Soullessness is the state of lacking a soul.
Description[]
Some beings; such as Primordial Entities, leviathans and angels are naturally soulless; either; due to being spiritual beings or just because they have never had a soul in the first place. Other beings like humans and nephilim can become soulless through unnatural means; such as having their soul forcibly or willingly separated from their body, or by burning their own soul in order to obtain power.
Effects[]
Throughout the entire series, only the effects of soullessness in humans and nephilim have been shown. Being soulless does not change the appearance of a person, but it does have other effects, such as:
- Lack of emotions - Being soulless can deprive a person of some emotions, such as empathy, sadness, and guilt.
- Lack of need for sleep -The being also does not require sleep and are perfectly capable of functioning without exhaustion.
- Lack of moral compass - Soullessness causes a person to lose their natural moral compass, as evidenced by Sam Winchester in Season 6. Nevertheless, this doesn't necessarily mean the total lack of morality, since a soulless person can still use reasoning to act morally, as evidenced by Donatello Redfield. Jack Kline also showed that he could act morally with reasoning, as while he struggled with his lack of emotions at first, he was able to understand morality fully again by the time of his second resurrection.
- Mind fragmentation - Having his soul put back into his body after it stayed in Lucifer's Cage for approximately 180 years (according to Death) caused the fragmentation of Sam's mind into "pieces", each one possessed their own identities and memories.
There are benefits in being soulless, as it grants beings an advantage such as being unaffected by the abilities of beings such as Veritas, the goddess of truth. Veritas was shocked by Sam in soulless state being able to deceive her, despite her power. Bobby Singer also believed in spite of being devoid of emotion, soulless Sam was a better hunter.
Appearances[]
- Season 4
- Lucifer Rising (mentioned only) - Dean calls Castiel "soulless son of a b*tch"
- Season 6
- The Man Who Would Be King (mentioned only) - Castiel tells Crowley he doesn't have a soul to sell, "you ass"
- Season 8
- What's Up, Tiger Mommy? (mentioned only) - Crowley tries to bid his own soul, but Plutus tells him cant do that because he has no soul
- Sacrifice (implied) - Castiel's soulless state was implied, when Metatron said him becoming human gives him a soul, and to tell him about his earthly adventures when his soul comes to Heaven.
- Season 9
- Mother's Little Helper - Demons steals people souls away to make more demons, but Sam sets them free to return to their owners
- Season 11
- Thin Lizzie - Len Fletcher sees Lizzie's ghost kill a couple, and Amara sucks out his soul
- Our Little World - The towns people lose their souls when Amara eats them to power up
- Don't Call Me Shurley (mentioned only) - Chuck tells Metatron he wrote nothing "soul bearing" because he doesn't have a soul
- Season 14
- Peace of Mind - Jack asks what its like to be soulless, and Donatello said he does what the best man he knows Mr Rodger does, to do the right thing.
Trivia[]
- God revealed himself to be soulless, though as a Primordial Entity, he didn't suffer from this. After losing his powers and being rendered mortal, it is unknown if Chuck will suffer any of the additional effects of being soulless.
- The Alpha Vampire believed that a soulless person would be a truly ruthless monster, seen by his attempt to turn Sam into a vampire.