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Creatures form a set of diverse supernatural species in the universe of American Horror Story and its spin-off American Horror Stories. Some creatures are depicted as humans who have been modified (either while living, or after death) through magic, science, or an unknown alchemical process with elements of each. Others are ancient and/or otherworldly beings, many of which hail from origins that are shrouded in dark mystery. These creatures frequently interact, one way or another.

Introduced in "Murder House"[]

Ghosts[]

Ghosts (or Spirits for those who have crossed over to the afterlife) are souls of deceased people that can appear in a visible manifestation to the living. They appear as human beings, albeit ones who eternally remain the same physical age which they've died, oftentimes still adorned in the same clothes they were wearing at their time of death. They are tethered to the area of their death and can not normally leave it, though this restriction does not apply on Halloween[1], Devil's Night[2], or if they are released by magical means[3]. Oftentimes, ghosts remain trapped in these locations due to negative occurrences that have happened in these locations' vicinities (i.e. rape, murder), or because they have unfinished business in life.

By their very definition, ghosts will exist forever and never die, as they are the spirits of those who are already deceased. Some ghosts remain trapped in an unbreakable chain for all of eternity, repeating themselves over and over again on an endless loop until they find their purpose, sometimes even unaware of their own deaths. This does not mean, however, that upon finding their purpose they will be able to leave the place of their death. On the contrary, after becoming aware of their new status, they are able to act on the physical plane, regaining memorization and cognitive abilities rather than being disoriented shells of the people they once were[4]. Malevolent spirits, such as serial killers and mass murderers, tend to use their deceased status to their advantage, tormenting the lives of their fellow spirits or mortal victims without physical repercussions.

Alternatively, those who were once benevolent or comical in life can return as ghosts as well and, in a heartwarming turn of events, devote themselves to using their undead status to protect those they still cherish from harm; by association, ghosts that were previously malevolent in life can learn the error of their ways by aiding these kindly ghosts in their shared endeavor, and refrain from repeating their past mistakes by only harming bad individuals instead of the innocent.

Although ghosts have no physical mass, they can consciously choose to become tangible or intangible at will, either manifesting in a corporeal form to interact with the living or take on an incorporeal form, during which no human can perceive or touch them and they are invisible. Ghosts do not follow the rules and laws of physics, and are able to move instantaneously from one location to another (within the confines of the place of their death) without physically occupying the space in between.

So far, ghosts have appeared in every season except for Asylum, Cult and Double Feature.

Infantata[]

The Infantata is a bloodthirsty entity created by Dr. Charles Montgomery via the grafting of various animal and human parts to the remains of his murdered son, Thaddeus. It resembles an emaciated, humanoid figure with entirely black eyes, leech-like teeth, and long fingers topped by sharp, yellowed fingernails. Despite appearing elderly, it appears to be incapable of death, as it has been lurking in the basement of the Murder House for over nine decades. The phrase "Go Away" is oddly effective against it, as it will disappear similarly to a ghost.

Antichrist[]

Antichrist is the son of The Devil, fated to be brought into creation when his possessive influence upon the living and the dead results in a union between a human and a ghost; a perversion of the immaculate conception and the Holy Spirit that begat Jesus Christ. According to psychic-medium Billie Dean Howard, when a new Pope is elected, he must open a box which contains a piece of paper that reveals "the precise nature of the Anti-Christ' and "the secret of the end of the world".

This child will age a decade overnight, and after embracing his true self, will cause a rain of blood and hail. He will possess great powers that will allow him to hold sway over mortals, and will be able to destroy the souls of those he murdered, utterly erasing them from existence and preventing their souls from finding peace in the afterlife. He will willingly walk between the world of the living and Hell, and as a result, will have the ability to enter the personal Hells of those who are eternally trapped there. He will also be able to rescue ghosts that have become trapped in Hellmouths, or haunted locations on Earth that have become gateways into Hell.

Although powerful, the Anti-Christ will not immediately be made aware of his true nature or the full extent of his power, and thus will believe himself to be human. As a result, he will be susceptible to injury or harm in this dormant state. Upon realizing his true identity, however, he will enter an awakened state wherein he will be highly resistant to injury or death, and thus be nearly impossible to kill.

