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Soul type
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Note: this article lists content only mentioned in supplementary sources and as such is subject to change before being incorporated into the game series.
"The new gods only pass on their knowledge to those who share the same birth sign and soul with them."
In the Fear & Hunger series, human souls can be of diverse types. They are decided at the time of one's birth, and are indicators of how one's personality and life will be like, oftentimes being the source of a person's skills. Soul types are the Fear & Hunger equivalent to real-life zodiac signs, though birth signs are still mentioned and confirmed to exist.
Soul types are not the same as unique souls, which are for the most part unlockable accessory items that give certain stat bonuses and special status effects to the wearer. The Ancient One soul, held by the girl, is unique as well and will not be listed in this article for that particular reason.
Lesser soul is the name given to the soul possessed by most normal enemies, their purpose is to be used at Hexen Tables to learn skills or curse weapons. There is no information that indicates that they are a proper soul type, and therefore they will not be discussed in this article either.
Overview
A person's soul type is primarily decided by their birthdate, just like real-world zodiac signs.
The 28 souls are unevenly divided amongst the months, with a structure as follows:
- January - Radiating soul, Tainted soul
- February - Endless soul, Beastly soul
- March - Dominating soul, Antagonistic soul, Decrepit soul
- April - Amoral soul, Halved soul
- May - Gladiatorial soul, Solitary soul
- June - Submissive soul, Order soul, Shepherding soul
- July - Tormented soul, Stagnant soul
- August - Defiant soul, Latent soul
- September - Caressing soul, Loving soul, Innocent soul
- October - Enlightenment soul, Blank soul
- November - Mourning soul, Changeling soul
- December - Suffocated soul, Chaotic soul, Shadowed soul
Only Reila and Olivia have their date of birth confirmed in-game, with the former being born on January 1st and the latter being born on December 31st, giving us the months of both the Radiating soul and Shadowed soul before their official confirmation. Pav has also had his date of birth confirmed on supplementary sources, as Haverinen has stated that he was born on the pagan date of Yule, which is December 21st.
The Antagonistic, Order, Loving and Chaotic souls are confirmed to exclusively occur during Solstices/Equinoxes. This lines up with Pav's date of birth being December 21st, as that is the date of Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.
Skills and inheritance
Each type of soul has unique skills related to it, which can then be obtained from the Hexen. However, it is still possible for the player to learn skills outside of their soul type through the following methods:
- Choosing certain intro choices.
- Reading skill scrolls.
- Taking the soul of someone with a different soul type through the use of a Soul stone.
- In the first game, the player will automatically receive a soul after defeating a member of the Fellowship, without needing to use a Soul stone.
Soul types and New Gods
According to the books found next to the Hexen tables in the first game, New Gods only share their skills with those who were born with the same type of soul as them. This is the in-universe reason why characters cannot learn skills outside of their individual skill tree through normal means.
Not every New God is given a title in accordance to the soul that they were born with, although the ones such as Valteil who has an Enlightened soul and is therefore referred to as The Enlightened One are the most common. the New God Heartless One is not named after any canonical soul, therefore suggesting more criteria for a New God's name than just their soul type.
Known soul types
There are currently 28 known and confirmed soul types in the series, as of March 31st 2024.
Fear & Hunger includes the Domination, Endless, Enlightened, and Tormented types, for a total of 4 types.
Fear & Hunger 2: Termina includes the previous Endless, Enlightened, and Tormented soul types. Within the game, a New God named the "Heartless One" makes an appearance, previously hinting at the existence of a Heartless soul, despite its unattainability within the game; is has been stated that a retcon involving this soul type will be implemented in the next patch of the game. The game also notably lacks the Domination soul type, which remains unique to the first game.
Introduced in Fear & Hunger
- Domination - Possessed by Francóis and D'arce.
- "(...) the soul of domination that makes people around you bend to your will. You are a natural leader, but you might often end up blind to self-criticism."
- Endless - Possessed by Nilvan, Cahara, and Karin.
- "(...) the soul of the endless that makes you yearn for freedom and forces you to push your creativity to its limits."
- Enlightened - Possessed by Betel, Nas'hrah, Valteil, Enki, and O'saa.
- "(...) the soul of the enlightened. You are always seeking restlessly for new knowledge and secrets hidden from the common folk."
- Tormented - Possessed by Ronn Chambara, Ragnvaldr, and August.
- "(...) the soul of the tormented. You are destined to struggle in every step you take in life. Ultimately this makes you stronger physically and tempers your iron will that rivals the will of the gods themselves."
Introduced in Fear & Hunger 2: Termina
- Blank - Possessed by Daan.
- Caressing - Possessed by Abella.
- Changeling - Possessed by Marina.
- Chaotic - Possessed by Pav.
- Decrepit - Possessed by Caligura.
- Latent - Possessed by Tanaka.
- Radiating - Possessed by Reila, Samarie, and The Radiating One.
- Shadowed - Possessed by Olivia.
- Solitary - Possessed by Levi.
- Suffocated - Possessed by Henryk.
- Tainted - Possessed by Marcoh and The Tainted One.
On the 31st of March 2024, Miro Haverinen posted on their official Twitter account an image preview of an in-game document that was yet unreleased - this document details a full list of every soul type and their name.
Introduced in Miro's Tweet
- Amoral
- Antagonistic
- Beastly
- Defiant
- Gladiatorial
- Halved
- Innocent
- Loving
- Mourning - Possessed by The Mourning One.
- Order
- Shepherding
- Stagnant
- Submissive
Gallery
Blank soul.
Caressing soul.
Changeling soul.
Chaotic soul.
Decrepit soul.
Endless soul.
Enlightened soul.
Latent soul.
Radiating soul.
Shadowed soul.
Solitary soul.
Suffocated soul.
Tainted soul.
Tormented soul.
Trivia
- From what it has been seen so far, souls do not seem to be really vital or necessary for living beings. It is unclear what are the consequences to losing one's soul.
- Multiple beings without souls have been seen throughout the series.
- In the first game, the New God bosses continue to live even after losing their souls.
- Since the soul affects one's personality, people with certain souls will often choose professions related to them:
- People with the Enlightened soul will often become scholars, librarians and practitioners of magic.
- People with the Domination soul will often attain positions of power due to being natural born leaders.