Specter

Specter is a black creature type used for cards that depict vicious undead creatures whose touch numbs the minds of their victims, robbing them of memories (represented in-game by discard effects). 
==Description==
Most specters are seen riding atop undead flying monsters such as dragons, giant skulls with bat-wings, and other beasts, and often wield polearms. They seem to be mirror-images of the white Archons, hooded beings that also ride flying mounts, though unlike them they don't appear to be mana manifestations (in the same manner as angels and demons), nor is it clear if, like with some archons, both "rider" and "steed" are the same being. Instead, most specters seen thus far are truly undead beings, usually the result of mind magic that went wrong.
The first card to bear the type was <c>Hypnotic Specter</c> in Alpha, affectionately known as "Hippy", which formed a favorite turn-one play with <c>Dark Ritual</c>.
===Specter ability===
The "Specter ability" (When this creature deals combat damage to an opponent, that player discards a card.) is primary in black.
==Storyline==
===Arcavios===
Specters of Arcavios hunt down those who try to back out of a deal with a daemogoth.
===Dominaria===
Little is known of Dominaria's specters in spite of featuring in several blocks, but it is known that at least one, Urgoros, is the result of dementia magic gone wrong.Wizards of the Coast. (April 21, 2018.) "The Cabal is back in full force in Dominaria!", The Official Magic: The Gathering Tumblr, Tumblr.
===Eldraine===
Though they represent a dark mirror to Eldraine's archons, the plane's specters are not a single entity.James Wyatt et al. (2023). "D&D Monstrous Compendium: Vol. 4: Eldraine Creatures". Wizards of the Coast. The flying horror that the specter appears mounted on is an undead beast that scours the Wilds in search of the corpse of a knight. Upon finding one, the horror binds itself to the corpse, giving it the semblance of life as a rider.
Humans of Eldraine view specters as heralds of death, thought to only appear to people who are already doomed.Kate Elliott (2019), Throne of Eldraine: The Wildered Quest, Penguin Random House Though unable to speak, they utter a keening wail, mournful beyond all other sounds and audible only to those who are about to die.
===Ravnica===
Specters on Ravnica are magical creations of House Dimir. They are formed when the mind magic of House Dimir erases a person's identity, leaving a mind so broken it can no longer live. As a result, they hunger for memories and are easily used by the Dimir as agents. Their work can include driving off people who accidentally wander too close to a secret rooftop meeting, killing those who knowingly infiltrate Dimir property, and tracking those who have stolen guild secrets, then wiping those secrets from their victims' minds to ensure that they are never shared.
They ride mounts called gloamwings. Specters create these gloamwings as a part of their magical nature. Should the mount be killed, the specter can reform it over the course of a month.
===Zendikar===
Specters are native to the Zendikari continent of Guul Draz.
==Notable Specters==
;Dominaria
*Urgoros
==Gallery==
File:Sedraxis Specter.jpg|Alara.
File:Blazing Specter.jpg|Dominaria.
File:Reaper of Night.jpg|Eldraine.
File:Needle Specter.jpg|Lorwyn–Shadowmoor.
File:Whispering Specter.jpg|Mirrodin/New Phyrexia.
File:Thief of Sanity.jpg|Ravnica, Dimir House.
File:Nightveil Specter.jpg|Dimir House.
File:Guul Draz Specter.jpg|Zendikar.
File:Headless Specter.jpg|Headless
File:Hypnotic Specter.jpg|Hypnotic
File:Liliana's Specter.jpg|Liliana's
File:Scythe Specter.jpg|Scythe
File:Shimian Specter.jpg|Shimian
File:Abyssal Specter.jpg|Abyssal
File:Dread Specter.jpg|Dread
File:Entropic Specter.jpg|Entropic
File:Blizzard Specter.jpg|Blizzard
File:Doomsday Specter.png|Doomsday Specter.
File:Abyssal Specter 2.jpg|Abyssal 2
File:Abyssal-Specter.jpg|Abyssal 3
==Trivia==
*The archetypal depiction of Specters was first introduced with <c>Abyssal Specter</c> in Ice Age. This current image of the specter in Magic, that of a hooded rider with a drake or bat-like flying steed, is an homage to Tolkien's Nazgûl.
*<c>Thief of Sanity</c>, <c>Blizzard Specter</c> and <c>Doomsday Specter</c> added blue to their casting costs. <c>Nightveil Specter</c> is also blue, but with triple hybrid mana it can also be played in monoblack and is the only Specter to be castable without black mana.
**<c>Blazing Specter</c> and <c>Sedraxis Specter</c> are the only red Specters, and the latter is the only tri-colored Specter. There are no white or green Specters.
*<c>Specter's Shroud</c> is an equipment giving a card Specter-abilities. <c>Specter's Shriek</c> and <c>Specter's Wail</c> are sorceries with discard-effects. 
*Liliana Vess brings her own: <c>Liliana's Specter</c>.
*Most Specters cause discard effects through combat. There are some exceptions:
**<c>Tainted Specter</c>, <c>Reaper of Night</c>, <c>Fell Specter</c>, <c>Liliana's Specter</c> and <c>Hollow Marauder</c> cause discard through other abilities. 
**<c>Nightveil Specter</c> and its successor <c>Thief of Sanity</c> represent mental damage through stealing from the library.
**The strangest one is <c>Dread Specter</c>, which has a proto-deathtouch ability instead. Being the third specter ever printed Design had likely not consolidated the mechanical theme yet. That said, <c>Specter of the Fens</c> does not either. Instead, it has a draining ability and was released in 2021. <c>Specter of Mortality</c> causes a board wipe.
==References==