Phasmophobia is a psychological horror game in which the player and up to three friends work together to figure out what type of ghost is haunting a location. Depending on difficulty level, the players will receive up to three types of evidence to help determine which ghost they are dealing with. Ghost activity and events can also help the players figure out the ghost, but the longer they stay the more their sanity drains. As sanity drains, the ghosts start to hunt the players.
It’s a fun game to play with friends, or by yourself, and with 24 possible ghosts, each round is unique. Recently, I found myself wondering where they got the ghost names from. Spirit, demon, wraith, banshee, and poltergeist I was familiar with. Yokai are of Japanese origin and appear in a lot of anime an mimics are popular monsters in fantasy based games like Dungeons and Dragons and, recently (2017) the video game Prey. But where do the rest of them come from? I decided to find out.
Please note this is surface level research. The etymology and usage history of each of these words could make up research papers on their own. For more information, click on the sources on each ghost type (and the sources within those sources). Also, I fully expect most of these words to just mean “ghost” with different etymological histories. Ghost lore is universal and dates back centuries.
Spirit
The word “Spirit” originates from the Latin word spiritus, which means “breath.” It holds a few, similar, meanings. In the metaphysical sense, it is referring to the energy source in all living things, but is separate from the soul. In Christianity it is synonymous with God, and in Native American culture it is used to describe the energy force which connects the native people with nature.
In reference to ghosts, spirits are a synonym for ghost, though ghost can also refer to demons (see later). Spirits are apparitions of a deceased person’s soul. They appear similar in appearance to the person and often appear in places related to that person or with their belongings.
Source: https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Spirit
Wraith
According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of wraith is “the exact likeness of a person, seen just before death as an apparition.” It’s etymology dates back to the 1510’s. It is essentially another word for ghost, and likely originated in Scotland.
sources: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wraith https://www.etymonline.com/word/wraith
Phantom
Phantom originates from 1300s Old French to mean illusion. It’s main definition is referring to something that is not there (eg. phantom limb), but is also used synonymously with ghost.
source: https://www.etymonline.com/word/phantom
Poltergeist
Poltergeist is a German word which means “knocking spirit.” Poltergeists are often attributed to a lot of strange noises and activity in a house such as knocking, creaking, or objects falling.
source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/poltergeist-occultism
Banshee
Banshee comes from the Irish word bean sidhe, meaning “woman of the fairies.” Their telltale screams were believed to predict the death of a family member of the person who heard the scream, but only if the family of pure Irish descent.
source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/banshee
Jinn
Jinn, plural for jinni, is an Arabic term dating back to the 1680s. It refers to spirits, demons, or angels, and is the origin of genie. They are unseen by humans in their original form, but can take on the form of humans and animals, or inhabit objects. They enjoy harassing and even injuring humans for any slight. They are often attributed to being the cause of disease and can be exploited by humans who know their weakness.
source: https://www.etymonline.com/word/jinn https://www.britannica.com/topic/jinni
Mare
Mare is found through multiple etymologies including Old English, Old Norse, Old Dutch, Old High German, Proto-Slavic, and Swedish. In German and Slavic folklore, the mare is an evil entity which causes nightmares. In the folklore, the mare was a woman who rode horses through the night to the point of exhaustion. She caused nightmares in her victims and could even tangle their hair into “marelocks,” a severely matted formation of hair.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_(folklore)
Revenant
Revenants date back to the middle ages of Europe, and are referenced in Celtic and Norse mythology. They are the reanimated corpses of the dead come back to torment the living. Throughout Europe, revenant graves have been found by archaeologists. Precautions included heavy stones over the legs to prevent the bodies from rising, stones in the jaws to keep them from talking, and removal of body parts. Some use revenant interchangeably with the undead or zombie.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenant
Shade
A shade is a spirit residing in the shadows of the underworld. This underworld refers to the specific underworld of Greek mythology. It is referenced in Homer’s Odyssey, Virgil’s Aeneid, and Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shade_(mythology)
Demon
Demon’s essentially, are malevolent spirits, though some cultures use the term interchangeably with spirit and can be benevolent or malevolent. In Christianity, demons are minions of the devil, sent to Earth from Hell to influence and possess humans and turn them from God. (This is what I was taught in church as a kid). There are versions of demons in most cultures.
Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/demon-religion
Yurei
Yurei is the Japanese term for ghost. Specifically, it is the spirit of a deceased person. A person is more likely to become a yurei if they died violently or unjustly. Instances that could prevent a yurei from moving on the the afterlife include unfinished business, strong emotions (like those from a violent death), or even incorrect funeral processes. They are commonly used throughout Japanese literature and media.
Source: https://mythicalcreatures.info/characters/yurei/
Oni
While thought to originally be another word for spirit in Japanese folklore, Oni is currently specific to demon. It is considered to be the spirit of an evil person or someone wronged in their life. They were introduced to Japanese culture from China through Buddhism.
source: https://sakura.co/blog/japanese-oni-the-mysterious-world-of-japans-historical-devils-demons
Yokai
Today, Yokai is typically used to mean “monster,” but that is an oversimplification. Yokai are spiritual beings which are formed from kami, or sprits, which are corrupted when not shown proper respect. Kami, and therefore yokai, can be in anything, including the sun, mountains, or even household objects. This is also an oversimplification. Yokai are complicated and derive from Shinto and and Taoist philosophy.
