| “ | KILL THE CHILDREN
— One Vile Spirit (in Cursed Words) to its cohorts (Chapter 4, Page 75
 ) |
” |
The Vile Spirits, nicknamed Pixelhounds (alternatively, Pixhellhounds) and "funny gamer dogs," are a group of three cat/dog like spirits. They are the main antagonists of Chapter 4 along with Forge, whom they oppose.
Appearance[]
The Vile Spirits have an unusual anatomy, as their shaggy black fur appears to simply be a covering for their true bodies. While the fur is fully covering them, their mouths appear heavily pixelated, they have two pointed ears, and their eyes are not visible. They can pull back the fur from their heads, revealing skull like faces and a horn on each side, and pulling the fur further back reveals a longer mouth and second pair of eyes. The eyes are a colored dot in a black socket, and the color changes when the spirits regenerate, being consistent with their current spectral energy color. The Spirits also possess frog-like projecting tongues, which they use to grab objects such as Eightfold's book.
Personality[]
According to Nin, they seek out the most evil creature they can find to obey its command. They seem to enjoy toying with their enemies, taunting Forge from behind the barrier as well as woofing and meowing after Max Puckett and Isabel Guerra disagreed on their cat/dog like appearance before peeling their fur back to reveal their faces.
Paranatural[]
Chapter 4[]
The Vile Spirits make their original appearance harassing Forge at the edge of the Mayview barrier, tricking him into losing his greatest source of metal in the process.[1] At some unspecified point, the trio snuck onto the Ghost Train and waited for the train to pass the border. In the process, they run into Isabel, Max, and Richard Spender clearing the cars out and split up, one jumping out of the car (tailed by Spender) and the remaining two staying to kill the children. The escaped Vile Spirit incites Spender and a nearby Forge to do battle with one another and manages to escape mostly unharmed.
The two Spirits still on the Train cause Max and Isabel a great deal of trouble with their regeneration power and strange physiology, even causing Eightfold's book to fall off the train during the battle. Isabel would eventually find a way to turn the Spirits' powers against them by body slamming one of them into the other while one was regenerating. This creates an "infinite death loop" that causes the two spirits to become inseparably fused in a constant state of dying and regenerating over and over. Now easily dispatched, the spirits leave to reconvene with their dark masters, who commend the escaped Spirit for its role in eliminating Forge. After they leave, the now-deranged fused Spirits arrive, demanding their brother "die with them".[2]
Abilities[]
Language Fluency[]
The Vile Spirits are able to speak fluently in Cursed Words, a language gained one word at a time by the user performing atrocities.
Respawning[]
The Vile Spirit's most notable power are their ability to completely regenerate their form almost instantly after being defeated. When killed, the spirits simply return in a flash of light and change their spectral energy color in the process. While this power makes the Spirits functionally immortal it can be used against them, as seen with the "infinite death loop" Isabel created that forced two of the Spirits to perpetually regenerate into one another. This power also seems to be involuntary/automatic on the Spirit's part.
A side effect of this ability is that they can't possess objects to turn them into tools or mediums or at least would have a harder time doing so; their respawn ability activates before they would get the opportunity.[3]
Quotes[]
- Vile Spirit #1 (in Cursed Words): "THE SUNGLASSES SPECTRAL/ WE CAN USE HIM"
- Vile Spirit #2 (in Cursed Words): "I WILL GO/ KILL THE CHILDREN"
- — Vile Spirits concerning Isabel and Max (Chapter 4, Page 75
)
- Max: "These are dogs? Aren't they cats? Pointy ears, multiple lives..."
- Vile Spirit #1: "WOOF"
- Max: "...Oh."
- Vile Spirit #2: "MEOW"
- Isabel: "...They're trying to psych us out."
- — The Vile Spirits trying to psych out Isabel and Max (Chapter 4, Page 82)
- "I
WIN" - — Vile Spirit to Isabel Guerra (Chapter 4, Page 124)
- "THE SUNGLASSES SPECTRAL CERTAINLY DESTROYED HIM"
- — Vile Spirit to a shadowy figure regarding Forge (Chapter 4, Page 148)
- "DIE WITH US BROTHER"
- — Two fused Vile Spirits to their third member (Chapter 4, Page 148)
Trivia[]
- These spirits bare a strong similarity to the krenshar, feline creatures from DnD who also have the ability to retract the skin and fur on their head.
- They also take inspiration from video games, as they "respawn" when killed and have pixelated mouths.
Gallery[]
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