Spectres
Shadowy predators feeding on human consciousness across worlds.
Spectres of Indifference, commonly shortened to Spectres, are beings of spirit escaped from the void between universes. They appear in the second and third volumes of the trilogy, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. Spectres feed upon the Dust that makes up a person's soul: their attack leaves a person in an immobile, zombie-like state, indifferent to all stimuli.
Quick Facts
- Diet
- Human Consciousness
- Weakness
- Subtle Knife
Lore & Background
Most commonly, a Spectre is created from each new window between worlds opened by the Subtle Knife; before such openings there were fewer or no Spectres. They are invisible to pre-adolescents and do not harm them, as Dust has not yet settled upon them. Cittàgazze is infested with them: the city is bereft of adults and populated by gangs of children, and when travelling, all human groups there are required by law to include a man and a woman on horseback to flee and look after the young in case of a Spectre attack. Spectres are normally not air-borne, so air travel is the only safe means for an adult to cross the city.
Reader's Guide
Spectres cannot be killed by any physical means, although numerous methods of countering their attacks exist. Angels can neutralise Spectres and ghosts are able to hold them in combat; humans whose dæmons have been removed by intercision can pass them without being attacked, and humans can repel them with the Subtle Knife. Stanislaus Grumman uses his skills as a shaman to control one and send it onto a church zeppelin to attack the pilot. Mrs Coulter convinces a group of Spectres that following her commands would give them more access to prey, and is even able to make them forget that they are earthbound so that they can fly. During the final battle of The Amber Spyglass, Spectres fight against Lord Asriel's forces but are held back by the ghosts, including Lee Scoresby and John Parry.
More in Powers, Artifacts & Magic
Elsewhere in His Dark Materials
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