Souls

## What is a Soul?

A soul is the total accumulation of a living being in its most bare and honest form. It encompasses everything about the individual- feelings, personality, magic, etc... Every living thing has a soul, regardless of race (Ch 260). Souls are very delicate things, so much so that Holly states that "... mere words can damage it. Even thoughtless comments." (Inky Extras Ch 99).

## Physical Appearance

To most races, when a soul is removed, it appears as a glowing white heart, about twice the size of an individual's fist, that is pulled from the being's chest (Ch 121).

However, a Demon's eyes are capable of seeing a soul in a very different way then other toons. To a Demon, souls are incredibly colorful things whose colors and their movement differ depending on the individual and the state of their soul. For example, the colors in Holly's soul swirled together while Mugman's colors folded into each other. Each soul is unique, but by looking at these colors and movements trained Demons are able to glean information about the individual as well as spot any issues with the soul itself that other races would not be able to see (Ch 260). For instance, each of the colors can signify things such as emotions. Like how grief is represented through a shade of blue while guilt is green. By examining the amount of each color in a being's soul the Demon can see what emotions dominate that being's personality and mind. Demon's can also see things such as an individual's magic, the purity of the soul, and if there are any issues such as a soul sickness like Ink Illness. Of course, examining a being's soul is a skill that requires a lot of training and learning in order for the Demon to understand what they are seeing and how to properly handle it (Ch 282).

## Differences Between Races

Each of the various races has differing relationships and interactions with souls. For example, your average toon can not interact with their soul directly, not even to shape their potential magic, and most will go their whole lives without ever seeing their own souls. Angels, while being able to interact with their souls more directly as powerful magic beings, tend to leave souls alone unless actively trying to heal them. In part, due to being creatures of order, Angels also believe that once they have died their souls must move on instead of staying around as a ghost. An angel ghost is highly unusual and heavily frowned upon by the race as a whole (Inky Extras Series Part 6). As for the Micco it is unknown how much interaction with souls they had. They seemed highly knowledgeable about souls since they were said to have soul doctors (Ch 87), and the Micco Lukahd was even known as a master of the magic of the soul (Ch 216). However, their heavy use of runes to shape their magic for them seems to imply they had issues shaping it directly like other races can.

The two races that have the most direct interactions with souls are the Demons and the Dishes. Dishes are well known for their impressive ability to weaponize their own souls and their seemingly unlimited magical ability (Inky Extra's Ch 98). This is most obvious when using one of their Supers, such as when Cannikin transformed his own soul into a large protective barrier (Ch 228). Truly, a Dish's ability to manipulate their own souls is unparalleled. This is in part due to the fact that their physiology is intertwined with their souls in a way unique to their race through the liquid magic system some of them have. This system works in correlation with the soul in a type of layered magical system. This layering is also the reason Dishes can revive one another from their deceased, ghostly forms. Once they die, the "outer layer" of their soul takes on their ghostly form while the inner "core" of their soul turns pink in their chest. When another Dish sparks their core with magic the Dish's physical form is restored (Ch 282).

While Dishes have incredible control over their own souls, Demons have great power over others' souls. As mentioned previously, Demons are capable of seeing things in a being's soul that other races are unable to (Ch 260). Demons are also able to pull souls out of others' bodies and remove parts of others' souls (Ch 121). Their soul contracts and practice of eating souls to gain power is also infamous, though they don't do this with members of their own race. In fact, Demons can naturally fight against other Demons trying to pull their soul out of their bodies and can even risk going beastly or feral in their attempts to protect their souls. Much like Dishes, Demons also have a layering to their souls with a core that produces the magic, and an outer layer which shapes it. Unlike Dishes, this layering can be clearly seen when a Demon's soul is pulled from their body as it almost appears like they have two souls. This layering is the reason Demons are able to stay stable even when shapeshifting. Unlike most toons a Demon's soul is influenced directly by how the Demon views themselves. The soul then allows them to project how they view themselves onto their physical form. Thus, by shifting how they view themselves, a Demon can shift their form into anything they wish. This is also why emotions such as anger can physically change their appearance without them making a mental choice to shift their appearance since emotions are part of what shapes a soul (Ch 282). An example of a layered Demon's soul can be found below in the soul gallery (Bendy's).

