History Main / YourSoulIsMine

* James the ''[[https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/83822/devilich-strong-to-overpowered-isekai-litrpg Devilich]]'' tries using his Resurrection ability on an evil man who died sooner than James was planning on -- but the magic refuses to give a second chance to someone Evil. Instead, it gives James a new [Soul Prison] skill and absorbs the man's soul into it, to produce a daily trickle of ether.
--> Some deeds can not be forgiven. Yet, purging a soul is the way of the damned. Make them suffer. Make them toil for their redemption. Capture the souls of [Evil] entities. Produces a daily amount of ether based on the number and power of souls imprisoned.

* ''VisualNovel/MagicalDiary'', near the end of [[spoiler:Damien's]] path. The player character is given the option to give him her soul, believing it will keep him from dying [[spoiler:(it won't - he isn't dying)]]. At least one set of choices (possibly more) causes this to end in a near-miss because [[spoiler: Damien]] is unable to go through with it. '''Killed Too''', because it would have killed you if he had finished the ritual in question - and did badly, ''badly'' injure you in ways that will take the rest of the semester to undo, if you manage to undo them at all.

* In the ''Literature/VitaNuova'', Lord Love has ruled over [[Creator/DanteAlighieri Dante]]'s soul since the age of nine, when the poet saw Beatrice for the first time. Since that day, Dante has had no choice but to do whatever Love commands.

* In the climax of the religious anime film ''Anime/TheRebirthOfBuddha'', [[spoiler:Tousaku Arai steals Sayako's soul for declaring Taiyou Sorano as the true Buddha instead of him, causing her to die moments before falling into Yuuki's arms and callously demands everyone hail ''him'' as the real Buddha shortly after. Even after Master Sorano defeated Arai and the demon possessing him, Sayako's soul vanished to the dismay of her friends, who mourned her death until Yuuki's pleas brought her back to life.]]

* The Composite Soul, an amalgamation of three evil spirits that escaped from Hell, devours souls to increase its power in ''Webcomic/{{Spinnerette}}''.

-->'''[[spoiler:Mica]]:''' What does that even mean, to give up my soul?
-->''''Red':''' [[spoiler:Summon me]] and you'll find out.

* In ''Webcomic/TheSettlers'', [[BarredFromTheAfterlife the gates of Hell are closed]], so the worst of Humanity are stuck in Purgatory. The poor people just want to go back to earth. For the reasonable price of your eternal soul, the main characters can make that happen!

** After [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe ripping him in half]] in their Death Battle, [[spoiler:[[Franchise/MortalKombat Shao Kahn]] does this to [[Franchise/StreetFighter M. Bison]].]]

* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', Glaistig Uaine can create a psychic imprint of a dead person's consciousness, which allows her to manifest a ghostly version of them that can use any of their [[PowerCopying parahuman powers]].

[[folder:ComicBooks]]

** [[spoiler:Apparently Adagio made a DealWithTheDevil with Charybidis that resulted in Adagio giving up a part of her soul to learn how to feed off negative emotions with her siren gem. Discord suggests that Aria and Sonata go after this piece to help their sister]].

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Literature/TheStoneSky'' mentions in passing that a large number of souls of the dead have been imprisoned as "hostages" by [[spoiler: [[GeniusLoci Father Earth]], who releases them after the moon is returned.]]

* ''Podcast/CriticalHit'' , a live play ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' campaign, features a rare heroic example. The powers of one of the player characters, the [[DarkIsNotEvil warlock]] Ket, come from the souls he [[ProfessionalGambler won]] in the magical tournament. He is able to utilize the abilties the previous owner of the soul had, to some extent. If he ever loses a game he stands to lose his own soul. It is not yet made explicitly clear what exactly happens to someone who lost a soul in this manner.

* Demons in ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' can steal souls from other beings if they grow powerful enough, or [[DealWithTheDevil barter them for goods and services]]. Since demons feed by inflicting suffering on other creatures, if they can claim ownership of a soul they can remove it from the cycle of existence, [[FateWorseThanDeath allowing them to constantly torture, kill and resurrect the soul's former owner and feed on their suffering for the rest of eternity.]]
* Lord King did this to [[TokenGoodTeammate James]] in the ''Such Stuff... arc'' of ''Webcomic/{{Roommates}}''. To be precise he tricked him with YourMindMakesItReal death and abused his own standing as [[{{Psychopomp}} death avatar]] (So James' dead status is questionable... even more that he was already dead in canon. Did we mention that this comic is kind of {{Mind Screw}}y?) all this to pull an [[IHaveYourWife I Have Your Best Friend]] stunt on [[MonsterRoommate Jareth]]. It could be reversed when Jareth claimed the lost soul back, but James was awfully close to dying in a work where {{nobody can|Die}}.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Hilda}}'', Enchanted Tide Pool Mice take the soul of the person they're created for and give it to their creator after a 30-day trial period. Which category it falls under is unknown because Hilda stops the only two she created before the end of their 30-day trial periods.

* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', Warlocks have the spell "Drain Soul," which, if an enemy dies while under its effect, grants the warlock a [[SoulJar soul shard]], to be used for various purposes.
** Also: "[[HungryWeapon Frostmourne hungers]]." And not for delicious cake.
** And speaking of Frostmourne, when fighting the Lich King in Icecrown Citadel, at one point he one-shots the entire party. You get the usual "You have died. Release to the nearest graveyard?" message box, but if you actually try to press the "Release Spirit" button, you get a red popup message: "Your soul belongs to the Lich King". ([[spoiler:It's a scripted event, so you get better.]])
* In ''VideoGame/{{Hearthstone}}'', a Warlock player using Gul'dan (the default skin for that class) will start the match with Gul'dan telling the other player, "Your soul shall be mine!"
* ''Anyone'' killed using the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'''s Soul Edge has their soul eaten by the sword. Astaroth has the ability to absorb the soul of anyone he kills, as well.
* ''Franchise/BlazBlue'': [[AntiHero Ragna the Bloodedge]]'s [[ArtifactOfDoom Azure Grimoire]] grants him the ability to drain and devour souls to rejuvenate himself. In a case of GameplayAndStoryIntegration, his drive's name is called "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Soul Eater]]" and any time he strikes an opponent with his drive attacks, he drains their health and adds it to his own. His Astral, ''Black Onslaught'', completely devours the soul of his victim and erases their existence. [[spoiler:This is the fate he bestows on Terumi after he defeats him at the end of [[VideoGame/BlazblueCentralFiction CF]]]].

