Why shouldn't shadows have souls? A philosophical reflection on the nature of shadows.

[Pop Guy]

I find it bizarre that shadows (at least some types of them) don't drop souls near Wortox.
Now, I personally think Klei has messed up Don't Starve lore.
For example, why did Wilson need to build a portal, if Wigfrid just needed a "handshake" to enter the Constant? I could give many more examples, but I don't want to and I'd miss the point.
Now, with Wortox, an object called a "soul" was introduced into the game. This creates a big problem: what is a soul?
The game doesn't provide an explanation, so we have several options on the table:
- a spiritual force / form of metaphysical energy,
- the psychic essence of an individual, separated from their physical body and brain.
- a divine spark that dwells in life forms, infused into them by an extra-human entity (God?).
Now, of these interpretations I lean towards the first one, since the other two are problematic and would open too many questions.
Now, if souls are really just a form of "spiritual energy" in the game, why shouldn't shadows release it?
If I remember correctly, in the "insanity" update it was mentioned that shadows are entities "attracted by the madness" of the character. From how they manifest in the ruins, they seem to manifest when the cycle reaches its peak and the lights of the nightmare open up, as if the shadows came "from another place".
I believe that shadows are nothing more than extraplanar entities that cannot fully reach "our" dimension, and therefore, by virtue of this, the characters' senses can only perceive them as "shadows", as if they were hidden by a veil.
If this were the case, shadows, at least in their native dimension, would be very similar to any other creature of the Constant.
Of course, it is possible that their "soul" cannot pass to our side, and that it remains confined in their dimension of origin, unreachable and unfathomable even for Wortox and his powers.
Do you think that one day Klei will insert into the game a way to open a rift in space and travel to the place of origin of the shadows, where They dwell?

[Captain_Rage]

I always saw the shadows as an allegory for the character hallucinating, e.g. seeing figures smacking and assaulting them when they actually fumble in dim light and stumble into tree branches and rocks. As time progressed (or whatever it does in the Constant) actual shadows came forth, although the line is still blurred. Wouldn't formally defining the shadow entities take away their whole point in DST and remove their mysterious nature? As for current game mechanics I believe everything is more than OK and consistent, with a sense of otherworldliness.

[Valase]

The nightmare fuel is their corrupted soul

[EerieEra]

I think the shadows are transmuted and corrupted soul/life energy, the warping of Them and Their power is too different from the normal soul energy.
Or perhaps the shadows aren't even that, and are just manifestations that while connected to the corrupted beings is more spectral.
The nightmare fuel is the leftover body constructs puppeted by the "souls" on another plane, or the Nightmare Fuel is a chip left of the "soul" as its main essence is sent back through the rift after defeat.

[Steorra]

Yes, it's quite strange that Shadows drop no soul but Abby drop soul for Wortox when we all knew the flower was holding Abby's soul.

[Brewsterpigeon]

I think you sort of answered your own question - one's sanity keeps them within the constant's dimension, but once your mental faculties break down you can now interact with and be seen by the shadows living in another dimension - I think the nightmare cycle spreads some kind of energy or spiritual field that allows them to enter our dimension no matter the sanity of those nearby. Despite that, I think their physical bodies are anchored in that other dimension so while you might be actually killing them, by killing the shadow you're severing your connection to them if that makes sense, so they probably dropped a soul above their body wherever they're standing in their own dimension.

 

To respond to what you said about maxwell and his machine vs wigfrid, I don't think maxwell needed Wilson to build the machine to get him in, I feel like he wanted that machine built for other reasons - notice that he's not pulled through the door but dragged through the floor like everyone else seems to (except wagstaff who built his own portal). Since it's the same design as the Maxwell Door maybe it was his attempt to build a way out using a scientist he had access to in the real world, which obviously didn't work

[Echsrick]

On 4/1/2025 at 12:13 PM, Pop Guy said:

why did Wilson need to build a portal, if Wigfrid just needed a "handshake" to enter the Constant?

to give him a reason to get him into the constand, what would wilson aggree to maxwell to go into the constand? the deal he dit with wilson was the knowlege gained, the same knowlege of the price of gettin into the constand