## Soul Removal

While souls will general stay hidden away inside of their owner it is possible for a soul to be removed from a person without causing any damage. Demons in particular are very skilled in this procedure, especially the higher level Demons. As seen with Black Hat, he is able to use his green magic to pull Holly's soul out with such skill that even Cuphead, who is extremely mistrustful of the Demon, is certain he will cause her no damage. Hat is also just as easily able to return the soul to her body (Ch 121).

While it may be possible to remove a soul without harm that does by no means make it a pleasant experience. As mentioned above the soul is the purest, most honest culmination of a person's being. It is not something that is meant to be pulled out for just anyone to see. When her soul was removed, Holly equates the feeling to standing naked in public but ten times more humiliating (Ch Inky Extras Ch 99). The closer one looks at the soul, the more uncomfortable to person who owns the soul becomes. There is also the issue of physical contact with the soul. When their soul is exposed, many people have an instinctual reaction of wanting to grab it and hide it away (Ch 121), but souls are incredibly sensitive so any kind of touch will be horribly intense for the owner of the soul. Holly just barely brushes her own soul with her finger and she described the resulting sensation as "... like a cold finger running down the length of my spine." (Inky Extras Ch 99). However, if one is unfortunate enough to repeatedly have their soul removed, they will be more used to the intense sensations and thus are less likely to attempt something like grabbing their own soul. This means they will most likely not need to be restrained during an examination like those newer to the experience may need to be as long as they have consented to the examination in the first place (Ch 260).

Removing a part of a soul, for whatever reason, is obviously a much worse experience then simply looking at it. When removing even a small portion of a person's soul there is an instinctual reflex on the owner's part to fight back with all their might (Ch 121). It does not matter how much experience one has with the sensation of their soul being exposed, the individual must be held down so they do not hurt themselves or others when their soul is about to be touched (Ch 260). This fight is fueled by pure terror, as the individual becomes terrified beyond reason the moment another being touches their soul. Holly describes this fear as not just instinctual but also drawing from the fear that the very essence of their being will be erased or permanently altered until their something entirely different. With all that terror from just a touch, it is almost impossible to truly understand the fear and pain felt when removing any amount of soul. Every intense negative emotion an individual has ever felt, all the pain and loss they are capable of feeling, are summoned in that moment. Despite having no physical wounds the body will still physically react and it's very common for individuals to scream as if they are being murdered when this process occurs (Inky Extras Ch 99). Even Cuphead, who has had plenty of experience having his soul removed and examined, shrieked when a portion of his soul was removed (Ch 260). It should also be noted that the soul itself reacts to being cut into, although only a Demon is capable of seeing it. Bendy explains that, while the piece of Cup's soul was being removed, his colors went crazy like, "... a toddler grabbed each of them and scribbled them all over the soul in a frenzy." After the removal is complete the colors will return to their normal patterns of movement (Ch 260).

Once the piece of soul is removed, the individual's state directly corresponds with the amount taken. If a small amount is taken, the individual may start crying or go into a state of shock. However, after getting their soul retuned and given time to rest, an individual will be able to quickly recover from their experience (Ch 121). However, if a large portion is removed, it is possible that the pain of the removal may cause the individual to fully lose consciousness. With the return of the individual's soul, the person should soon regain consciousness, but they will be shaken and weak once awake. The individual will need time to rest and recover following the ordeal. Also, if the person's body is already in a weakened state or the soul is already unstable/damaged in some way the removal of a part of their soul will become very difficult to recover from. In the worse case scenario, the person may not recover at all (Ch 260).

It is also technically possible for a being to live without their soul. For a few months, while the Cupbros were in Hell, both of them were soulless beings (Ch 172). However, being soulless causees massive negative side effects to the individual in question. For example, once soulless, the Cupbros lost all control of themselves and went on a rampage through Hell so damaging that the Devil himself had to stop them. Their personalities seem to have changed to become more animalistic and violent. It is also implied that their ability to feel emotions was damaged as it was claimed that they couldn't have felt true happiness while soulless (Ch 177). However, even after months without their souls, it was still possible to return the Cupbros souls back to their bodies and return them to their original personalities. However, there were still lingering effects from this time. Namely, Cup claims that he can't remember much from his time soulless, although it is possible that these memories were simply deeply repressed due to trauma (Ch 172). It is currently unknown whether all of these symptoms of soullessness are the same for everyone or if things like race change how one reacts to it.

## Soul Gallery

All images of these souls are as they would be viewed through a Demon's eyes

Holly's soulMugs's soulCup's damaged soulBendy's soul