* In ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'', Yunfei's Fatality Move involves ''punching his opponent's soul out of their body, then cutting it in half'', just to ensure that they ''stay'' dead.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'' has this with the aptly named Soul Eater. It drains you of your vitality/health/soul, and you die. Very simple. In the same game, a malfunctioning power sphere drains your soul slowly, but at the same time it provides immense power; in game terms, Dante loses health while he carries it, but is in permanent [[SuperMode Devil Trigger]] (and every enemy coughs up health orbs).

* ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' has two versions of the Soul Reaver thanks to TimeTravel: the past version (wielded by Kain) consumes blood, while the future version (both wielded and empowered by Raziel) consumes souls. Raziel himself also consumes souls to nourish himself, being a wraith. The series further establishes limits and rules on this -- humans are mortal and their souls can be sucked out easily, while stronger beings including vampires must be physically weakened to be drained. Particularly powerful souls can confer the owner's power to the person absorbing it, which is how Raziel copies the abilities of his brothers.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', the BigBad [[spoiler: Demise/The Imprisoned]] is trying to absorb Zelda's divine soul to revive his true form. In the NonStandardGameOver, he succeeds and she perishes. Also in the climax, [[spoiler: Ghirahim begins the ritual to do so before his BossBattle, resulting in Zelda's soul being taken to help revive Demise in time for the FinalBoss fight. She gets better.]]

* Malthael does this to the Horadrim at the start of ''VideoGame/DiabloIII: Reaper of Souls'', and to countless helpless soldiers and civilians in Westmarch and the Pandemonium Fortress throughout Act V, turning them into undead Reapers to serve him.
* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence'' introduced the Crimson Stone, an alchemical creation that allows its bearer to consume vampire souls for power and immortality. [[spoiler:Using this is what allowed Mathias Cronqvist to become {{Dracula}} in the first place by taking the soul of the vampire Walter Bernhard.]]
* After some early upgrades, [[BlackMage Lester]] from ''VideoGame/CharlieMurder'' has an alternate finishing move on fallen enemies where he steals the souls of fallen enemies for an HP boost and reduce cooldown on his magic. [[HandWave Hand Waved]] as him studying dark arts.
* ''VideoGame/PilgrimRPGMaker'': Master Alice does the typical "make a {{deal|WithTheDevil}} with soul as payment". One victim, Mary, wound up giving [[DemonicPossession her body]] as well. However, sometimes she will also challenge her victims to a card game with their soul on the line- and always cheats. Either way, her victims [[AndIMustScream wind up as grey, bleeding faces that she sticks on the walls of her castle, forever aware but unable to move]].

* In ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' a number of Creatures can do this, [[SuccubiAndIncubi Cubi]] are particularly notorious for this. Soul eating greatly increases a Creature's power and extends it's already lengthy lifespan, but is not necessary and many Cubi are content living just 3000 years and passively [[EmotionEater feeding off emotions.]]

* The traditional summoning in ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'' works like this: the summoner traps the aura (the soul of magic-using beings like drow, elves and dragons) of the victim in a physical object, usually a gemstone. This aura can be summoned later and does what the summoner wants.
* According to the character pages and story material in ''[[http://www.daemonslayers.net/characters.htm The Daemonslayers]]'', Soul (AKA Mecha) an immortal [[MixAndMatchCritters lycan-fae]], joined the other Daemonslayers when demon prince Lord Saragon (whom Blackjack had dissed earlier by killing his lover and torturer, Aster) tore out part of her soul to return to his lost demon lover. Still alive, she was saved by Blackjack and Shade before the prince could kill her, and now looks forward to the day she can kill Aster and reclaim what was hers.
* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'', rather unusually for a sci-fi story. Late in the story, Kevyn manages to isolate the soul of a thinking creature as a manner of "aggregate waveform" independant from the "hardware" in use, meaning a computer simulation of the person, the living person, and the person as an AI would have separate souls, and all equally valid. Very briefly later, it's figured out that the soul can be teraported ''straight'' out of the hardware (if TeleportInterdiction isn't online), killing it in the process and putting the soul somewhere else. While it's perfectly valid to use as a weapon, it has seem most use as an emergency evacuation mechanism that Petey uses when large masses of people cannot be rescued physically in time; he just rips the souls and places them in a virtual world, where he can put them back into a clone later on.

* In ''Manga/SoulEater'', when someone dies it becomes possible to eat their soul. The rules of how this work are different in the manga and the anime:
** Manga: Only weapons (and Asura, who ''[[CannibalismSuperpower ate]]'' his weapon) can eat souls to become stronger, although consumed souls can be removed later without killing the one who ate them. Specifically eating 99 human souls (or one very strong soul) plus 1 witch soul makes a weapon a Death Scythe. While the only difference between good and bad souls themselves is that good souls have more power, weapons serving TheGrimReaper are only ''allowed'' to eat the souls of people he deemed evil enough to be executed.
** Anime: Anyone can eat souls, and doing so will make them become more powerful but start going insane and turning into Kishin (which turns their soul red, making it a "kishin egg") unless those souls were themselves starting to become Kishin. Weapons still eat human and witch souls to become Death Scythes, but it's not clear what would happen if a human ate a kishin eggs. All the good souls a potential Kishin eats are released upon their death.
** In the English dub, Maka frequently says the name of this trope word-for-word as a CharacterCatchphrase, usually preceded by the name of whomever she's about to fight.

