Shadows
Shadows are complex entities on PersonaMUSH. While all of them draw from aspects of the collective consciousness of mankind, they manifest themselves in various ways. Ranging from lesser beings that reside in certain supernaturally-charged areas, to manifestations of the repressed side of a person's psyche, to twisted doppelgangers born from the power of rumors, their nature, abilities and additional considerations will be explored in this newsfile. This page discusses the nonsapient Shadows found roaming in certain locations. Personal Shadows discusses the Shadows of the self and their considerations within the Midnight Channel. Rumor Shadows discusses Rumor Shadows, created by conflicting rumors in Sumaru City.
Information about Shadow-Possessed can be found in Shadow Possession.
Wandering Shadows
Most commonly found during the Dark Hour and within the Midnight Channel, Shadows of this broad type encompass numerous forms, as strange as they are varied, taking their cues from humanity's unconsciousness. One Shadow might take the form of a dark lion, while another might look like a blob with wriggling limbs, while yet another might look like an orb with a too-large mouth and dangling tongue. They are hostile to humans found in their world and attack them. What happens to their victims ranges from what the world calls the Apathy Syndrome, as the Shadow consumes the mind of their target (see Apathy Syndrome for details) to even death as the victim is entirely devoured.
While not truly sapient in a way that humans would find familiar, they aren't stupid. They still possess a certain level of animal intelligence, capable of pack hunting tactics to chase down their prey. For those unfortunate enough to encounter them, prey often means 'humans'. Shadows will also prey upon other (usually weaker) Shadows and can grow larger by engulfing them. Unlike demons, Shadows cannot be talked to and will never back down from a fight; they are relentless in their pursuit of a meal and can consider nothing else. While this means that a Shadow will not attempt any trickery, it also means that the only way to deal with a Shadow is to either fight it or run away.
All Shadows of this sort bear masks, and can be further subdivided into various types depending on the mask and where they hail from. For example, those in SEES may know that there are twelve types of Shadows seen within the Dark Hour, which are described according to the numbers on their mask and the respective tarot cards associated to that number (Magician through Hanged Man). The same is not the case within the Midnight Channel.
Shadows possess strange powers of such a nature that they can only be called 'magical', and are similar to demons in this respect. They possess various abilities, depending on what sort of Shadow they are. Like demons, specific types of Shadows will share the same basic abilities. Some might be able to manipulate earth effortlessly, others display mastery over ice. Still others might command powers that affect the mind, terrifying or confusing their opponents. It's been rumored by some researchers that particularly powerful Shadows might possess the ability to manipulate time itself.
Attempts to photograph Shadows will always fail. Something about their nature prevents them from being captured as an image. All photographs end up as dark blurs, like someone tried to photograph something in motion while in a poorly lit area.
While most Shadows of this type are dangerous, there exist among them ones with greater power still. This type of Shadow is incredibly rare, with frightful powers far beyond their mundane brethren. For example, a Shadow of this type might possess the power to take the forms of their targets' greatest and most hidden fears. Port Island in particular has seen a few of them recently, dating back to the spring of 2009. What these strong Shadows might foretell is, for now, a mystery.
Personal Shadows
Everyone has a part of their personality that is unacceptable to them, whether they've rejected it because they've found it personally repellent, or because of their role in society, or because it's a part of themselves that simply runs counter to what society says is acceptable. Cast aside and buried deep, most people remain unaware of what they've rejected in their daily lives.
These Shadows can't be ignored forever. They may come to possess a character should they be placed under great stress and experience significant psychic trauma. For more information on Shadow-Possession and the nature of the Shadow-Possessed, please see Shadow Possession.
Within Midnight Channel (for more information on this location, see Midnight Channel) accessible through the televisions in Inaba, this Shadow within is set loose. Appearing as a duplicate of the original self, usually only their abnormal behavior and eerie golden irises give away the fact they are the Shadow. They are a manifestation of discarded urges and instincts desiring to be acknowledged. Continued failure to acknowledge what they have to say--and indeed, most people /will/ fail to acknowledge what they have to say because it is so anathema to who they are as people--gives the Shadow power, culminating in the absolute rejection of the Shadow: "You're not me!"
At that point, the Shadow sheds its humanoid appearance, dragging lesser Shadows to them, and engages in combat with those gathered, generally resulting in the collapse or incapacitation of the original. The forms they assume are typically strange, reflecting the mind of the person they sprang from and what problems plague them. Their powers are great, and it's for this reason, as well as the typical collapse of the person producing the Shadow, that a group is needed to perform a successful Midnight Channel rescue, the victim's prior possession of a Persona or lack thereof nonwithstanding. Once defeated and weakened, the Shadow must be accepted as a part--and not the whole--of a person's psyche. Once integrated in this fashion, the Shadow can transform into a Persona, if the person in question was lacking in this area. Please see The Midnight Channel for more information about this method.
But what happens if the Shadow is not rejected? Or what happens if the Shadow continues to be rejected once it has been weakened? Accepting a previously rejected aspect of one's psyche wholly and without reservation is dangerous: in short, it allows the Shadow the pathway it needs to take over entirely, resulting in a Shadow-Possessed individual. A Shadow is comparable to the Id, after all, and can easily spin out of control if left unchecked; repression is a bad thing, but complete lack of inhibition is no better. They aren't evil and have an important message to convey to their original, but they are meant to be a part of the whole rather than all of it.
Continued rejection after the Shadow has been defeated meanwhile only reinforces the prior repression. Instead of integrating, this part of the mind is cast aside once more. No Persona is gained if the Shadow continues to be rejected, and it sets the stage for /eventual/ Shadow-Possession if the repression of these aspects proceeds, as the mind is left in an incomplete state.
Rumor Shadows
Occasionally, two opposing stories about a person spread wildly within Sumaru City. In most places, this would hardly be cause for concern, but through the power of rumors and the nature of that city (see Rumors for more information), both stories becoming true creates a contradiction which in turn produces an actual entity known as a 'Rumor Shadow'. A good example of a contradictory pair of rumors might be one where a person is described as being a hero and a friend to all children in one, while the other rumor insists that they're actually a card-carrying member of some nefarious organization.
A perfect duplicate, it's not possible to reliably tell a Rumor Shadow from the original against the Shadow's will. Even ostensibly obvious physical tells such as the strange eye color they natively possess (often a red or too-bright gold) can be suppressed or hidden, and resonance marks no change. A Rumor Shadow retains all that the original knew but not their personality. A Rumor Shadow's personality may simply be a reversal or distortion of the original, or it may be something else entirely, often relating to the rumors that spawned them.
As stated before, a Rumor Shadow knows what the original knew at the time of their creation. This means that they will know all about the dirty secrets the original might have kept to themselves, and may go so far as to air dirty laundry if it's sufficient to cause the original to suffer. Of course, they're also fully capable of lying if it suits their needs, but usually it's the truth that hurts more.
In some respects, they possess a similarity to the Shadow self that dwells within all people. However, while inner Shadows likely consist of negative thoughts and repressed impulses, they are not inherently evil. A Rumor Shadow unambiguously /is/. Wholly malicious and filled with absolute loathing for their original, they seek to do nothing else but to erase them and take over their life. If they should succeed in this goal, the original will obviously cease to exist.
If the original is a Persona-user, the Rumor Shadow will fight similarly to the person they mirror, even going so far as to possess an apparent warped version of their Persona. However, they are unable to change Personas at all or undergo the physical transformation other Shadows might perform. What a Rumor Shadow of someone who was Shadow-Possessed or who didn't possess a Persona in the first place might be capable is, for now, unknown.
