I’ve seen a lot of people believing that ghosts tend to look the way they do when they died, like Youngblood or Sidney being kids (or in Sid’s case an older teen), but according to What you want Desiree died of heartbreak and old age.
So if Desiree died of old age then she wouldn’t look the way she does in the show if ghosts appear as old as they were when they die. Her ghost form appears just as she did when she was young and (supposedly) when she was at her most happiest.
If this is the case, then this could also be applied to a lot of other ghosts in the show. Maybe Youngblood didn’t die at a young age and when he said he’s ‘mature beyond me years’ he meant it literally. He died when he was older but when his ghost form manifested it became that of a child to match his emotional drive? (AGIT) The same could be said for Johnny and Kitty.
I’m probably wrong, but the fact this little bit got skipped or is barely remembered really expands on how ghosts potentially choose how they look outside of the whole devolved-to-monsters thing. How a ghost manifests itself and chooses its appearance doesn’t just rely on how old they were when they died but maybe when they were at their most fulfilled/happy?
Obviously having ghosts die at the age they appeared has the most angst potential, but Desiree died of old age and doesn’t look that way. So it’s a mixed bag, as per usual xD but a fun thing to realise that not all ghosts manifest in the same way.
Since my friend is rewatching Reign Storm, this post is about that episode! Specifically, Pariah's backstory, which fits here because Skulker was the one to give the exposition.
Transcript: "It was many years ago. Before you. Before me. Before most of us. His name was Pariah Dark. And he ruled the Ghost Zone. He was a ghost of such power and magnitude, only he could control the [entities? energies?]* contained within the Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage. When wearing both, he could do anything. Until a group of powerful ancient ghosts banded together in a last-ditch effort to defeat the King. By locking him within the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. Or so we thought."
Facts that this reveals:
Skulker didn't appear in the Ghost Zone until after Pariah was defeated.
There may be entities within the Crown and Ring, but Skulker's voice isn't entirely clear on that part.
There is no such thing as "The Ancients." It was merely a group of powerful ancient ghosts- i.e. old ghosts. Since the story takes place a long time ago, it may just be a group of powerful ghosts. The entire concept of The Ancients is fanon, not canon.
Before Pariah's defeat, his Keep was at the top of a hill on a large landmass, with many other fortresses and walls around. After he was defeated, the rest of the landmass crumbled, leaving only the Keep and the small bit of rock it was on.
*It sounds way more like "entities", but "energies" makes more sense.
AIGHT I know ghost cores are not exactly 100% canon, we saw Danny's 'ice core' in Urban Jungle but we never got a solid explanation (like everything else with the lore of that universe lmao). Do all ghosts have them? Or are they specific to halfas only? Are they all elemental? Lots of fun questions that the fandom has filled for itself over the years.
I mean I know we can all sense the episode was a "specific concept came first, fit it in the plot second" just to give Danny a new set of powers, specifically ice powers for some reason. That being said I've also noticed that ectoplasm blasts/rays etc seem to have a burning affect so does that mean ghosts with elemental cores are able to produce heated ectoplasm but also whatever their element is? Again tons of fun questions.
ANYWAY what I'm trying to get to here: I've seen a lot of people headcanon Vlad with a fire core bcuz it's more fitting as "an opposite force" to Danny's ice and ofc cool fire effects etc and I've also seen a lot of people headcanon him with an electricity core, which I prefer honestly since it's more canon complacent. We've seen him electrocute Danny on more than one occasion (ow).
Although if you think about it lore-wise, it would be more fitting for Danny to have the electricity core considering his transformation seemed to be triggered by the portal electrocuting him. And for Vlad to have a fire core since the portal uh- burned him right in the face (ow²)?
Oh welp ice is canon for Danny pretty much. So what does the fandom prefer for Vlad?
Anybody else feel like that Spectra seems like a halfa? Not only from her second form, but also by name? I know this idea seems farfetched, but I can't shake this feeling that Spectra has so many traits similar to a halfa like Danny or Vlad.
Let's take her transformation in "My Brother's Keeper", for example. It kind of looks similar to Danny and Vlad's transformation into their ghost forms. Not to mention that the purple flames seem to ring around her. And there's also the part that when she got hit by the Fenton Peeler, her ghost form and her youth were stripped away, leaving her as this withered, old crone. I feel like that she could have been keeping her human half as young as possible when sucking up nearby misery.
Now, let's get to "Doctor's Disorders" when Spectra was building a new human form. She and Bertrand had infected the entire school board of Casper Junior High with a disease that grants them ghost powers or features so that she'll harvest their DNA to build herself a new, beautiful human body. She infected the entire school board so that she'll harvest their DNA to build herself a new human body. A new human body. Why build a new human body? It almost feels like she wants to create herself a new living vessel to transform herself as. You would think that she would create a new human form like her previous one on her own, but she wanted to create herself a new human body, not a human form.