* Dead Master in ''[[Manga/BlackRockShooter Black Rock Shooter: Innocent Soul]]'' apparently loves to eat the trapped souls inhabiting Hazama. And other things, [[ExtremeOmnivore as she ate her teddy bear and chewed Rock's hair in her sleep]], but mostly souls.
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': Younger Toguro ate the souls of the dead to maintain 100% strength.
* In ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', Soul Eaters are monsters that will consume the souls of people they kill. Domesticated ones are used to prevent the souls of executed criminals from reincarnating.

* Just like in the work it's based on, ''Manga/HoshinEngi'' has the Houshindai (Apotheosis Altar) which is used to attract the souls of notable Sendo and mortals inside so that they can be sealed in a different dimension from which they can help but not meddle with humans. Ostensibly the main objective is to prevent Dakki's soul from escaping once she's slain. [[spoiler: In truth, the hidden purpose is to have a CavalryOfTheDead come to Fukki's aid during his final battle against Jouka, the ultimate enemy.]]

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* In ''Fanfic/TwistedFates'', [[spoiler: the SerialKiller 'The Twister' is able to devour the souls of his recently-slaughtered victims.]]

[[folder:Film]]

* The villain's entire mission in ''Film/GhostShip'' revolves around collecting enough souls so that he can send the entire boatload "[[{{Hell}} home]]", acquiring several hundred souls by the end [[spoiler:before they're all freed.]]
* Shang Tsung does this to Art Lean in a nasty KickTheDog moment from ''Film/MortalKombatTheMovie'' after the latter is killed by Goro.
* B-movie and ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' target ''Film/{{Soultaker}}'' is a strange subversion of all three: The teens being chased by the Man are ''already dead'', they just don't realize it; he's actually a {{Psychopomp}} come to take their disembodied souls to the afterlife. In the case of Type 1, the bodies themselves are technically still alive until their souls are claimed. TheHero and his LoveInterest are restored to life when their souls return to their bodies. For the rest it's a blend of Type 2/3, as they're dead for real once their soul is taken.

* ''Ghostquake'': [[BigBad Headmaster Alger Danforth]] and [[TheDragon the Female Acolyte]] take the souls of everyone they kill to empower themselves further. They're all freed when the Acolyte is banished and Danforth [[DeaderThanDead has his soul destroyed.]]

* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', after a Crocotta kills its victim, or causes the victim's death (ie: By convincing him or her to commit suicide), it sucks out the victim's soul through their mouth. [[spoiler: Clark Adams]] is the only Crocotta we've seen so far.

* This is the standard price for a DealWithTheDevil in ''TabletopGame/MonteCooksWorldOfDarkness''. {{Subverted|Trope}} in that the setting's [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]] gain {{Mana}} from the pact itself and don't actually get anything when the mortal dies -- but they find that mortals get much more cooperative when they ''believe'' they've sold their souls.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'':
** The {{Fantasy Metal|s}} soulsteel is forged from souls in TheUnderworld for use in various artifacts, and has the ghost(s) [[AndIMustScream trapped inside screaming in agony for eternity]].
** Akuma are [[DealWithTheDevil people who sell their souls to the Yozis for power]]. [[GoneHorriblyRight While they do gain power]], they also lose their free will and have their entire personality, abilities and even memories reshaped to serve the Yozi's behest.

* In ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal 2'' and ''Head On'', Mr. Grimm is addicted to souls. By the time of ''Head On'', he's eating more souls than he ferries to the afterlife.
* In ''VideoGame/SuikodenI'', the aptly named 'Soul Eater' rune eats the souls of those close to the bearer to gain power. Even if the bearer tries to avoid using its power, they [[DoomMagnet tend to end up in tragic circumstances where those they care about will die anyway]], just to feed the rune. And this is the rune that ''[[BadPowersGoodPeople the player character]]'' ends up with.

-->'''Vulgrim:''' Ooooh! There were a few young ones there.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'''s Dharma Temple chapter, there was a sword which stole the souls of anyone it killed. The monsters who owned used it as payment in several [[DealWithTheDevil deals with the devil]] where a human would harvest souls for them in exchange for a promise, usually of freedom from imprisonment. They never really kept any of the promises, of course.
* During ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrow'', Soma Cruz gains skills by domination of creature souls. [[spoiler:The only reason he can do this is because he's the reincarnation of Dracula]]. It's also revealed that when he no longer needs their powers the souls get released.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** In the spin-off ActionAdventure game ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsAdventuresRedguard Redguard]]'', the Sload {{Necromancer}} N'Gasta has set up a "soul snare" over the island of Stros M'Kai, which captures the souls of anyone who dies there. He uses the souls in his experiments and/or trades them to the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] Clavicus Vile. As is the case for all Sload, he has an innate LackOfEmpathy, which means he has no regard or pity for those he has captured, even comparing them to "coins in a pouch".
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'':
*** [[BigBad Alduin]] eats the souls of the dead [[spoiler:while they are trying to reach the Halls of Valor in [[WarriorHeaven Sovngarde]]. Alduin blankets the paths to the Halls of Valor with thick mist that keeps his prey good and lost so he can eat them at his leisure.]]
*** In the ''Dragonborn'' DLC, this ends up being the fate of [[spoiler:the undead Dragon-priest Miraak. Due to being a Dragonborn himself, when he is killed by Hermaeus Mora for [[TheStarscream his betrayal]], his Aedric soul gets immediately devoured by the PlayerCharacter.]]
* The boss of Part 1 in ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'' was said to have consumed millions of such souls to power up his body and increase his size to CosmicHorrorStory levels... and all this just to crush the protagonist.
** The whole objective of the Seven Deities is to harvest enough souls to power up a giant space laser to blow up Gohma Vlitra. Really.

* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'': Like its predecessor, ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'', the entire level-up, currency, and magic systmes are based around absorbing the souls of enemies that the player has killed. Souls that aren't claimed can also form into crystalline white structures, which can be destroyed to gain the wealth of souls therein; these allow you to maintain a soul reserve that isn't dependent upon your skill (since being killed and failing to recover your lost collection of souls means they're gone for good).

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0'', Phantoma is the essence of a living thing's soul and can be gathered from dead organic enemies (including [[HumanResources from soldiers]], causing said corpses to explode (and deal damage to nearby enemies too). Phantoma comes in different colors, which is important as different colors upgrade spells in certain parameters such as casting speed or MP cost. It also uses the "Killed Too" depiction of the trope as [[spoiler: the L'Cie Caetuna forcibly extracts the Phantoma of some cadets and Class-0's captain to [[SummonMagic summon the Great Eidolon Alexander, killing them in the process]]]].
* The ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' expansion ''Endwalker'' introduced the Reaper Job, a melee fighter with a SinisterScythe who [[DealWithTheDevil forms a pact]] with a demonic voidsent. When the Reaper kills anything living, they and the voidsent absorb the [[{{Mana}} aether]] of their victim's soul, growing stronger for it. The original Reapers were Garlean farmers from before the days of their industrialzation. [[UnSorcerer Being incapable of manipulating aether naturally]], the Garleans made covenants with voidsent out of desperation to gain the power to fight back against magically-empowered invaders.

* This is a major plot point in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}''. [[spoiler: King Asgore Dreemurr planned to kill 7 humans in order to obtain their souls after death and use it to break the barrier that was keeping his people trapped underground. After collecting 6 souls, Asgore lost the will to keep going with his plan because he simply could not go through with killing all of humanity, even though humans had killed his son. The player character is the 7th soul Asgore needs and when you meet him, he absolutely does not look forward to fighting you, but he does so anyway in order to preserve the hope he had instilled in his people. In the neutral ending path, [[BigBad Flowey]] absorbs the 6 human souls to become the monstrous Omega/Photoshop Flowey.]]
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Nehrim}} Nehrim: At Fate's Edge]]'', a total conversion mod for VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion, features a sword called the Soul Flayer; anyone cut by it will, upon their death, have their soul drawn and stored permanently inside the sword. [[spoiler:This turns out to be true also for anyone who ''wields'' the sword.]] The PlayableEpilogue quest chain suggests that the sword was created for some nefarious (though never fully explained) purpose; the player also has an option at the end of the chain to destroy the sword and free the souls within.

* The Entity of ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'' will impale a dying survivor to death with its appendages personally, then drag their soul into its realm through a portal.
* ''VideoGame/{{Onimusha}}'': One of the more benevolent examples of this, as a central gameplay mechanic involves absorbing the souls of demons to power up your equipment.
* In ''VideoGame/BroodStar'', the Reaper Module lets the player collect the souls of dead enemies, which are represented as white fireballs. Every twenty souls collected this way [[InvincibilityPowerup makes the player invincible for a short time]].

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[[caption-width-right:304:After much soul searching, [[TropeNamers Shang Tsung]] found Baraka's.]]

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* ''Literature/ShakuganNoShana'': Yuji is technically a victim of soul theft -- the only thing keeping him alive is the Reiji Maigo.
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': During the Three Treasures arc, Yusuke battles a demon who steals and eats children's souls. The souls are unharmed in his stomach until he digests them, which takes a while; Yusuke is able to kill the demon before that happens, and the souls escape and return to their comatose owners, who wake up, apparently unharmed.

** Kaito in ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'' is an strange case. In season one, he does do this to the Numbers holders he defeats, but only because he cannot take a Number from someone without doing so. He doesn't truly like doing this, considering it NecessarilyEvil in order to meet his goal of healing his brother Haruto. (And he is even willing to return Shark's soul to him after taking it, seeing as Shark didn't have a Number and keeping it would have been pointless.) [[spoiler: As it turned out, Kaito's efforts were not helping Haruto at all; he was being told BlatantLies by [[BigBad Dr. Faker]], who was himself being lied to by the [[GreaterScopeVillain Barian Vector]] as part of his plot to destroy Astral World.]]
* In ''Manga/HakoiriDevilPrincess''...A devil can grant a person 3 wishes. However, as a consequences for the wishes that the person made, their soul will be officially owned by the devil themselves. [[spoiler: It also has an interesting twists as once the devil reclaim the soul of the person who performed the wishes, they ended up fading into becoming an energy that could fuel hell itself.]]

* ''Fanfic/HalloweenUnspectacular'': At the end of the story "Come and See" from the eighth collection, [[spoiler: [[{{Satan}} the Devil]] claims Gaz's soul. And while she's shown being physically [[DraggedOffToHell dragged to Hell]], her body's later shown in a vegetative state in the hospital]].
* In ''Fanfic/JonathanJoestarTheFirstJoJo,'' Heaven Ascension Dio does this to the remaining Joestars (sans Jotaro and Jonathan) in chapter 17.

* [[TropeNamer Shang Tsung]] does this frequently in the original ''Film/MortalKombatTheMovie'' movie as it is a core part of his character. The souls he consumes are trapped in a state of [[AndIMustScream perpetual torment]]. Thankfully [[spoiler: they are finally free upon his demise towards the end of the film.]]
* The BigBad Haitian dictator in ''Film/TheSerpentAndTheRainbow'' keeps a collection of human souls.
* In ''Film/RebirthOfMothra3'', King Ghidorah absorbs the souls of children. When he is defeated, they return.
* B-movie and ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' target ''Film/{{Soultaker}}'' is a strange subversion of all three: The teens being chased by the Man are ''already dead'', they just don't realize it; he's actually a {{Psychopomp}} come to take their disembodied souls to the afterlife. In the case of Type 1, the bodies themselves are technically still alive until their souls are claimed. TheHero and his LoveInterest are restored to life when their souls return to their bodies. For the rest it's a blend of Type 2/3, as they're dead for real once their soul is taken.

