The Crow: More on the death spirits

A lot of people are wondering how we made a game when there is one crow death spirit. Does one person play the Crow and everyone else is a supporting character? Or, is this a single-player game? The answer is neither.

We worked with the producers of the Crow movie franchise to create something entirely new. And this conversation started with the fundamental question “Why would there only be one death spirit on the entire planet?” When we posed that question, it got us thinking.

So after great collaboration, we were able to introduce an entire pantheon of Death Spirits.

Almost every culture in the world has stories of animals who usher your spirit into the afterlife. The cat, the moth, the snake – all of these stories can be found in history books and fables. Let’s take a deeper dive:

The Butterfly

A butterfly is sometimes seen as an omen of death, both literal death as well as the end of a relationship. Such spirits appear to mourn this end, and to guide the souls of the mourned to their final rest. If a relationship has been broken—a romance, a friendship, a familial bond— and your spirit cannot move on until love returns or the damage of that relationship’s dissolution has been repaired, a butterfly spirit may call on you to set it right.

The Cat

Black cats are often associated with death, and there is some truth to this in the world of The Crow. Cat spirits visit the sick and the old, waiting to bring their souls to rest. But they often witness their charges taken advantage of; heirlooms stolen as aging parents are placed in crumbling homes, or inheritances stolen or squandered by the unworthy. When you have been exploited, or something of great importance has been stolen from you, a cat spirit may call on you to bring justice.

The Crow

Crows are said to carry the souls of the dead to the afterlife, and there is some truth to this. Crow spirits indeed carry the souls of the tragically deceased, the lost and the discarded. But if you carry a sadness great enough, a crow spirit may call upon you to right the wrong that keeps you from passing on.

The mastiff

Black mastiffs are said to be omens of death, but in truth, mastiff spirits appear only as guardians of the dead, protecting cemeteries as well as the gates to the underworld. If you are a fellow guardian, and you cannot rest because your charges are in danger, a mastiff spirit may bring you back to protect those close to you. n

THE MOTH

Moths are omens of disaster; events that may spell the end for a great many. They are sometimes seen as bringers of doom, but they are merely harbingers, warning of what is to come, and bringing the souls of the doomed to the hereafter. When you could see a great disaster on the horizon, and you cannot rest for fear of it, a moth spirit might return you to the world of the living to avert that disaster, or at least warn others of its coming. n

THE OWL

Owl spirits serve as the messengers of the gods of death, most often bringing messages to their fellow spirits, but when no other spirit can—or is willing to—intervene, and a great wrong must be righted, an owl spirit may take a more direct approach, choosing a champion to return to the living realm. If you carry a feeling of great guilt for what more you could have done to help others, that hero might be you.

The Snake

Snakes represent the eternal cycle of death and rebirth, shedding their skin anew. But snake spirits are more vicious than this; they represent the cycle of violence, the never-ending repetition of vengeance. If your spirit cannot rest because of your anger or hatred of those who have wronged you, a snake spirit may bring you back to wreak your vengeance. Only when your rage is sated can you finally rest.

THE SPIDER

Spiders spin their webs, waiting for the inevitable. Spider spirits too spin their webs, but they spin webs of fate rather than silk, bringing those souls stuck in their webs to the other side. But if your destiny is not yet fulfilled, you may find yourself returned to a semblance of life by a spider spirit to put right the strings of fate.