There's also the part of her devil horns hairstyle being similar to Vlad Plasmius' hairstyle. Do you ever feel like that she might have had a previous connection to him? Let's say, a nurse while he was in the hospital after the infamous ghost portal accident? You think that she might have influenced him somehow? A little fuel for all you Misery's Delight shippers.
So, that's all I want to share, and I believe this is my first Danny Phantom theory post. I just want to talk about how similar Spectra was to Danny and Vlad in terms of ghost forms. Plus, I want to say that she's so underrated as a villain. I feel like if the show had gone differently, Spectra would have evolved into a major antagonist, probably even more vile than Vlad ever was. I wonder if there's a future Danny Phantom novel that will explore this.
Do... okay, so there are many, MANY religions... JUST here on earth. Right?
Not all of them think there is "an afterlife". Some think there is a NEXT life. Potentially MANY lives. Some also believe in JOURNEYS you must take, to reach THE Afterlife. Or perhaps periods of judgment. Evaluations of WORTH. So forth and so on.
What I am saying is?
There? Are Ghosts who probably just straight up REJECT the premise that they are dead. Oh sure, YOU might be. Or BELIEVE you are. But they KNOW they aren't.
Because The Gods Said So.
Some, are also, AWARE they are Dead. But reject that? All this? This is it. No, no. This is the MIDDLE. They are supposed to GO somewhere. They haven't FOUND it. But when they DO. They will, as a community, make a map for those who follow and head on in! It'll be great!
There are FAITHS in the Zone.
Beliefs that were compatible enough, that they Did Not Die.
And they'd probably like to tell you about it.
Why WOULDN'T they? It was a VERY important part of their daily life, originally. And NOW? Is frankly a Highly Topical Subject, don't you think? The discussion of "is there a God?" Is KINDA important to have, when you're stand outside the gates to SOMEWHERE, and none of who can agree on WHAT is on the other side.
Is it better to stay here? Were we abandoned? Is this a punishment or a blessing? An accident? Freak occurrence? Are there Gods HERE? And if so, does that mean WE can become one? What does that MEAN, if we can?
All HIGHLY important topics to discuss.
But! It's made all the more pressing because? There's all these OTHERS! Who have never even HEARD of your gods teachings. And therefore? Don't know where they are.
They, innocent people, have been TRAPPED HERE, for centuries if not longer. May be condemned to be trapped FOREVER. Anyone with even a scrap of empathy would be HORRIFIED.
The problem is that THEY are horrified too. Think YOU are trapped. And of course, your first impulse is to tell them they are Wrong... but?
Are they?
What if NEITHER of you are Wrong? Elder Beings keep insisting this place is INFINITE. It is therefore ENTIRELY possible, this is a place to simply? Store the place before afterlifes. Like a busy road.
After all, your Gods certainly never mention these new people. And THEIR God (singular, correct? Right.) never mentioned YOUR people. Surely they WOULD have, if it was important!
And such concensus starts to build. Because everyone is trying to move on, pray, ascend, or otherwise do as their holy scriptures told them too. They are ALL rather lost and confused. And UNLIKE those Fight-y violent sorts? THESE fine religious folks are pleasant and sensible.
Even if no one can quite agree. Meh. SOMEONE is right here and I shall live assuming it's me until proven otherwise, respectfully and as the gods preached.
And it's quite literally like religious Fandoms, to make light of things a bit. There is bickering. And "stop that infernal CHANTING, I can't here my self pray!" *chanting grows louder in protest* "ARGH!". And trying to make new, confused ghosts welcome.
It's one of the ZONES within the Zone. Like slowly gravitating towards like, until the Zone itself started to just naturally shuffle them all together in clumps. Like with the academics.
Now why? Do I even bring this up?
Because! I think it would be HILARIOUS if everyone wanted to convert the Newly Crowned Ghost King to THEIR religion, under the belief that he could? As some sort of Holy Divine King, ask GOD(tm) : "Bruh. Wtf are we supposed to be doing? We are SO LOST. Can we have a hint?"
And yeah, half of them are like "just for fiiiive minutes! We can totally kick you out of the Temple afterwords if you don't like it! You totally WILL, obviously, because it's AWESOME. But, like, if you WANT too! Five minutes! Pleeeeeease???"
While the others are just shooting Informative Pamphlets out of alien potato cannons in FULL religious regalia. As Danny flees at full speed. Getting pelted.
Maybe some real weird Space Monk is just ( o-o) *is under Danny's Bed. Makes eye contact when he leans down to look for his shoes* "one of us? One of us?" "How did you even get passed the ghost sheilds?" "The Gods have many paths." "Not helpful! And terrifying! Get out from under my bed." *awkward scurry* 👉👈 "one of us?" "No. Back to the Zone, you know better." *sad mantis-otter Space Monk noises*
Just? As a writer, I am a bastard. And I think Danny should get harrased by Court Officials wanted him to Govern more. It's funny. He is a teenager and doesn't know shit. It's like watching an Esteemed Academic Conference being lead by someone's toddler. They don't know what's going on! But they Sure Are Giving Answers! :D
The first time he’d met a fellow Ancient, he’d hid like a child.