* Downplayed in ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'': several characters possess magical treasures or powers which are described as being able to "remove the soul" of their opponents but aren't described as lethal. Specifically, the term used is the chinese "Hun", which [[AnatomyOfTheSoul refers to the rational part of the soul]], meaning that the effect isn't meant to kill people by soul-stealing but rather make them fall unconscious, the sole exception being the "Monster Banner" (which can absorb both Hun and Po parts of the soul with lethal results) and the Plummeting Souls Formation, which removes the soul of the victim and slowly suffocates them.

* In the ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' series, [[spoiler:Spectres feed on souls (which in this series are often seen as living animals, or Daemons).]]
** A more mild example from the same series: [[spoiler: severing. The soul is still there, but it's no longer connected to the person, and anyone who sees a severed individual will know immediately that something is wrong, even if it isn't obvious what.]]

* ''Literature/TheBrotherhoodOfTheConch'': In ''The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming'', the jinn Ifrit eats the spirits of Kasim's hired workers who [[IKnowYourTrueName tell him their names]], leaving them listless, withdrawn, and unable to recognize their families and friends. Once he's eaten enough souls, he'll have the power to open a new gateway to the past so Kasim can overthrow the nawab and rule Bengal and eventually the world. [[spoiler:After Kasim and Ifrit are defeated, Abhaydatta whispers all the workers' true names into their ears, beginning the process of recovery.]]

* In the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "[[Recap/AngelS05E14SmileTime Smile Time]]", the ''Smile Time'' show had demonic puppets who'd wait until parents were out the room and steal the souls of the children watching, leaving them comatose with big grins.
* In ''Franchise/PowerRangers,'' soul theft typically leaves the victim an EmptyShell, and is [[NoOntologicalInertia undone with the death of]] the MonsterOfTheWeek (or the breaking of whatever item was used for soul theft or storage.)

* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', [[spoiler:The Darkness]] consumes souls to [[spoiler:rapidly age its human incarnation (after eating one soul it goes from infant to young child)]]. The victims are left alive as TheSoulless. Crowley feeds her souls in an attempt to get on her good side, but it doesn't take long for him to be afraid of her [[BigEater sheer appetite for them]].
* In ''Series/OnceUponATime'', most magic-users can do this with [[HeartTrauma hearts]], especially the Evil Queen and [[spoiler:her mother]]. Once someone steals a heart, they can control their victim's actions with it, and if they ever destroy it, they die where they stand.

* A victim of this is the default (and titular) player character type of ''TabletopGame/DeadInside''. True, they lose the WeirdnessCensor that prevents humans from using FunctionalMagic, but the thing is that Censor is an evolved defense against supernatural beasties and harmful phenomenon, and up until they grow (or steal) a new one, a Dead Inside suffers from depression, relatively weak powers, and the inability to live happily outside the SpiritWorld.

* in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2: Mask of the Betrayer'', Headmistress Nefris of the Academy of Shapers and Binders has been performing various experiments on souls, sometimes by using this trope. Victims fall comatose, as in the case of [[spoiler:Ammon Jerro.]]
* in ''[[VideoGame/BaldursGateII Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn]]'', the plot revolves around Irenicus stealing the soul of the main character and his sister Imoen. The souls in question are of godly heritage and are a means to overthrow a curse placed on Irenicus.

--> Get into my furnace now and ''give me your soul!''

* When Indy finally faces off against a demon near the end of ''VideoGame/IndianaJonesAndTheEmperorsTomb'' in order to rescue the demon's hostage, she'll taunt him: "Her soul is mine now!" But one really weird battle later and the demon is defeated, and her captive seems no worse for wear.
* ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'':
** Most of the "[[TheHeartless human]]" enemies are people who have had their souls devoured by demons.
** [[spoiler: King Allant has a soul-draining attack that makes a character hit with it lose a level.]]
* ''VideoGame/DevilsHunt'' has an example where the ''good'' guy does it. The protagonist, Desmond, was revived by Lucifer after a botched suicide attempt and given a task as the devil's collector; he can absorb the souls of enemies by pressing his left palm on their chests. Doing so increases Desmond's life gauge.
* In ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', beings with the Lifedrain ability or weapon Dark Hand can steal Humanity without killing the subject. While it does deal damage and the attack ''can'' kill them, it doesn't necessarily.
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Fable}}'' universe, hobbes are children whose souls were devoured by dark nymphs.
* Shown by name in ''[[VideoGame/GuitarHero Guitar Hero III]]'' during a cutscene. After the band tells off their manager, [[LouisCypher Lou]], he holds up their contract to the camera, the words "(your soul is mine)" appear in the fine print, and things start glowing a rather unholy shade of red...

