Possession

**Notice:** This **article** uses content directly taken from the Possession **article** at the Vampire Diaries Wiki, and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.
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**Possession** is the ability of witches, Traveler witches and passengers, and the Spirits to place one's spirit into another being's form and take control of their body and mind. This is typically done by magical means, through the use of spells. A few other supernatural species, such as the oni, banshee, and dybbuk, can naturally possess other beings, similar in action to a witch's spell.

Possession is different from Mind Compulsion and mind control, in that the being's spirit or life essence has to metaphysically enter the body of another being in order to control the body from within. Dahlia's Kenning is similar in manner to possession as she can "possess" and control a large number of people at once without the need to move her spirit from her body. Malivore and his vessel, Landon Kirby share similarities to possession, though this is more physical as Malivore's body enters and controls Landon as opposed to a spirit and a host.

## Types of Possession

There appears to be several different forms of possession:

1. Spirit possession, the more common form which involves a witch casting a spell to allow a spirit to "jump" into another's body, which gives them full control of their new host body.
2. Passenger spells, which are performed exclusively by the Travelers using Traveler Magic, and which, on its own, only gives the Passenger temporary control over their host body; in this case, the Passenger is called into control of their vessel by another person who says a set of "code words" to summon them. However, a spell does exist that gives Passengers permanent control of their host bodies, but it involves a Traveler casting a spell over the Passenger's own body, destroying it in the process and making it impossible to return to it. If this spell is cast, the only way to expel the Passenger from the vessel is to stab them with a Traveler Knife.
3. Kenning, which has only been used so far by the ancient and powerful witch Dahlia. Kenning is a type of spell that allows a witch to temporarily possess the mind of one or multiple people, even from a distance, which allows the witch to see through their eyes to gain information and even control them to pass on messages.
4. Metaphysical possession, natural abilities of onis, banshees, and dybbuks that allow them to possess people and the supernatural without the need of a witch.
5. Physical possession, seemingly specific to Malivore, are beings created with his mud or through him biologically are vessels that he can physically incorporate himself into and control unobstructed.

## Methodology

Depending on the spell, possession varies from one entity or witch to the next. Possession spells usually require at least some degree of preparation beforehand on the host body.

* When a vampire possesses someone, they retain their powers of compulsion, as evidenced by Klaus' ability to compel students and Katherine while he was in Alaric's human body. If their host is human, it allows them to bypass invitation barriers, as Klaus possessing Alaric, was able to enter the Salvatore house without an invitation from Elena.
* When a vampire is possessed, the witch possessing them can enter through magical vampire-proof barriers, as seen with Esther, when she was able to enter through the Lockwood Cave, despite being in an Original vampire's body.
* When a vampire possesses a witch, they are able to perform magic.
* When a witch possesses a vampire or hybrid, depending on the spell they may gain their abilities but may also lose their magic. The Hollow however possessed Sofya had full control over Sofya's vampiric abilities and could still perform spells unobstructed.
* Turning the host body into a vampire does not turn the spirit of the possessor. Though Esther completed Lenore's transition into a vampire, Esther remained a witch but was trapped in her body, unable to use magic.
* Magic follows a witch into their host body as evidenced by Céleste. This is inclusive of Travelers who passenger themselves into humans and retain their ability to perform magic.
* Possessed people are immune to mental intrusions such as Telepathy and Compulsion even from the likes of Silas due to having two minds in one body.
	+ Although this may not be the case for Rebekah Mikaelson as Eva Sinclair's mind was destroyed and Rebekah was the only spirit in her body.
* Spirits can be stored in inanimate objects like talismans as evidenced by Finn; however, her talisman was specifically created to house Mikaelson souls.
* The spirits of host bodies can sometimes reawaken and take back control though if powerful enough, some can not simply do so if not powerful enough.
* Supernatural Hunters, having mental invulnerability, are naturally immune to possession as stated by Olivia Parker.
* Possession has a mental aspect to it. Evidenced with the Oni, they have a harder time possessing people with a "broken mind," such as Kurutta and Lizzie Saltzman. However, the hosts could remember what happened while possessed and had some partial control of their faculties.
* Using the dark object known as the Trident it allows the user to inhabit another's body by transferring consciouses between two people when scratched.

## Victims of Possession

 File:Legacies-S1-Josette.pngJosette Laughlin | Josette, a powerless witch, was possessed post-mortem by Florence by Bonnie's ill-guided attempt at necromancy at Alaric's request. Following her death at the hands of her brother, Kai, Alaric kept her body preserved in the morgue in the hopes that she could be resurrected by the Phoenix Stone. With a vampire soul possessing her witch body, it began to fail without proper preparation, until ultimately Florence died.