The crows

The sign of an ascending Anti-Christ

The first Anti-Christ was conceived during the events of Murder House when Tate Langdon, a ghost under The Devil's influence, raped Vivien Harmon, a human, while dressed as the Rubber Man, who she mistook for her husband Ben. This Anti-Christ was born in 2012 and named Michael. After Michael's death in 2015, a new Anti-Christ was conceived between two humans with "unique genetics", Timothy and Emily, born in 2024 and named Devan.

Introduced in "Asylum"[]

Raspers[]

Raspers are human beings horrifically altered by the experiments of Dr. Arthur Arden, a former Nazi scientist who amputated and injected patients with various diseases in an attempt to create humanoids that could survive nuclear fallout. Primarily culled from the inmates of Briarcliff Manor, they dwelled in the surrounding forests and subsisted on a carnivorous diet of raw organs.

Extraterrestrials[]

Extraterrestrials, also known as Aliens, are a mysterious, otherworldly race of inhumans that hail from a different galaxy, possessed of advanced technology that far surpasses our own. They appear to their test subjects as tall, unnaturally slender humanoids with slimy grey skin, four long fingers, deep-set brows above circular, ink-colored eyes, and undulating, labia-like mouths attached to tentacles like an octopus. Although their exact intentions and motivations remain unknown, they appear to have a significant interest in humanity and its sciences, abducting individuals in rays of light to conduct strange body alterations on them. They are responsible for the capture of Kit and Alma Walker, Grace Bertrand, and Pepper, each of whom they have modified in a different way as part of a larger unidentified agenda.

Satan[]

Satan, also known as Lucifer, The Devil, The Dark Lord, and "The Source of Darkness", is the Biblical Lord of Hell, father of the Anti-Christ, and the ruler of demons; a sly, ambitious, and malevolent fallen angel capable of possessing the bodies of unwilling individuals as his hosts, passing from one host to another when each no longer proves to be a sufficient vessel. His true form appears to be a humanoid entity with massive bat-like wings and a head reminiscent of a goat, from which two long, twisting horns protrude. While on Earth, however, he lacks a true form of his own, and thrives solely through the corruption of unwilling humans' bodies, slowly consuming their souls in order to take full ownership over them and use them as his vessels. He possesses many powers with which to carry out his vicious behavior, and frequently uses them to take pleasure in seeing other's darkest secrets, which he manipulates for his own gain and amusement. He has an intense hatred of God and humanity, and seeks to take over the Catholic Church in order to distort the Christian faith and cast its followers into sin.

Because the Devil can only thrive on Earth via possession, he was unable to escape the kiss of Shachath, the Angel of Death, in 1965 while in the body of Sister Mary Eunice, as failure to escape his host's body in time would result in him being cast back into Hell, making the host both his strength and ultimate weakness. Despite having long since been banished to his eternal domain, his influence remains deeply felt in locations of massive tragedy, allowing him to puppeteer the worst qualities of these places' inhabitants, including the deceased trapped there, in his goal to bring about the end of the world. Of those victimized by him, he eventually found the perfect conduit in Tate Landon to sire the Anti-Christ who would bring about the Apocalypse.

Shachath[]

Shachath, also known as The Angel of Death, is a benevolent angel that appears to administer her kiss of death to individuals who are dying or wish for death. She takes the guise of a calm, soft-spoken elderly woman who arrives seemingly out of nowhere, adorned in black funeral attire consistent in style to the 1940s era. She appears only to those who are suffering or seek her presence, and is soundless and invisible to everyone except for her chosen witnesses. She shows great sympathy for the plights of those on the brink of death, asking if they are ready to pass on to the afterlife with sadness and compassion. Should her chosen subject state that they are not ready, she disappears without a trace. Should they state that they are, she kisses them softly on the lips, during which a pair of black wings sprout from her back. She then takes them to wherever they belong after their demise.