Source: https://japanesevisualculture.ace.fordham.edu/exhibits/show/yokai
Hantu
Hantu originates from the Proto-Maylayan-Polynesian word quanitu, and the Proto-Austronesian qaNiCu. Both terms mean “spirit of the dead.” As it is used today, Hantu is the word for spirit or ghost in Malay and Indonesian. It is also used to mean any sort of invisible entity or demon. Hantu is the generic term, with there being a variety of more specific subsets of Hantu, some malevolent, some benign.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hantu_(supernatural_creature)
Goryo
Goryo is another of the many Japanese spirits. Goryo specifically is a vengeful spirit. They were once thought to be spirits of nobility killed in political intrigue. They became so hateful of the living they brought natural disasters, disease, and war on them. Their identities could be determined through necromancy and divination, and they could be appeased by becoming gods. It later became common belief that anyone could become a goryo either by choosing so upon death, or by dying under “unusual circumstances.”
source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/goryo-Japanese-religion
Myling
Myling originate from Norse mythology. Possibly the saddest of the ghosts in Phasmophobia, the myling are ghost children. Unwanted by their mother the myling was killed and hidden, in a bog, a forest, under the floorboards, wherever the mother could hid them without notice. Myling are said to cry out in the night, either wanting to be found and buried in holy ground, or wanting to be given a name. Either is a possible solution to helping a myling move on to the afterlife. While some myling only cried in the night, others would take more vengeful actions.
source: https://www.scandinavianarchaeology.com/children-of-the-night/
Onryo
Onryo is a type of yurei, or Japanese ghost, which died with such strong negative emotion they could not move on to the afterlife. Typically victims of catastrophe or violence such as war, murder, or suicide, they spend their afterlife seeking vengeance. Though they want revenge, they prefer to focus their attacks on the loved ones of their target. The onryo can also curse its target, causing death and torment to anyone, just just the one who did them wrong in life.
source: https://yokai.com/onryou/
The Twins
The twins may be original to Phasmophobia or at least not based on any specific lore. They can interact with the environment simultaneously from different locations to confuse the player.
Raiju
The raiju is “thunder beast” from Japanese mythology. It typically takes the form of a dog and rides on lighting from the sky world during a thunderstorm. When they land they start fires, attack buildings, and generally cause destruction. Some people believed that when lightning struck is was as a punishment for wrongdoing. They also are the cause of the superstition to cover your bellybutton during a lightning storm as smaller raiju may use it to hide from angry thunder gods.
source: https://yokai.com/raijuu/
Obake
Obake are a specific type of yokai which are known for their ability to shape shift. They may appear as humans or in more terrifying forms. Bakemono are types of obake which can either be an animal or an inanimate object that has a spirit, according to Shinto tradition.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obake
The Mimic
Mimics originate from the tabletop game Dungeons and Dragons. However, many cultures have some type of creature than can change shape, like the obake mentioned above, or doppelgangers of German folklore.
Moroi
The moroi is an evil spirit of Romanian folklore. They are the souls of the unbaptized, those without faith in God, and even victims of murder or being buried alive. They haunt villages by destroying crops, killing domestic animals, and attacking or killing humans. Moroi can only be killed by digging up the body of the deceased and stabbing it trough the heart.
Source: https://rolandia.eu/en/blog/romanian-myths-legends/haunted-romania-the-land-of-moroi
Deogen
The deogen originated from a short story written in 1837 Belgium called De Kinderen van Het Bezeten Bos (The Children of the Possessed Forest). The story details a group of nuns who come across the burned bodies of 80 murdered children in the Sonian Forest of Belgium. The deogen is a spectral figure made of fog, with hollow black eyes. It is often accompanied by small shadows believed to the children. Though the story is fiction, many people claim to have encountered the deogen in the forest. The theory is that the deogen is a tulpa, a type of being that is created because people believe in it.
source: https://www.paranormalcatalog.net/ghosts/deogen-eyes-in-the-fog
Thaye
The thaye originate from Burmese mythology. They are the souls of deceased evil individuals forced to spend eternity as spirits. They take the form of tall, dark humanoids with “huge ears, long tongues, and tusk-like teeth. No two thayes look exactly alike and are said to cause minor illnesses.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thay
There are a lot more ghost types throughout all of the various cultures. I think it’s cool that Phasmophobia utilized so many cultures, though the ghosts aren’t all necessarily accurate to their folklore. Accuracy would call for mylings to always appear as children or raiju to appear as dogs, or dog like creatures. Still, it’s a fun game and I had a good time looking into all the different ghosts. I recommend checking out the sources to read more about them.
What’s your favorite Phasmophobia ghost? Mine is the revenant.
What ghost do you think they should add? I vote the doppelganger. It’s special ability could be that can appear as one of the players, causing confusion and draining sanity.
Alicia Coast 