Skinchanging (A Song of Ice and Fire)

==Summary==
A skinchanger or beastling is a person with the ability to enter the mind of an animal and control its actions. A skinchanger able to enter the mind of a wolf or dog is known as a warg.
==Powers and abilities==
Possession and Mind Manipulation: Skinchangers can projecting their consciousness into the minds of animals and humans to control their actions.The World of Ice & Fire, Ancient History: The Dawn Age.A Dance with Dragons, Prologue
Clairvoyance (Visual Linking): Skinchangers can see through the eyes of those they possess. Orell and Varamyr used an eagle to do recognition and scout the foes.Clash of Kings, Jon VIIIA Storm of Swords, Jon X During her temporary blindness, Arya could still see through a cat's eyesDance with Dragons, The Blind Girl
Multiple Selves (Type 1) and Fusionism: A Skinchanger who control an animal already possessed by another Skinchanger who leads his "Second Life" will see his mind automatically merged with the latter's. For example, Orell's consciousness was in Varamyr's after the latter controlled Orell's eagle, and he whispered things to him (but he couldn't control him).
Multilocation (Type 1) and Hive Mind (Type 2): Skinchangers' consciousness can be, in a particular case, in all living beings, animals and plants, clouds and snow in a entire forest.A Storm of Swords, Jon II
Madness Manipulation: Mental possession of a skinchanger on a human drives the latter violently mad, especially when the possession is not successful and the skinchanger cannot calm the target by controlling it
Immortality (Type 6): Skinchangers can live a "Second Life" through an animal or a human they possessed when they died. Skinchangers who have a bond with an animal will have their spirits passively entering the animal's mind upon death.
Immortality Negation (Type 6): Skinchangers can prevent other Skinchangers from having a "Second Life" by forcing them out of an animal
Extrasensory Perception: A Skinchanger can always recognize another SkinchangerA Dance with Dragons, Jon XII
Limited Telepathy, Enhanced Senses and Transformation: A bond can be made between a skinchanger and an animal. In this case, the animal can share the personality traits of the skinchanger with whom it has a strong bond,A Game of Thrones, Sansa IA Game of Thrones, Bran VIA Game of Thrones, Eddard III"Interview with the Dragon" Copyright © 2003 Robert Shaw and conversely the skinchanger can also share the physical traits of the animal with which it has a strong bond (Varamyr described Borroq as having looked so much like his boar, that all he lacked were tusks). Jon Snow was capable of feeling his direwolf's hunger at one point,A Storm of Swords, Jon XII to have a taste of blood in his mouth when his direwolf hunted and ate an prey,A Dance with Dragons, Jon III and to feel the smells that Ghost detected.A Dance with Dragons, Jon VII Jon said Ghost, his direwolf, was a part of him. When Brandon Stark was angry following a conversation with Jojen Reed, his direwolf Summer also got angry, and wanted to attacked Jojen. Jojen said part of Bran is Summer, and part of Summer is Bran, and that the anger of Summer was that of Bran.A Clash of Kings, Bran IV The animal can also know if his master is in danger. According to George R. R. Martin, the loss of her direwolf has left Sansa Stark a little adrift.
==Limitations/Weaknesses==
A skinchanger can only possess an animal (and a human) that is within sight, unless he already has a bond with the animal he wants to control. This also means that a skinchanger who does not have a special bond with an animal, or that his animal is dead or already taken as was the case with Haggon, will not be able to have a "Second Life" if he dies before being able to possess the body of another living being.
The powers of a skinchanger disappear when the latter's body dies, so he cannot take possession of another body when he lives his "Second Life"
In the "Second Life", the skinchanger's memory slowly fades until nothing of the man is left and only the beast remains, although the skinchanger's spirit will always be present.A Dance with Dragons, Bran III A skinchanger can prevent another skinchanger from having a "Second Life" by ejecting it from an animal or human only if the skinchanger's body is still alive (Varamyr was able to force Haggon out of his wolf because the Haggon's body was still alive, compared to that of Orell when Varamyr took possession of his eagle, so that Orell could not be ejected by Varamyr and integrated the latter's spirit).
A severe injury reduces a skinchanger's mental possession potency, which can prevent a target from being possessed
Mental possession of certain animals can have detrimental effects on the skinchanger in the long term. By mentally possessing birds, a skinchanger may soon lose contact to the mundane things of earth and want only to fly, and by possessing Elk and deer, a man will become a coward, because these animals are prey. The most powerful skinchangers, the greenseers, will not experience them at all, and the greatest greenseers they could wear the skins of any beast that flies or swims or crawls. A Storm of Swords, Bran I
An unwritten code for free folk skinchangers forbids them to seizing the body of another man, is considered the worst abomination. So some skinchangers won't use this ability in match-up with In-Character/Moral-on conditions, except those who have no respect for this rule and are morally horrible (ex: Varamyr) or who are still children and don't know what's wrong or not (ex: Brandon Stark)
It is traumatic if an animal is killed while its mind is inhabited by a skinchanger
==References==
Category:Verse-specific Powers and Abilities
Category:A Song of Ice and Fire