Introduced in "Coven"[]

Witches[]

 Zoe
Zoe Benson
 Nan
Nan
 Mimi DeLongpre
S3E3 Mimi
 Marianne Wharton
Marianne
 Unnamed Supreme
Unnamed Supreme
 Prudence Mather
Prudence
 Cecily Pembroke
S3E5 Pembroke
 Elsa
Elsa
 Lanchester
Lanchester

Witches are human beings who have been born with a unique genetic heredity that allows them to practice magic, or the power to affect change by supernatural or paranormal means, also known as "witchcraft". Witches are generally female, though a handful of male witches exist as well, referred to as "Warlocks". Because of their unnatural abilities and supposed connections with dark forces, witches and warlocks have historically been feared, persecuted, and hunted. Many escaped the Salem Witch Trials and sought refuge in Louisiana and California, disguising their covens as elite boarding schools; the witches of New Orleans have maintained a rivalry with the region's native Voodoo practitioners and have an unsteady truce with them not to cross into each others' territory. Among the population of witches, there is always one witch per generation who possesses a class of seven powers considered to be advanced acts of magic (referred to as The Seven Wonders), who holds a sacred duty to protect and lead her coven as Supreme Witch.

Voodooists[]

Voodooists are practitioners of Voodoo, a magical-religious practice of West African origin. Unlike Salem descendants, humans can become Voodooists through practice and training. In the 16th century, Voodoo spread throughout the Caribbean and United States by the slave trade, and became particularly relevant in Louisiana. According to Marie Laveau, Voodoo is far older than witchcraft, hailing from shamanistic practices thousands of years old. She claims that the slave girl Tituba is responsible for granting magic to the girls of Salem, thereby creating the first witches, though it is unknown if these claims are true. The status of Voodoo Queen is equivalent to the status of Supreme.

Loas[]

Voodooists believe in deific entities called "Loas", whom they worship through rituals synchronized with Catholic saints. The only Loa that has appeared thus far is Papa Legba, the Gatekeeper of the Spirit World.

The Minotaur[]

Bastien, a house slave of Delphine LaLaurie, was tortured and mutilated by her after being caught with her daughter, who forced herself on him. This culminated in Delphine's execution of him by placing a severed bull's head over his own, as she rejoiced in making her own Minotaur.[5] He was reanimated by his lover, Marie Laveau, with Voodoo magic, at the cost of losing what remained of his humanity.[3] Over time, the bull's head integrated itself to his body and he developed additional bull-like characteristics, having changed fully from man to beast.[6]

Undead[]

Corpses which have been reanimated by magic, also known as Zombies. They are merely puppets of the ritual caster, such as those raised by Marie Laveau to exact vengeance on her enemies.[7][8] The end result seems largely based on the intent of the caster and the rite used.

On account of zombies being rotting corpses, they are immune to the magical power of injury transference, as they have no working nerve-endings or consciousness of their wounds, and their minds are immune to the ability of clairvoyance, concilium and presumably black widow.[8][9]

NOTE: Zombies are different from those who have been restored to life by the resurgence ability, vitalum vitalis ability, and resurrection spell. Those affected by these forms of magic are no longer dead and are alive, not undead.

Immortals[]

Immortals are humans who have been fortified to be unaging, and eternally require no sustenance. They are not immune to injury, but their individual body parts will continue to survive once severed.[10] Marie Laveau gained immortality by making a pact with the Voodoo god Papa Legba, which entailed her having to sacrifice an innocent soul every year at an allotted time.[11] Delphine LaLaurie was cursed with immortality when she drank a vial of Marie Laveau's tears - a punishment enacted by the Voodoo Queen for her sadistic torture and murder of black slaves, including her lover Bastien.[12]

Immortality was re-introduced in Double Feature: Death Valley with the concept of extraterrestrials. Theta, a human-alien hybrid (see down below) is immortal and is most likely one of the oldest characters in the show. Dr. Calico, a head researcher at Area 51, stopped aging after her abduction in 1969[13], and first lady Mamie Eisenhower, while still being an ally to the aliens, stopped aging in the 70's[14] after she was brought to Area 51 by Valiant Thor. Mamie was an immortality-seeker that achieved her goal until she was ultimately killed by Theta for trying to manipulate and betray their species.

Introduced in "Freak Show"[]

Edward Mordrake[]

Edward Mordrake was a 19th-century English nobleman born with a second face on the back of his head. While Mordrake himself was handsome and poised, the face opposite to his own was malformed, hideous, and deranged, and would whisper depraved notions that only Mordrake could hear, as though its own separate entity. Despite Mordrake having possessed many talents and skills, the second face eventually drove him insane, and he was committed to Bedlam Asylum. Eventually, he escaped his confines and joined a freak show troupe, feeling it would be the only place where he could live a life free from the world's hatred. However, during the events of one Halloween night, he was driven by the face to kill his entire coterie before killing himself.