** A rare ''willing'' variation of this occurs before the game begins; [[spoiler: As the Barrier requires the [=SOULs=] of seven humans to break, but only one for a Monster to bypass it, the (still alive at this point) Fallen Child and Asriel made a plan; As 'Killed Too' is the only way for one to give up their SOUL, the Fallen Child ordered Asriel to get them some buttercups, a type of poisonous plant, for them to consume. Once they passed away, Asriel took their SOUL and left through the Barrier; however, the plan fell apart once Asriel encountered the villagers near Mount Ebbot, and unwilling to defend himself much less take six more [=SOULs=], he only barely made it back Underground before perishing as well.]]
** At the end of the True Pacifist route, [[spoiler: Flowey absorbs almost every monster's soul to add to the power of the six human souls (which were gotten with the "Drained After Death" method), but if you go around during the PlayableEpilogue, everyone's fine.]]
** After you complete a Genocide run, [[spoiler:the player makes a {{Deal with the|Devil}} Fallen Child to [[DeletionAsPunishment restore the game.]] Since they only said "you will give me your SOUL", it's ambiguous whether they took Frisk's soul, or the player's -- and it doesn't seem to have any effect whatsoever, until you reach the very end of the True Pacifist route, at which point they take control of Frisk's body and let out an EvilLaugh.]]
* As noted below, the ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series traditionally has the "Killed Too" variety of soul-stealing. However, ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'' has a "Just the Soul" version in the Underking. While there are several conflicting stories regarding the origins of the Underking, it is believed that he was once ([[MergerOfSouls at least in part]]) the ancient [[HornyVikings Nordic]] hero Wulfharth Ash-King, a known [[GodInHumanForm Shezarrine]] (incarnations of the [[GodIsDead "dead" creator god]] Lorkhan, known to the Imperials as "Shezarr"). In an attempt to find a replacement power source for the [[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Dwemer]]-constructed [[HumongousMecha Numidium]] for [[TheConqueror Tiber Septim]], the Underking put his own soul into the Mantella, an unimaginably powerful soul gem. Septim used the Mantella-powered Numidium to complete his conquest of Tamriel. However, come the events of ''Daggerfall'', the Underking [[ICannotSelfTerminate wants to die but cannot without retrieving the Mantella]]. Separetely, ''Redguard'' features a case with Iszara, who ended up bargaining her soul away, leading to her brother having to get it back from Clavicus Vile (as her body was still alive -- the timeframes involved were pretty short -- she's perfectly fine afterwards).
* In ''VideoGame/SunlessSea'', while devils are at least willing to ''trade'' for your soul (or at least someone's; they're the best market for the crates of souls you pick up, although it's rare that you'll make much money off the soul trade), the Pentecost Apes of the Empire of Hands have been known to just rip it out of you and bolt it on, as a random outcome from going exploring at Port Stanton. You can then track down the monkey that nicked it and claim it back.
* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': The archdemon [[spoiler:Adramahlihk]] claims the soul of everyone with whom he [[DealWithTheDevil makes a deal]]. This doesn't appear to have any effect on the people, but the souls are stored in the demon's personal PocketDimension to [[SoulPower fuel his powers]] and [[spoiler:are destroyed with his death, inflicting CessationOfExistence on them all.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheCoffinOfAndyAndLeyley'': Ashley performs this a few times with Andrew's assistance, using a demon summoning ritual to bring the entity to the physical realm. One notable example is [[spoiler:using the demon to murder a Warden within their apartment block]] and then again to [[spoiler: kill their parents, as well as recharging Ashley's talisman that provides her with preminitions of the future.]] This leaves the victims "alive", but as an EmptyShell that responds to no stimulation.

* At the beginning of ''Webcomic/{{Aurora 2019}}'', the Collector steals the god Vash's soul, leaving behind his body. His body, meanwhile, refuses to die, but rather than being an EmptyShell somehow procures an entirely new consciousness separate from Vash.
* Parodied in [[https://jakelikesonions.com/post/182427682709/my-soul-is-gross this]] ''Jake Likes Onions'' strip.

* WebAnimation/{{Hololive}}
** In the early days of [[WebAnimation/{{hololive}} Mori Calliope's]] career, every donation would be counted as [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou the viewer personally sending their souls]] to be collected in advance by the reaper.
** Played for laughs by Tsukumo Sana when she revealed her kimono outfit. She told her viewers to sign a contract that would allow them to see the outfit, at the cost of their soul, before then saying after seeing it, they could reclaim their soul at a lost and found bin.

* Erebus from the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'' episode "Bright Lights" steals souls (in the form of victims' shadows) to bolster his power. It's only a '''Just The Soul''' by dint of being reversible, and it's ''[[NightmareFuel/MyLittlePonyAndFriends freaking creepy]]''.
* Quantum lichens on ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'', although Prof. Farnsworth insists on calling it lifeforce [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions instead of the outmoded term "soul"]]. Sou... I mean, lifeforces can be returned by killing the lichen's fungus half, where they are stored.
* The Soultaker Sword in ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' does this.

* [[SinisterGeometry THE BLACK CUBE OF DARKNESS]] in ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' apparently has the ability to suck out the souls of anyone who stares at it for too long. In "The Black Cube", it nearly sucks out Wander's soul while having a FreakOut.

* The evil Fartholomew Fishflinger of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPussInBoots'' eats souls to increase his power. Those affected by this are TakenForGranite until their souls are returned.

* In ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', true vampires are able to do this by sucking someone dry -- it allows them to summon their souls later in battle. [[spoiler:When Alucard has his final PowerLimiter released, it is revealed that this is the source of the immense power that he has wielded throughout the series -- he has done this to MILLIONS of people, monsters and other beings alike through the five hundred years that he has been a vampire]].

** One of Pain's body can read people's minds and pull their souls out (though apparently not sealing it or anything), which kills them. [[spoiler:Nagato could still bring them BackFromTheDead, but he could do that even to people killed in normal ways]].

* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': With alchemy, you can steal people souls, killing them[[note]]Though not immediately. Souls released shortly after removal will return to their original body, which will make a full recovery.[[/note]], and make out of them a gem of pure condensed energy, which is the Philosopher's Stone. That is, an ultimate weapon for who wields it.
* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', Daniel J. D'Arby's stand Osiris has the power to extract another person's soul from their bodies and turn them into a poker chip, with the soul-stealing occurring when a person he makes a bet against either loses or mentally concedes. When Polnareff falls victim to the stand, Avdol finds that he died as a result: he had no pulse. His brother Telence T. has a similar ability in his stand Atum. Like Daniel, Telence has to start a game with with his target and if they lose Telence gets their soul. Unlike Daniel, Telence has a creepier idea of keeping souls, putting them in [[CreepyDoll dolls]] and giving them limited movement and ability to talk.
* The contracts in ''Manga/ChronoCrusade''. Chrono even flatly states in the first chapter "Her [Rosette's] soul belongs to '''me'''." However, unlike most examples, Chrono doesn't take the entire soul in one gulp, he just drains what he needs as he needs it. Also, both of the girls whose soul ended up being slowly devoured to fuel his powers/life offered their soul to him of their own free will. He also fell in love with the contractors, causing much angst as he was slowly killing the ones he loved just by ''existing''.
* The nature of all of the demon's contracts in ''Manga/BlackButler''. The demons exchange fulfilling their Master's wish for their soul.

