Ghosts

"*You'll stay here for years, disembodied, scared, and over the decades it'll probably drive you mad. Maybe you'll even get violent. [...] How do you think angry spirits are born? They can't let go, and they can't move on.*"
—Tessa to Dean Winchester[src]

**Ghosts**, also known as **Spirits** are a species featured on The CW's *Supernatural*. When a Human dies, they temporarily become a ghost while they are taken by a Reaper to their Afterlife. It is when a human refuses to go with the reaper when they become actual ghosts.

## Characteristics

A ghost is a deceased human who has for some reason or another chosen to remain in the Veil after refusing to go with their reaper and advance to the afterlife. Ghosts aren't generically good or evil, it depends on the type of person that they were and how and why they died. Some ghosts chose not to move on because they have some sort of unfinished business such as revenge over the person who killed then for example.

Ghosts are usually bound to an object or a place, usually at the building where they died. If the ghost is attached to an object then they are forced to move around with the object. Some ghosts can actually use this to their advantage and use the object to travel wherever they want by planting the object on people or carrying it themselves for a short time.

Generally speaking, the longer that a ghost remains on the earthly plain then the more and more dangerous and violent the ghost will become, no matter who and what they were like in their life before they died. This could be said as they lost parts of themselves over time until there are left with practical animal like impulses which cause them to lash out at anything that gets in their way. This can also have an effect on their appearance as the more of themselves that they lose will the more zombielike the ghost will look.

Although it is commonly disputed by hunters about where ghosts go after they are destroyed, most came to the conclusion that they were mainly erased from existence. However, as shown with Bobby Singer, once their connection to the earth, in his case his flask, get destroyed then their spirit is no longer connected and thus, a reaper will complete their task and take the individual to the afterlife, whether this being Heaven or Hell.

Once Metatron forced all of the Angels out of Heaven and sealed the gates shut, reapers were unable to take souls to Heaven. This subsequently forced reapers to leave the spirits in the veil until Metatron was defeated and the Angels returned to Heaven. This then allowed reapers to take the souls to Heaven.

## Types of Ghosts

* Violent Spirits
* Vengeful Spirit
* Death Omen
* Death Echo
* Buruburu
* Revenant
* Specter
* Myling

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Invisibility:** Ghosts are naturally invisible to the living as they reside in the Veil. When they decide to make themselves visible in the physical plain, they can appear as they were in life though it takes awhile to gain that level of strength. They appear in wispy, distorted, flickering forms.

### Weaknesses

* **Iron:** Iron is also toxic to ghosts as it causes them to dissipate when they come into contact with it. Pure iron works best and once ghosts dissipate, it takes then a minute or so to regain the strength to interact with the physical world. If for example, a ghost is possessing someone, the single touch of iron will cause the ghost out of the vessel as shown with Bobby Singer.
* **Salt:** Salt can be used to create a barrier to prevent the ghost from crossing and protecting the victim from harm, at least until the ghost finds a way to break the salt barrier. Hunters use salt in bullets which they fire at ghosts which causes them to dissipate temporarily, the same as they would if they were to come into contact with iron.
* **Burning Bones/Haunted Object:** If the remains of the spirit are salted and burned then the ghost will be destroyed and forced to be taken by their Reaper to the Afterlife. When the remains are burned, the ghost in question will go up in flames. It is possible that the ghost can be attached to an object as well as their bones which means that that object must also be destroyed by fire for the ghost to move on.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Of Grave Importance", *Supernatural*, The CW
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Survival of the Fittest", *Supernatural*, The CW
3. ↑ "In My Time of Dying", *Supernatural*, The CW
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Taxi Driver", *Supernatural*, The CW
5. ↑ "Stairway to Heaven", *Supernatural*, The CW
6. ↑ "Pilot", *Supernatural*, The CW
7. ↑ "Hookman", *Supernatural*, The CW