| “ | All these books in here, I've eaten. Learned the words inside. Some of them I... wish I hadn't learned. But I can't not be the spirit that has learned all this stuff, y'know? No matter how I feel about it. Which means I gotta be careful trusting my gut, 'cause my gut is a vast phantasmal library full of dark tomes!
— Eightfold to Isabel Guerra (Chapter 4, Page 98
 ) |
” |
Eightfold is the spirit possessing Isabel Guerra's book. She is a relatively weak spirit, readily accepting her role as Isabel's tool.
Appearance[]
Eightfold is a tiny white paper spider spirit. Her face resembles a paper fortune teller (or cootie catcher), and she has a red eye with a white pupil on each of the four ends. Her thorax takes the shape of multiple rolled up pieces of paper and contains a red hourglass symbol on its top. Her eight legs are divided into two segments and end in points.
Personality[]
Eightfold is chipper and has a somewhat eccentric sense of humor, as seen when she makes a quip about "stretching her legs...all eight of them"[1]. She is also prone to messing with people, as shown when she teases Max about the possibility of controlling his own poop if she possessed him as Max becomes visibly uncomfortable.
Background[]
According to Isabel, Eightfold's book was given to her as a way to defend herself by her grandfather, Francisco Guerra, after an encounter with a Doberman Pinscher left her with a crippling fear of dogs. Eightfold then began regarding Isabel as a friend, and vice versa. From then on, Isabel began relying on Eightfold's powers during fights over the next few years. However, according to Eightfold, Isabel's account of the story has several holes in it, including incorrect facts and missing information about her parents and her first meeting with Eightfold.[2]
Paranatural[]
Chapter 4[]
During study hall, Isabel summons Eightfold in order to show her off to Max. Eightfold greets him in her own way while devouring a book Isabel had gifted her. As she begins creeping Max out, Isabel punishes her by swatting her. Eightfold regards the actions and words as "familiar" before agreeing to go back into her book.
During a fight in the Ghost Train, Eightfold's book is kicked off the Ghost Train by a vile spirit. Eightfold immediately pulls Isabel into a state of heightened perception. During this time, she asks Isabel to recount the time they met, afterwards pointing out that she had skimmed over and twisted important details (including their actual first meeting). Eightfold tells her that, although she thinks Isabel is a kind person and selfless by instinct, she unconsciously treats Eightfold as less of a person and more of an object, a lecture she hopes Isabel will understand later on.
Eightfold then reveals she had been stalling Isabel to prevent her from going after the book and leaving Max open to attack, then proceeds to give her a dramatic exit; however, after realizing they still have time together, Eightfold begins blubbering out various bits of advice until Isabel tells her to stop. After seeing the grief on Isabel's face, Eightfold smiles and manages to say she "[feels] the same wa-" before their connection cuts out[3]. Afterwards, the trance ends and the book is presumably buried under the earth outside Mayview.
Chapter 8[]
At the PTA meeting, the Witch meets Hijack, who is split into Left Hijack and Right Hijack, and they are both possessing a fish. She smells fear from Right Hijack and recognizes a tint nostalgia which is of their creator, Mina Zarei, who she fought when Mina was a child. While she does this, what are presumably the spirits whose powers she has copied are shown. Eightfold is among them.
Relationships[]
Hosts[]
- Isabel - Eightfold was the spirit possessing Isabel's book, which was given to her after an incident with a mad dog to help Isabel overcome her trauma. Despite Eightfold's eccentric personality, they were very close and cared for each other. She genuinely cared for Isabel, complimenting her skills in tool use, her ability to bond with spirits to the point that they can somewhat sense her emotional state, and her good heart while also advising her about lessons she unwittingly picked up from her grandfather, Francisco Guerra, on seeing spirits as less than people. When Eightfold sacrificed herself in order to ensure that Isabel would save Max, Isabel showed visible distraught over the thought of her leaving before their connection cut out. Afterwards, Isabel showed grief over Eightfold's loss, taking her last words about treating spirits as equals[4][5] and purchasing a new toothbrush[3] to heart.
Abilities[]
General[]
Eightfold is a weaker spirit, meaning that she can regenerate energy fairly quickly if defeated and only needs a few days to get back to full strength. Thanks to this, she can leave her tool and interact with other members of the Activity Club when needed, simply cutting herself apart when she needs to possess the book again. As a smaller spirit, Eightfold can also fit into small spaces. Since she can interact with physical objects by eating books to gain the knowledge inside them, she is classified as a poltergeist.
Paper Manipulation[]
Eightfold's primary ability is to eat paper, absorbing the words printed on them, and making constructs out of the paper waste left behind. She can modify her body in many ways through this, such as adding wings, bladed scorpion tails, and fashioning elaborate clothes. Constructs like the winged horses and storms of pages that Isabel can make while Eightfold is inside the book tool are material, meaning that non-spectrals can see and interact with them.
A side-effect of Eightfold absorbing the words off the pages she eats is that she is very knowledgeable, with essentially a functionally photographic memory for any subject she's eaten before.
Quotes[]
| Click to expand/collapse. |
|---|
|
Gallery[]
Official Artwork[]
(Tweet)
Comic[]
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)References[]