people who drank the Bile and had their spirit animals in passive at the time of Gerathon’s death. Over time, their condition shaped their bodies into a hybrid of human and their spirit animal. It was speculated they would continue to change until the person became the animal their former spirit animal was, but this wasn't seen in the series.
Naturally bonded spirit animals or otherwise, anyone who drank the Bile and had their spirit animal in passive state at the time of Gerathon’s death would have their tattoo become glossy and they would be unable to call their spirit animal back from passive state. The person would then start to develop features from their former spirit animal.
Over time, their tattoo would become itchy and rash-like before sprouting hair, fur, or feathers. Their eyes would start to change, and they would eventually start to adopt certain behaviors and the likes or dislikes of their former spirit animals. At some point in the process, Worthy even developed a tail. According to one of the Redcloaks, this transformation may continue until they become fully animal. This was purely speculation and was never proven in the series, however.
After Gerathon died during the events of the Second Devourer War, the Bile stopped working, so neither new Bile bonds nor new Redcloaks can be created after the events of The Evertree.
Trivia[]
- Spirit animal summoners are also called "Marked".
- They are likely called "Marked" because of the tattoo that appears on their skin when their spirit animal is in passive state.