Perfect Shadow

A Perfect Shadow, more informally known as a Shade, is an unusual class of artificial elemental being, functionally a spiritual parasite. These beings do not occur naturally, instead being created in an infant form through dark magic, and implanted in a host, from whom they will leech life and energy and develop their own personality based on the experiences and choices of the host, usually the negative ones. In the vast majority of cases, these beings eventually develop into their own whole person, often a dark reflection of their host, accentuating their worst qualities; by all accounts, the product is usually unambiguously evil and malicious, though the exact extent varies. The host often does not fare well in the long term.

Perfect Shadows are not a common phenomenon, for two main reasons; one is the complexity and difficulty of the magic required to create one in the first place, and the general unavailability of the knowledge and resources to do so. The other is quite simply the fact that it is considered extremely taboo, with the practice of shadow synthesis being considered by many knowledgeable in magic to be a bastardization of the dark magics, not to mention extremely dangerous to all individuals involved. There are also multiple groups across the multiverse who expressly seek out and destroy Perfect Shadows, and those who would create them, out of fear of the danger they possess.

Most Perfect Shadows, upon reaching maturity, tend to live short lives, and thus not many noteworthy examples have appeared; however, there are two examples that are particularly worth noting: Noctus, a former Perfect Shadow who was once a prolific and extremely dangerous interdimensional conqueror, and Sombra, a highly-unusual gestaltic shade created by Noctus.

Life Cycle

The life cycle of a Perfect Shadow is somewhat simple, with its main point of complexity being when it reaches maturity, as it may take one of several different paths from that point depending on its circumstances, which can having vastly different effects on it in the long term.

Creation & Implantation

The start of everything is, of course, when a Perfect Shadow is first created; in the beginning, it is little more than a mote of dark magic, with no physical form to speak of, and can be implanted into an individual; this is often done with cursed objects, particularly accessories like masks or rings, or more practical equipment like weapons or armor, but it can also be done directly with spells. In this stage, these beings are typically referred to as infant Shades, and while they can survive theoretically indefinitely in this state so long as they're provided with magic energy, they cannot grow without a host.

Upon being implanted, the Shade will dwell within the host's aura, feeding off their energies, and picking up information and emotions as they grow. During this time, its ability to act is extremely limited, with the most it can do is the slightest of psychological nudges to its host. It is not capable of true thought, and has no identity of its own.

As it grows, though, and feeds off its host's energies, it starts to be able to formulate a modicum of sentience, and with that, a limited ability to think, and more readily process information. Its ability to act will still be limited, however at this point it is somewhat able to direct its efforts towards something.

That something is almost always hurting people.

Perfect Shadows thrive off of pain and suffering, not necessarily in a psychological sense, but in a very literal sense. As they feed off the energies and emotions of their host, as well as to a lesser extent those they interact with, the emotions that are most effective at nourishing them are pain, suffering, and despair, due to their nature as beings of dark magic. Thus, they're naturally inclined to push their host to cause these emotions in others, so as to nourish themselves better. Often, this results in the host becoming increasingly violent and dangerous, and ultimately tends to directly result in many Shades being violent themselves. However, some more stubborn hosts with greater willpower can resist these psychological pushes, and this will often stall the parasite's development.

Sometimes, however, a Perfect Shadow will wind up feeding mostly off of its host's pain and suffering, which is thought to have an impact on the Shade's development, though the specifics of how have not been well-researched.

Advancing

Eventually, unless the Perfect Shadow is removed from its host (which will usually kill it in the process), it will reach a stage where it attains total sentience, and thus starts forming its own distinct identity and personality, and most importantly, starts becoming more powerful. This is usually marked by a notable increase in its activity, and is often considered a point of no return, as from this point forward a Shade can actively interfere with and undermine attempts to extract it.

In this state, the Perfect Shadow is capable of not only much more detailed thought, but also speech, and is able to exert much greater strength over its host. If their host attempts to resist them, they push harder, attempt to override their decisions at times, and may even attempt to wrest control of their body entirely for short bursts. If their host is more conducive to what they want, or they have the willpower to resist more overt measures, they may instead opt to more subtly and deftly manipulate their thoughts, push in their own suggestions, and alter their perceptions. On rare occasions, they may actually establish communication with their host during this stage, and start working with them, granting the host some of the Shade's powers.