## Appearances

### The Vampire Diaries

* *History Repeating* (Emily/Bonnie)
* *Know Thy Enemy* (Klaus/Alaric)
* *The Last Dance* (Klaus/Alaric)
* *Klaus* (Klaus/Alaric)
* *As I Lay Dying* (Emily/Bonnie)

* *Heart of Darkness* (Esther/Rebekah)
* *Do Not Go Gentle* (Esther/Rebekah)
* *The Departed* (Klaus/Tyler)
* *Growing Pains* (Klaus/Tyler)

* *Original Sin* (Gregor/Matt)
* *For Whom the Bell Tolls* (Gregor/Matt)
* *Dead Man on Campus* (Gregor/Matt)
* *500 Years of Solitude* (Katherine/Elena)
* *The Devil Inside* (Katherine/Elena)
* *Total Eclipse of the Heart* (Katherine/Elena)
* *No Exit* (Katherine/Elena)
* *Gone Girl* (Katherine/Elena)
* *Resident Evil* (Unknow/Liz, Julian/Tyler)
* *Man on Fire* (Julian/Tyler)
* *What Lies Beneath* (Julian/Tyler)
* *Promised Land* (Julian/Tyler, Carl/Pam, Many other Travelers possessing humans)
* *Home* (Julian/Tyler)
* *I Carry Your Heart With Me* (Unknown/Oscar's body, Florence/Josette's body)
* *Live Through This* (Unknown/Oscar's body, Florence/Josette's body)
* *Best Served Cold* (Florence/Josette's body)
* *I Went to the Woods* (Stefan/Marty's body, Ambrose/Stefan)
* *One Way or Another* (Stefan/Marty's body, Ambrose/Stefan)
* *Somebody That I Used to Know* (Beau/Lewis' body, Many other vampires possessing corpses)

### The Originals

* *Always and Forever* (Céleste/Sabine)
* *Tangled Up In Blue* (Céleste/Sabine)
* *Fruit of the Poisoned Tree* (Céleste/Sabine)
* *Bloodletting* Célest/Sabine)
* *The Casket Girls* (Céleste/Sabine)
* *Après Moi, Le Déluge* (Céleste/Sabine)
* *Dance Back from the Grave* (Céleste/Sabine and Clara)
* *Crescent City* (Céleste/Sabine)

* *Long Way Back From Hell* (Céleste/Sabine and Clara)

* *Le Grand Guignol* (Céleste/Sabine)

* *Farewell to Storyville* (Céleste/Sabine)

* *Moon Over Bourbon Street* (Céleste/Sabine)

* *From a Cradle to a Grave* (Esther/Cassie, Finn/Vincent)

* *Rebirth* (Esther/Cassie, Finn/Vincent, Kol/Kaleb)
* *Alive and Kicking* (Esther/Cassie, Finn/Vincent, Kol/Kaleb)
* *Every Mother's Son* (Esther/Cassie & Lenore, Fin/Vincent)
* *Live and Let Die* (Esther/Lenore, Finn/Vincent, Kol/Kaleb)
* *Red Door* (Esther/Lenore, Finn/Vincent, Kol/Kaleb)
* *Wheel Inside the Wheel* (Esther/Lenore, Finn/Vincent)
* *Chasing the Devil's Tail* (Etsther/Lenore, Finn/Vincent, Kol/Kaleb)
* *The Brothers That Care Forgot* (Finn/Vincent, Kol/Kaleb)
* *The Map of Moments* (Esther/Lenore, Finn/Vincent, Kol/Kaleb, Rebekah/Eva)
* *Gonna Set Your Flag On Fire* (Esther/Lenore, Finn/Vincent, Kol Kaleb, Rebekah/Eva)
* *Brotherhood of the Damned* (Finn/Vincent, Kol/Kaleb)
* *Sanctuary* (Kol/Kaleb, Rebekah/Eva)
* *The Devil is Damned* (Kol/Kaleb, Rebekah/Eva)
* *I Love You, Goodbye* (Finn/Vincent, Kol/Kaleb, Rebekah/Eva)
* *They All Asked For You* (Finn/Vincent, Rebekah/Eva)
* *Save My Soul* (Rebekah/Eva)
* *Exquisite Corpse* (Esther/Lenore, Rebekah/Eva's Body)
* *Night Has A Thousand Eyes* (Rebekah/Eva's body, Dahlia/Jackson and other)
* *When the Levee Breaks* (Rebekah/Eva's body, Dahlia/Josephine's body)
* *City Beneath The Sea* (Rebekah/Eva)
* *Fire with Fire* (Rebekah/Eva's body)
* *Ashes to Ashes* (Rebekah/Eva's body)

* *Beautiful Mistake* (Rebekah/Eva's body)
* *High Water and a Devil's Daughter* (The Hollow/Sofya)
* *A Spirit Here That Won't Be Broken* (The Hollow/Hope)

### Legacies

* *Since When Do You Speak Japanese?* (Oni/Kurutta, Samaritan, Dennis, Rafael, Landon, Lizzie)
* *It Will All Be Painfully Clear Soon Enough* (Ryan/Simulandon)
* *This Christmas Was Surprisingly Violent* (Ryan]]/Simulandon)
* *Long Time, No See* (Malivore/Hunter Landon)
* *Do All Malivore Monsters Provide This Level of Emotional Insight?* (Malivore/Hunter Landon)
* *I Was Made To Love You* (Malivore/Landon)
* *One Day You Will Understand* (Malivore/Vitruvian Man, Malivore/Landon)
* *Fate's A Bitch, Isn't It?* (Malivore/Landon)

**Season Four**

* *You Have to Pick One This Time* (Malivore/Landon)
* *There's No I In Team, or Whatever* (Malivore/Landon, Ryan/Dybbuk)
* *We All Knew This Day Was Coming*  (Malivore/Landon)
* *See You On The Other Side* (Malivore/Landon)
* *You Will Remember Me* (Aurora/Hope)

## Trivia

* In *They All Asked For You*, according to Josephine LaRue, witches despise possession when it is used against other witches, specifically in the regards to promising young witches being inhabited against their will.