Corpse Reanimation

The Aurora Society's reanimated corpses - the Bizarre Dolls created by Undertaker.

In Black Butler, corpse reanimation is the work of the Aurora Society, a secret organization performing experiments involving reanimated corpses, led by a grim reaper known as Undertaker. While demons operate on a Faustian contract to consume souls, reanimated corpses are the result of the Aurora Society's twisted research into death and resurrection. In Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic, Undertaker explains that the reanimation works by appending false footage to the end of a corpse's Cinematic Record, the soul's record of memories and experiences; the zombies are his creations, the Bizarre Dolls.

Quick Facts

Primary users: The Aurora Society (led by Undertaker)
Affiliation: Aurora Society

Lore & Background

The lore surrounding corpse reanimation in Black Butler is exclusively tied to the 'Aurora Society,' a secret organization performing experiments involving reanimated corpses. This group is led by a grim reaper known as 'Undertaker,' who maintains deep ties to the Phantomhive family. Unlike the demons who serve under contracts, Undertaker's objective was not to eat souls but to reanimate the body of Ciel Phantomhive's older twin brother. The narrative reveals that both twins were captured and used in a ritual to summon Sebastian, with the original Ciel sacrificed while his younger brother assumed his identity. At Weston College, Derrick Arden and Vice-Principal Agares were also turned into Bizarre Dolls by Undertaker; Agares was his most advanced one so far, able to pass easily as a living human.

Reader's Guide

Aboard the Campania, the Aurora Society's founder, Doctor Rian Stoker, uses a large machine to reanimate the corpse of a woman, who then bites into her mother's neck; dozens more corpses emerge from coffins in the cargo hold. The device Stoker claims will stop the horde does nothing when it is activated. Undertaker also revived the real "Ciel Phantomhive" in the Blue Cult Arc.