* ''Literature/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'': [[spoiler:After slaughtering around 5,700 enemy soldiers of Falmuth in less than a minute using [[BeamSpam Megiddo]], making sure to drag it out a little so that some of them had a few seconds to watch in horror as their fellow men are killed before dying themselves]], Rimuru is granted the [Merciless] Unique Skill. Said skill makes it where, while active, all enemies within a large radius who have lost the will to fight will get their souls ripped from their bodies, killing them instantly. It can be controlled to intentionally leave specific broken-willed enemies alive if Rimuru wants. [[spoiler:He uses this to finish off the rest of the horrified 20,000 Falmuth soldiers instantly, only leaving King Edmalis and Bishop Rayheim intentionally alive (while TheArchmage Razen only survived because Rimuru thought he already killed him).]] Rimuru then uses those souls [[spoiler:to fuel his True Demon Lord ascension, which results in [Merciless] merging with his Unique Skill [Gluttony] to become the Ultimate Skill [Beelzebub, King of Gluttony], which retains the former skill's effect under the name [Soul Consumption].]]

* [[Creator/{{Lopoddity}} The Pandoraverse]]: Eventually, the horn of King Sombra gives Moondancer the ability to literally suck the souls out of other ponies. He gains all of their magic power and adds it to his own, while his victims are left as inanimate crystal statues and their consciousness trapped and powerless inside his own mind.

[[folder:Film]]

* Whenever Pinhead or another Cenobite kills someone in ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}'' films, their soul ends up in the Labyrinth, in {{Hell}}. As is the case with [[spoiler: [[Film/HellraiserInferno Joseph]]]] and [[spoiler: [[Film/HellraiserHellseeker Trevor]]]], Pinhead often torments them there. Though [[spoiler: they are released after Leviathan's defeat in [[Film/HellboundHellraiserII the second movie]]]], and presumably the same thing happens when [[spoiler: Pinhead dies in [[Film/HellraiserBloodline the fourth movie]]]].
* In ''Film/Lifeforce1985'', the [[LifeEnergy lifeforce]] that the vampires consume is strongly implied to be the human victims' actual souls.

* In ''Film/Anchorman2TheLegendContinues'', the Ghost of Stonewall Jackson has the ability to kill people by sucking their souls from their bodies.
* In ''Film/WarCraft2016'', Gul'dan's main shtick involves taking a soul out of a creature and using it as fuel for his magic, killing it in the process. At one point, he takes it out bit by bit, toying with human he "feeds" on. This is also how he [[spoiler: kills Durotan]].
* B-movie and ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' target ''Film/{{Soultaker}}'' is a strange subversion of all three: The teens being chased by the Man are ''already dead'', they just don't realize it; he's actually a {{Psychopomp}} come to take their disembodied souls to the afterlife. In the case of Type 1, the bodies themselves are technically still alive until their souls are claimed. TheHero and his LoveInterest are restored to life when their souls return to their bodies. For the rest it's a blend of Type 2/3, as they're dead for real once their soul is taken.
* Imhotep in ''Film/TheMummyTrilogy'' prefers to kill his targets by sucking out their souls, leaving their bodies withered and mummified husks. Every soul he consumes further restores his decayed body until he eventually looks fully human.
* ''Film/TheFrighteners'' has [[spoiler: a rare '''heroic''' example, in which [[FlatlinePlotline temporarily-dead]] Frank drags the evil Patricia's soul out of her body, causing her to drop dead before she can murder Lucy. He then uses Patricia's grappled spirit to bait her evil ghost boyfriend into a gateway to the afterlife, from which both villains are sucked into Hell.]]
* In ''Film/MetalstormTheDestructionOfJaredSyn'', Jared-Syn and his followers use {{power crystal}}s to extract people's life force, leaving them dead. He stores the life forces in a giant white crystal, which emits the sounds of hundreds of people screaming when it's activated. Jared-Syn believes that once the crystal reaches full power, all the life forces will allow him to conquer Lemuria.

* In ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'', this is the effect of being killed with a Morganti weapon. It's one way to make someone DeaderThanDead in a world where sufficiently powered magic to revive the dead exists (though there are ways that do ''not'' involve the total destruction of a person's soul. Even some of the worst killers will refuse to touch the things.) A Great Weapon can ''choose'' whether or not to consume the soul of the victim, and even manipulate the souls in other ways (one once even being used as a SoulJar for the wielder to fake death.)

* In ''Literature/IntoTheHeartlessWood'', the Gwydden and her daughters harvest the souls of their victims to feed the heartless tree and expand their domain. [[spoiler: This is also what Elynion intended to do to Awela, and later, Owen. Fortunately, Seren takes the former to safety, and Owen's mother magically shielded the latter's soul from being taken.]]
* In ''Literature/{{Paranormalcy}}'', Implied to be what Evie has been told the goal of the Faeries is. [[spoiler: Also what Vivian is born to do.]]
* In ''Literature/TheAlchemyOfStone'', the [[TheWoobie extremely sympathetic]] Soultaker's (a profession, though the impression is given that only one exists in a region at a given time) job is to execute and [[IAmLegion subsequently]] [[DeadPersonConversation interrogate]] prisoners. A Soultaker who has lasted long enough to take more than a few souls gains an increasingly strong and uncontrollable pull on living souls even when he isn't using the power. Unlike [[DeaderThanDead many uses of this trope]], once a Soultaker dies the captured souls all pass on with him to the "normal" death.