Death had been a figure tall and foreboding and had cast a shadow longer than Nocturn was tall. A veil had covered his face, and he’d greeted Clockwork with familiarity and ease. Nocturn had been bitter with jealousy and was stung with bashfulness. Clockwork had beckoned him from his hiding place, but Nocturn did not comply. When the figure had left, Clockwork fashioned him a mask, pearly white and horned. And the next time a visitor came knocking, Nocturn did not hide.
-----------------------------
Inspired by @five-rivers Ao3 series Grandfather Clocks
Let talk abourt the idea of Danny helping ghosts instead of fighting them from ¨A Glitch in Time¨
After Danny finds out about the true nature of ghosts in the secret garden, he thinks it would be a good idea to change his ways in how to deal ghosts: Instead of capturing and fighting them, they could find another solution since they are powered by emotion.
This is a neat concept. However, i think Danny is going to find quite a lot of complications along the way.
1)There are too many ghosts
This is one of the biggest challenges Danny is going to find out when he starts doing this whole thing. The Ghost Zone has more than just some of the ghosts we see in the series- it has hundred to thousand of them.
Because of this, i think Danny would have to find a way to make ghosts listen to him and his ideas. He could assemble a team to help him look for ghosts but he would need something, maybe an artifact or find someone with authority that could take him seriously.
One way i could see this happening is if Danny became the ¨Ghost King¨ or something among these lines. Other ghosts would respect him and he could have the power to influence ghosts and made them try his ideas.
If not maybe he turns into a guardian of sorts that makes him be respected and be listened to in a similar way.
Ghosts would probably be skeptical of this idea that Danny has at first, but after seeing that it works with some ghosts, a lot of them would likely get behind it and try to see if they can help in some way.
2) There will be ghosts that would be harder to help or make them change.
It would be expected that some ghosts won't change their ways or Danny wouldn't know how to help them. While a lot of ghosts could be teached to fill their emotional drive in other ways, there are ghosts like Spectra that would be more difficult to deal with.
In these cases, Danny would probably realize that he can't do much or would have to find other way. He would have to fight these ghosts and make them stay away from Amity Park. Maybe if he manages to get Skulker into his side he could capture any ghosts that cause trouble both in the Ghost Zone and the Human Realm.
Vlad and Dan could play a role in here, that is that they could intimidate these ghosts and help with making them stay away from Amity Park. Vlad already seems to have a reputation in the Ghost Zone, meaning he could use that for his advantage to keep troublemaker ghosts in check.
Leaving these problems aside, i think Danny should start with those ghosts he knows are the most friendly or less antagonistic towards him. These could be Sidney, Dorathea, Amorpho or Wolf. They could also later join Danny and help him with spreading the word around.
Over time he can move to other ghosts once he gets used to it and learn to know when they are going to work with him or not listen to him.
At their core, ghosts are amalgamations of energy. Quite literally, in fact. Ghost cores are coalesced energy that’s taken on an elemental flavor. They’re created in places with high concentrations of ectoplasm, which eventually collects and pulls itself into core. That, in turn, attracts more ectoplasm, which is what creates a sentient ghost. Human souls, being made of energy, are naturally attracted to the energy rich ghost zone once they’re freed from living bodies, and spawn cores after being drenched in ectoplasm.
The vast majority of the time, cores are single element, from the following ten: water, ice, plant, earth, fire, magma, electric, air, light, and void. However, dual element cores do also exist. They very rarely occur naturally, and are more often than not the result of ghost fusion, which is the result more powerful ghost absorbing the energy of a less powerful one. This is widely regarded as taboo, as it’s the only way to really “kill” a ghost. Most of the time “killing” a ghost just disperses their energy, but it will recollect over time and they will respawn. Absorption stops that, because the energy is being functionally held hostage by the more powerful personality/conciseness.
Some hybrid cores are stable, such as plant/earth cores, or electric/light cores. Cores they aren’t holding two opposed elements in one. Cores that are holding opposed elements, Like, say, an ice-fire core, are incredibly volatile. Their powers can be difficult to control, they can cause health issues, and typically need ectoplasm to be constantly expended in order to keep them under control.
As a ghost grows and matures, so too does their core. This results in a general power boost and sometimes entirely new abilities. There are rare occasions where the power of a core outpaces what the body can handle though, and the result is all kinds of power outbursts and unpleasant side effects until the body catches up.
So, in a purely hypothetical scenario, what would happen if you took a mature, yet volatile hybrid core, and suddenly placed it into a body that isn’t used to even having a core at all?
