Phantasmal Species

**Phantasmal Species** (幻想種, *Gensō-shu*?), or simply **Phantasmals** (笠, *Kasa*?), are a race of spiritual beings invisible to humans, incarnated from the animus that leaks out of humans over time due to their emotions. Phantasmals born from negative emotions haunt and bring harm to humanity and are consequently the primary targets of sorcerers and their exorcist work.

## Principles

### Creation

Phantasmals are created when animus leaks from (non-sorcerer) humans as a result of their harboring a myriad of emotions. Animus of a similar wavelengths, for instance those from negative emotions like hate, fear and sadness, gathers in one spot, building up like sediment until a phantasmal takes form. Populated locations such as schools and hospitals are hotspots for bearing phantasmals because many negative emotions are associated with memories of those places. This same concept applies humanity's collective fear and hatred. An image shared by the masses can create a powerful phantasmal even if the subject is not real, such as famous monsters or spirits. It is the emotions that humanity directed at this image that causes it to manifest as a phantasmal.

Longstanding feelings, such as humanity's collective relationship with plagues and natural disasters, results in a collection of animus so massive the phantasmals manifested from them have a consciousness related to those feelings. For example, humanity's fear and treatment of forests has directly resulted in Hanami, a very intelligent first grade phantasmal who wants to free the earth of its humans in order to protect the forests and trees from them. Mirinda is an exceptionally strong and intelligent phantasmal that challenges the concept of the human soul itself because she was born from the love humans feel toward one another.

### Characteristic

The bodies of a Phantasmal Species are entirely made up of animus. Their metaphysical existence makes it nearly impossible for non-sorcerers to perceive or touch them. Living humans who have been affected by animus can only tell they have strange symptoms without realizing a phantasmal is behind it. Non-sorcerers whose lives are put in danger by a phantasmal may gain the ability to see it in that life or death situation. Phantasmals come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, some are grotesque others may possess otherworldly beauty. Phantasmals with minimal intelligence tend to linger around their point of origin.

Other than that, a phantasmal's habits vary a great deal from phantasmal to phantasmal. All Phantasmal have an instinctive urge to act on humans, whether it be to harm them or help them. A phantasmal born from the feeling of joy would go out of its way to make as many humans feel as good as possible and might listen to any request until they are satisfied. Supreme grade phantasmals with high intelligence tend to be bipedal creatures with shapes comparable to humans. They are capable of holding a normal conversation and working together as an organized group. Certain negative phantasmals could be made to obey humans after they're forced into submission by their master. Others have the ability to mark a human and haunt them, making them capable of attacking a human even if they're located away from their point of origin.

### Destruction

With bodies composed of animus, phantasmals cannot be harmed by conventional means. They can be hit by a physical attack but it will deal no damage regardless of how powerful it is. The general rule of sorcery is that a phantasm must be destroyed using another phantasm. This mean phantasmals can only be destroyed using animus. A fatal attack using animus will cause the phantasmal to disappear completely. This does not apply to phantasmals who have been incarnated using a flesh and blood human vessel.

Phantasmals that are too powerful to be destroyed must be sealed away using a constraint. Sukuna has continued to exist as twenty fingers classified as supreme grade phantasmal objects that can still attract phantasmal species and choose its own vessel. Sukuna's fingers had to be individually sealed to inhibit the damage they cause.

If a vengeful spirit that is cursing someone is too powerful to destroy, millions of figurative knots of animus must be slowly analyzed and undone one by one. The cursed can do so by learning to master channeling the animus being used to curse them. This was believed to be Yuta and Rika's case, however, Yuta was actually the one who turned her into a vengeful phantasmal. If the cursed severs the bond tying servant to master and the phantasmal doesn't desire punishment, then the curse breaks. By going beyond the limits of Rika's power and promising himself in return, the curse was broken once Rika decided not to punish him.

## Classification

**Vengeful Phantasm** (過(か)呪(じゅ)怨霊(おんりょう), *Ka Ju-Onryō*?): A cursed spirit created when humans become a curse after death. Those whose deaths are cursed have the possibility of having their spirit corrupted and transformed into a vengeful spirit. Sorcerers have an increased chance of turning into a curse after death, but this can be prevented by killing them with jujutsu. Rika Orimoto was transformed into a vengeful curse after Yuta Okkotsu couldn't accept her death and cursed it on accident. Yuta's ancestor, Michizane Sugawara, became one of the **Big Three Vengeful Spirits** (日本三大怨霊, *Nippon San Dai Onryō*?), ancestors of the Big Three Sorcerer Families.

**Imaginary Vengeful Phantasm** (仮想(かそう)呪(じゅ)怨霊(おんりょう), *Kasō Ju-Onryō*?): A cursed spirit manifested from the cumulative fear of the masses. When many people share an image of fear, such as famous yokai or ghost stories like the Nine Tailed Fox, an Imaginary Vengeful Spirit can form. They are widely feared by sorcerers and classified as such to distinguish them from other curses. Sukuna, who was human over a thousand years ago, is famous for the legend of the **Imaginary Demon God** (仮想(かそう)の鬼神(きしん), *Kasō no Kishin*?) with two faces and four arms. Suguru Geto, the curse manipulator, possessed two different Imaginary Vengeful Spirits: Kuchisake-Onna, a famous urban yokai legend, and Tamamo-no-Mae Incarnate, another figure in Japanese mythology.

Malevolent Phantoms, or abbreviated to Malphasm, are phantasmals born negative emotions