* Certain [[HumanSacrifice sacrificial]] rituals to the Dark Gods is Creator/DavidWeber's ''Literature/TheWarGods'' series involve the victim dying and the soul being consumed by the demon and/or god the ritual was done for.

* In the book ''Franchise/{{Batman}} : Captured by the Engines'', the killer traps the souls of his victims inside his altered form. Fortunately after Batman destroys him, their souls are set free.

* ''Series/BabylonFive'': The Soul Hunters usually wait for death and then collect the souls right at the moment of transition, but at least one had gone as far to actually kill to retrieve souls, which was against the rules of his order, so they set out to stop him.

* [[NeverSmileAtACrocodile Saltwater crocodiles]] are notorious for their aggression and man-eating. In the precolonial Philippines, it was believed that being eaten by a crocodile sent you straight to the afterlife without needing the harsh sea-voyages that regular deceased souls made. Some people also believed that regular crocodiles needed a HumanSacrifice to gain the person's soul [[DinosaursAreDragons and become a dragon.]]

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'''s Golarion setting, the country of Galt is trapped in a [[ReignOfTerror brutal, arbitrary revolution]], where almost every real and imagined crime is punished by guillotines that trap their victims' souls. The revolutionary council claims that it is a kinder fate than risking the souls being poached by their devil-worshiping neighbour Cheliax, though that justification is [[BlatantLies pretty shaky]].
* ''TabletopGame/{{Rolemaster}}'' campaign setting ''Shadow World''. The Soulslayers of Murlis can drain and eat their victims' souls by holding onto them.

* The act of Diablerie in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' and ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' involves consuming the blood and the very soul of another vampire. Eating the soul requires Willpower checks; if you drink the blood but don't manage to eat the soul, the victim is merely dead; if you succeed in completing the process, the victim is DeaderThanDead and you gain power from them (unless they were weaker to begin with). It is rightly feared among vampires, which is why one of the Traditions in ''Requiem'' expressly forbids it (mostly because the act of Diablerie is addictive, so any vampire who does it once may just keep doing it to feel that rush again, and because committing Diablerie makes vampires less human, eventually rendering them the kind of sociopathic monster that even vampires fear), though unlike ''Masquerade'', there's nothing that says you can't just ''kill'' another vampire without diablerizing them.

* In' 'VideoGame/HearthStone'', a Warlock player using Gul'dan (the default skin for that class) will start the match with Gul'dan telling the other player, "Your soul shall be mine!"

* Anyone killed using the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'''s Soul Edge has their soul eaten by the sword. Astaroth has the ability to absorb the soul of anyone he kills, as well.

*** The [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] attacking the land are [[TheAgeless ageless]] with [[DragonsAreDivine divine]] Aedric souls, making them akin to [[DragonsAreDemonic highly destructive]] [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels]]. They are said to be [[MonsterProgenitor the children of]] Akatosh, the draconic God of Time and [[TopGod chief deity]] of the [[SaintlyChurch Nine Divines Pantheon]]. While anyone of sufficient ability can slay the physical form of a dragon, they possess a form of ResurrectiveImmortality, and [[DeaderThanDead permanently killing one]] requires [[TakesOneToKillOne another being with a dragon soul]] to absorb its soul. As long as their soul still exists, their physical form can be resurrected by another dragon (which is exactly what [[BigBad Alduin]] is doing). The PlayerCharacter is a rare being known as a "Dovahkiin" or "Dragonborn", a mortal blessed with the Aedric soul of a dragon by Akatosh himself designed to be a ''[[HunterOfHisOwnKind natural predator]]'' to dragon-kind. When a Dragonborn absorbs a dragon's soul, it increases their knowledge and power of the Thu'um, which uses the draconic LanguageOfMagic for small scale [[RealityWarper Reality Warping]].

*** The [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] attacking the land are [[TheAgeless ageless]] with [[DragonsAreDivine divine]] Aedric souls, making them akin to [[DragonsAreDemonic highly destructive]] [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels]]. They are said to be [[MonsterProgenitor the children of]] Akatosh, the draconic God of Time and [[TopGod chief deity]] of the [[SaintlyChurch Nine Divines Pantheon]]. While anyone of sufficient ability can slay the physical form of a dragon, they possess a form of ResurrectiveImmortality, and [[DeaderThanDead permanently killing one]] requires [[TakesOneToKillOne another being with a dragon soul]] to absorb its soul. As long as their soul still exists, their physical form can be resurrected by another dragon (which is exactly what [[BigBad Alduin]] is doing). The PlayerCharacter is a rare being known as a "Dovahkiin" or "Dragonborn", a mortal blessed with the Aedric soul of a dragon by Akatosh himself designed to be a ''[[HunterOfHisOwnKind natural predator]]'' to dragon-kind. When a Dragonborn absorbs a dragon's soul, it increases their knowledge and power of the [[MakeMeWannaShout Thu'um]], which uses the draconic LanguageOfMagic for small scale [[RealityWarper Reality Warping]].

* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence'' introduced the Crimson Stone, an alchemical creation that allows its bearer to consume vampire souls for power and immortality.

* Website/{{SCP|Foundation}}-[[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1879 1879-2]] is a TravelingSalesman that once offered a nuclear weapon to a customer in exchange for her soul. [[SubvertedTrope As it turns out,]] [[IncrediblyLamePun he just wanted her soul music records!]] [[spoiler: Well, his boss wanted the customer's soul. SCP-1879-2 wanted to make a joke.]]

* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' the Dimension of Pain demons actually set up grocery stores stocked with souls, so demons can always get [[IncrediblyLamePun plenty of soul food]].

* ''Literature/StealerOfSouls'', true to it's title, has it's BigBad, the EvilWizard Mordraneth, enslaving the souls of thousands subjugated under his rule to establish his dominance. The moment Mordraneth is killed in the final battle, the souls he absorbed are quickly AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence.