Life state

A life state, a creature, or an occult is a kind of Sim or pet with a special appearance and abilities, mostly inspired by legends or science fiction.
==The Sims==
Two alternate life states exist in The Sims and its expansions, though they are not well-defined and do not grant any changes in a Sim's behavior.
When Sims die, they become ghosts. In Livin' Large, pleading with the Grim Reaper may result in him bringing a recently deceased Sim back as a zombie. If Unleashed is installed, these zombies can also be restored by Miss Lucille, who can be found on community lots in Old Town, though she cannot restore their personalities. Also in Livin' Large, Sims using the chemistry set might make a purple potion that can temporarily turn a Sim into a monster.
It could be said that witches come with Makin' Magic, but being magical is not treated as a life state in that expansion. Sims who take up magic still look and act the same, and the term "witch" is not used.
In Makin' Magic, one of the charms that can be made is Beauty or Beast. This charm allows a Sim to temporarily change his or her appearance, and some of the available choices resemble life states from later games, such as werewolves and vampires. While players may choose to treat this as a temporary transformation or an illusion, the in-game effects are the same either way. The Sim who has been "charmed" is still normal; the charm only affects the Sim's appearance and does not affect the way the Sim behaves or the way other Sims react to him/her, and the Sim gains no extra abilities or interactions.
==The Sims 2==
Most expansion packs for The Sims 2 added an alternate state in which Sims can exist. Some added sentient creatures that Sims cannot become but can be playable Sims. These states have unique triggering techniques, advantages, and disadvantages. These states are:
*Alien
*BigfootA Sim cannot become a Bigfoot, but a Bigfoot can become a playable Sim
*Genie (not playable)In The Sims 2: FreeTime, the Genie is a special case, as a Sim cannot become a Genie, and the Genie cannot become a playable Sim. Some players do not consider it a true life state.
*Ghost (not playable)
*Mannequin (hidden)This state is not part of normal gameplay. It can only be created by using the Debug Mode of Create a Sim. Because of this, some players do not consider it a true life state.
*Normal Sim
*PlantSim
*ServoA Sim cannot become a Servo, but Servos are playable Sims
*Spectral cat
*Vampire
*Werewolf
*Witch
*Zombie
Each life state offers new opportunities for the Sim, making certain aspects of play easier to handle and others harder.
==The Sims 3==
The Sims 3 and its expansion packs feature 15 life states. The official game text recognizes certain kinds of life states as "occult", and occult Sims cannot be given makeovers by stylists. Before The Sims 3: Supernatural, Ghost was not considered an occult status according to the game files. With Supernatural, players can create some occults with a Supernatural Type selector in Create a Sim. These life states include normal Sims, ghosts, vampires, genies, werewolves, witches, and fairies.
If a celebrity WooHoos with an occult life state, they may get the Publicly Disgraced moodlet. This can occur even if the celebrity is of an occult life state themselves.
Several states in Supernatural (i.e. Toad Sims, Tragic Clowns, and Zombies) are not considered to be occult. They are merely temporarySome means of producing zombification are permanent, but the difference is that the Sim receives a "Zombified!" moodlet that does not expire rather than one that expires in 2 days. See List of Moodlets/Activities states and can only affect normal Sims. These states can be cured by removing the moodlet with the Moodlet Manager or drinking the Cure Elixir.
;Non-occult
*Alien
*Normal Sim
;Occult
*Fairy
*GenieIn The Sims 3: Showtime, a Genie can become a playable Sim. Unless The Sims 3: Supernatural is installed, a Sim cannot become a Genie, nor can a Genie become a normal Sim.
*GhostPrior to The Sims 3: Supernatural, a ghost does not count as an occult.
*Imaginary Friend
*Mermaid
*Mummy
*PlantSim
*Plumbot
*SimBotSimBots are playable Sims. Unless The Sims 3: Supernatural is installed, a Sim cannot become a SimBot, nor can a SimBot become a normal Sim.SimBots also appear in the The Sims 3 Pets for console
*Time Traveler (hidden)A Time Traveler can not become a playable Sim without mods.
*UnicornUnicorns only appear in The Sims 3: Pets for PC/MAC
*VampireLate Night trailer
*Werewolf
*Witch
;Temporary state
*Toad Sim
*Tragic Clown
*Zombie
==The Sims 4==
The Sims 4 with its expansions and game packs feature 10 life states. Originally the game featured no occults until Patch 5 with the introduction of ghosts and subsequently the inclusion of occult based game packs and expansions including occults. Every occult except from Servos and the temporary states can be made from within Create A Sim via the occult selector or in the occult category of creating a new Sim.
There are two temporary life states that can only be acquired through special objects and interactions, they will naturally disappear as NPCs or are a temporary moodlet buff that expires on playable Sims.
;Non-occult
* Normal Sim
;Occult
* Alien Temporary by drinking Alien Aura serum
* Ghost Added to the base game in patch 5. Can be created directly in Create a Sim as of patch 170.
* Mermaid 
* Servo 
* Spellcaster 
* Vampire 
* Werewolf 
* Unicorn 
;Temporary state
* PlantSim Obtainable through the ice cream maker or through eating the forbidden fruit; the duration of the effect will differ, the former being much shorter.
* Skeleton Obtainable through a cursed relic.Performing a "Ghastly Ritual" at a seance table can temporarily turn Sims into Bonehilda.
==Trivia==
*Pack leader is considered as the life state for dogs in The Sims 2: Pets, because of their unique appearance and ability to nibble Sims and turn them into werewolves. However, it is not possible to become a pack leader.
*Spectral cat is considered as the life state for cats in The Sims 2: Apartment Life, because of their unique appearance and abilities. They will never age, have no gender, are unable to breed, are immune to the Tempus Interruptus spell, and do not have the bladder need.
*Unicorn is considered as a life state for a horse, because of their unique appearance and ability to bless or curse a Sim.
*The Sims 3: Pets is the only expansion pack in the series to feature a non-humanoid occult life state, the unicorn.
*The Sims 3: Supernatural is the first expansion pack in the series to feature more than one playable life state.
*Mannequin is just a custom skin color that can be accessed in The Sims 2 Create a Sim debugging mode. The game however does not support babies being born with this skin tone. Doing so will cause the game to crash. The players are required to use a mod to prevent the crash and allow the baby to be born.
*Even though ghosts have been featured in all games of The Sims series, The Sims 4 is the first game in the PC series in which ghosts can be manually directed to use ghostly abilities, rather than that being something that was only an autonomous action. In The Sims 2 for consoles, ghosts can use their special interactions while socializing with other Sims, but no other ghost abilities than those.
*The ability to create a life state straight from Create a Sim was introduced in The Sims 3: Supernatural, but was not continued for future life states. This was later reintroduced into in The Sims 4 packs: Get to Work, Vampires, Island Living, Realm of Magic, and Werewolves.
*In The Sims 4: Journey to Batuu, various Star Wars-inspired alien Sims are seen in the world of Batuu. However, technically these are all normal sims wearing hats designed as alien heads, hands, and feet, making them look like another species. This only gives the illusion that they are aliens - they remain normal Sims in all aspects.
==Notes and references==
nl:Levensstaat
es:Estado de vida
fr:Espèce
ru:Форма жизни
de:Lebenswunsch
pt-br:Estado de vida
pl:Rasa