This is also when a Perfect Shadow's more over powers start to manifest. These will typically include the capability to manifest objects made of dark matter (condensed dark energy), illusions, and an assortment of combat abilities that tend to vary from Shade to Shade. Generally, they're able to use many of these powers all the time, and may wield them to help or hinder their host, or to facilitate whatever it is they want at a given moment.

As time goes on, an advanced Perfect Shadow's strength will only grow, being able to leech not only off their host, but also more and more of their surroundings, and they will gradually develop more and more into their own personality. Ultimately, they trend towards becoming a dark reflection of their host, not only in character, but also capabilities.

Maturity

And eventually, they'll reach maturity, as they become completely their own individual within their host's mind and body. From here, a Perfect Shadow can go one of a few different routes:

Separation

By far the most common occurrence with Perfect Shadows upon reaching maturity, they will separate in totality from their host, becoming able to maintain their own physical form, and thus act autonomously. Most hosts don't make it out of this alive, not because the act is dangerous in itself to them, but because the Shade no longer needs them, and thus they're immediately an easy target.

From there, Perfect Shadows will most often move to pursue their own goals, usually involving causing problems for people, and wind up as magnets for adventurers and their ilk; few last very long, but those that do can go on to grow and grow in power, eventually becoming threats that can rival even gods.

Notably, for most Perfect Shadows, separation often results in them becoming "stuck"; even with a created form, they aren't truly physical beings, and thus while they can grow in power, they're unable to truly change on a personal level without outside influence.

Subsumption

In some cases, rather than separate from their host, a Perfect Shadow may instead seek to supplant them, subsuming their identity and personality- and, more importantly, any capabilities they may themselves have- into their own. This has several advantages over separation, as it allows the Shade to not only maintain their own capabilities and personality, but also to keep their host's capabilities and identity for their own use. It also means they do not have to form their own body, and can instead continue using their host's as if it were their own, allowing them to avoid the main pitfall of separation.

Subsuming does, however, have its own caveats, and it is in fact much riskier than separation for one key reason: if a Perfect Shadow attempts it, and their host is strong enough, it can be turned against them. Instead of subsuming the host, the host subsumes the Shade, and in either direction this is permanent. Considering strong individuals tend to be common targets of creating Perfect Shadows, this is a very real risk of this approach, hence why it is not seen as often as separation. It has strong upsides, but the risk of functionally dying is a very strong downside.

Symbiosis

Very rarely, a Perfect Shadow, rather than attempt to separate from or subsume their host, will instead opt to work alongside them, lending them their powers and guidance in the long term. This typically happens when the Shade and their host have shared goals, and while it is exceptionally rare, it is certainly not unheard of; many a powerful warrior or fearsome villain across the universe that wielded dark power are thought to have been in symbiosis with a Perfect Shadow.

Theoretically, this option is the best of both worlds versus separation or subsuming, as it functionally comes with the upsides of both, with both the Shade and their host still being functionally separate people, able to access each other's power. Often times, the host in these relationships will allow their companion to take direct control from time to time, and will regularly work in concert, whether in combat or elsewhere.

Of course, there is one key downside to symbiosis in the long-term: It requires to Perfect Shadow to actually coexist with someone. Something they often tend not to be good at. This, of course, can be worked around, but in many instances symbiosis is not permanent, and may ultimately result in the Perfect Shadow separating from or subsuming their host anyway, just much, much later. This can be for practical reasons (the host aging or dying, for example), or because the Shade just got sick of them.

Theoretically, though, things can go beyond just symbiosis.

Unification

The conventional form of symbiosis is thought to be the practical limit of what can happen with a Perfect Shadow, but there are theories- mostly unsubstantiated- that they could go further.

The most common is the idea of unification between a Perfect Shadow and their host- the idea that they can become so in sync that they start to effectively "merge". Their personalities start to mesh, their thoughts start to align... for all intents and purposes, through no action from either party, they start to become one. A singular entity born of two minds, their desires and thoughts combined, with little to no delineation between the Perfect Shadow and the host. Two beings, and yet one being.

Needless to say, such a thing occurring has never been observed, but these hypothetical Perfect Shadows have been nicknamed gestaltic shades.

How such a thing could happen, and whether it'd be a good thing is a hotly-debated topic among those who deal with Perfect Shadows, with nothing even resembling a consensus on either front. The only thing that is agreed upon is that these gestaltic shades don't exist.

After all, what would happen if one did?