Shadow Possession

The Shadow is a powerful entity. It is a part of all of us, made up of those facets of ourselves that we hate and repress due to personal preference or societal pressures. Under some circumstances, however, the Shadow can gain dominance. This is the source of many legends of madness, rampant destruction, and even possession. Indeed, the condition is most often referred to as 'Shadow-Possession'.

Trauma

The world is a stressful place. Over time, the troubles of life can take their toll on the hardiest of souls. The most common method for someone to become Shadow-Possessed is for them to become so repressed and beaten down from extended psychological trauma that their basic personality is simply unable to bear the strain anymore. There are people who specialize in such endeavors, or some might come to this state through being unfortunate enough to be a target of such stresses for various reasons. Even so, not just any normal stress would cause Shadow-Possession. It generally requires the active malevolent influence of others to cause a breakdown of the main personality without harming the Shadow too much to be useful.

Yielding

In the strange world of the Midnight Channel, to misunderstand the nature of the trial can have dangerous consequences. One must face their Shadow eventually if they remain within the TV World. If they immediately accept and yield to their Shadow, the Shadow will gain dominance. This has been the bane of many who thought they have figured out the nature of the challenges of the Midnight Channel.

Power for a Price

When one uses supernatural power, one must always be careful. To abuse it too much may cause unintended consequences, not the least of which could be the strengthening of one's Shadow to the point where it may attempt to take over.

Possession

Someone who is Shadow-Possessed does not necessarily immediately stand out as such. Usually, there are subtle changes to the personality of the Possessed. They are less restrained, more likely to take immediate, impulsive actions as befits the nature of their Shadow. Not all of these actions are even necessarily evil, but they can often be inappropriate or disruptive.

When a Shadow takes full control of the Possessed, they often undergo a dramatic transformation, drawing shadows to themselves and melding it into a new form that befits its nature. Shadows are less constrained by mythological archetypes than Personas, but they often incorporate some elements that could translate into a Persona later (See Persona Gaining). Shadows can also change their natures in some ways, taking on different aspects much as a Persona-user can. These changes manifest visibly across the Possessed's form, sometimes even altering it completely.

Shadow-Possessed also share traits with Shadows themselves, being able to both consume other Shadows for sustenance. Some particularly powerful Shadows may even impart gifts to those who manage to defeat and consume them. Shadows also see Shadow-Possessed as other Shadows, giving them a certain amount of control and immunity to Shadow attacks. Weaker Shadows will flee, ignore, or obey the Shadow-Possessed, while stronger ones will generally attack others before the Shadow-Possessed. The perceived strength of a Shadow-Possessed is much greater when they assume their full possession state, giving them much greater potential control then.

If a Shadow is caught between two Shadow-Possessed trying to exert control, the Shadow will generally decide to just get the hell out of there unless one is significantly more powerful than the other.

Progression

Shadow-Possession is not a static state. The condition can wax and wane (especially with the influence of the moon in some cases), with the Shadow having a greater or lesser amount of control than normal. However, over time it can be common for the Shadow to gain greater and greater sway over the person until they become completely and utterly dominated. At this point, the Shadow consumes the original personality, dissolving into a free Shadow form that generally roams and engages in whatever pursuits it pleases. At this point, the character is functionally dead, as there is no known method of restoring someone from this state. Some events can delay or hasten this progress, or even reverse it to a degree, but methods of manipulating this are rare. The stronger the will of one who is Shadow-Possessed, the more stable the possession is. A very rare few can even seem to almost control their Possession completely.

Recovery

It is almost impossible for a Shadow-Possessed to recover on their own. In their state, they cannot marshal the effort and power needed to regain full control. It requires a great deal of psychological support over time to rebuild the self-image to the point where one might find a way to confront their Shadow once more on relatively even terms. There are other ways in which the Shadow can be defeated or wounded, but they are extremely dangerous, often running the risk such as the potential of destroying the Shadow completely and leaving the remaining person in a condition that resembles Apathy Syndrome.