Ghosts

Ghosts are the spirits of those whose bodies have died, but whose spirits are unable to go on. There are two sorts of ghosts; If the spirit is strong enough, it will retain its form and personality, and thus remain peaceful - these are called spirits.

However, should the mind be lost, the ghost will start to look much more ethereal, and become aggressive. Ghosts can float through walls, and attack with magic. Often, only magical weapons can finally bring these wandering spirits to a final rest.

If ghosts aren't summoned to do a wizard's bidding, they can be found in dungeons, graveyards, or wherever they met their end.

Ghosts have remained similar in all Ultimas, with a few notable differences:

In Ultima II, a ghost could extinguish light, whether created by torch or by spell. In Ultima IV, ghosts first displayed their ability to pass through solid objects, and in Ultima V they were able to vanish from sight. As of Ultima VI, ghosts extended their invisibility to allow themselves to attack unseen.

Pagan ghosts were only susceptible to magical weapons in melee combat, but could be defeated by using the Grant Peace spell. They would ambush their enemies by appearing out of thin air, and had the ability to summon ghouls to their aid. Pagan ghosts could also pull their heads off, which would in turn seek out the Avatar and explode in close proximity (on rare occasions, these floating heads could be found independent from their ghostly bodies). Strangely however, ghosts in Pagan are unable to pass through walls.

In Ultima IX, ghosts took two forms. The traditional ghosts resemble transparent humans, who would attack the Avatar with their ethereal weapons. Spectres resemble floating, vaguely human, apparitions which would drain the spellcaster's mana, and could only be destroyed with magic

In both Ultima Underworlds, we also meet two new varieties of ghost, which are both much more dangerous: the Dire Ghost and the Red Haunt.

Lore