The carnies have a superstition that any performance on Halloween, even trivial ones, risk summoning Mordrake. Once he appears, an ominous thunderstorm brews on the night horizon, casting streaks of unnatural lightning in the sky, while a thick, bright green fog swirls wherever he treads. The whisperings of his second face can be vaguely heard telling him what it desires: the life of one of the carnies.

Introduced in "Hotel"[]

The Afflicted[]

The Afflicted, also known as Vampires, are humans who have been infected with an ancient blood virus that grants eternal youth and life, among other supernatural characteristics, at the cost of requiring a diet of fresh human blood. They are able to eat normal food as well, though it does not sustain their life or provide nutrition in the same way as blood.

They seem to look exactly like regular humans, oftentimes known for being "beautiful" due to one attractive afflicted spreading the virus to another attractive person, though they can also appear average. Upon being turned, a human inflicted with the virus dies before returning to life as one of the afflicted, stripped of their mortality; a person who is already dead can also be brought back to life via the virus's effects. As a result, the afflicted have very pale skin and low body temperature, at 75.5 degrees.

They cannot age or grow old since they stop aging once turned; Ramona Royale compares this to being "frozen in amber". The virus causes biological changes in the hosts, endowing them with heightened senses and greatly increased physical abilities, among these a supercharged immune system, granting them immunity from illnesses, diseases, viruses and other infections. They also possess a variety of superhuman physical abilities, including enhanced strength, speed, agility, reflexes, senses, endurance, durability and accelerated healing, as well as the power hold sway over their chosen victims' minds, enthralling them in order to feed on their blood.

They have increased sensitivity to light, especially sunlight, which momentarily weakens their supernatural abilities. They cannot appear in photographs, as still images of them appear blurry and unidentifiable, mistaken for technological problem by the unwary. They don't die from starvation and suffocation, but can be killed via severe physical trauma or firearms, due to hemorrhages and bleeding. Their blood virus cannot heal mental illnesses, such as dementia or Alzheimer's, and merely halts these illnesses from progressing opposed to healing the neurons.  

NOTE: The term "afflicted" is used as a placeholder here until a term is given inside the show's universe.

The Addiction Demon[]

A gaunt being with pale, withered skin similar in composition to the dripping wax of a candle, with long-fingered hands ending in sharp black talons. It lacks any distinguishable facial features, and has only the stump of where a nose should be on its cadaverous, melted-looking face, with no eyes or mouth visible. It is extremely sexually violent in nature, and feeds off of the pain and fear of its rape victims, assaulting them with a strapped on conical drill-bit dildo. Its presence is heralded by the strange flickering of lights in its vicinity, and it can stare out at individuals from behind the glass of mirrors or other reflective surfaces. According to James Patrick March, it was supposedly brought into creation by Sally and various other drug addicts that used the Hotel Cortez to shoot up drugs, though the means through which this occurred is unknown.

Introduced in "Roanoke"[]

Scáthach[]

Scáthach is a savage immortal witch who practices ancient dark magic and worships the Old Gods. She has the appearance of a filthy crone encrusted with dirt and blood, possessed of sharp yellow fangs, mossy greenish skin pervaded with black veins, long scraggly russet hair topped with an animal skull (which she uses as a ritualistic headdress), and unnatural, mismatched eyes. She screeches like a vulture, and is able to manipulate human beings into selling their souls to her in eternal servitude. According to Ryan Murphy, Scáthach is the original Supreme, pre-dating the Salem witches by centuries. [15]

Old Gods[]

The Old Gods are a pantheon of dark and bloodthirsty deities which belong to ancient beliefs predating Christianity, presumably dating as far back to before the fall of Rome; Scáthach, a descendant of the Druids and their Roman conquerors, worshipped them long before the existence of the English Colonies in the New World and the United States of America. The Old Gods possess great and terrible powers, and imbue their followers with dark magic and immortality. In exchange for the blood sacrifices of humans and animals, they grant or enhance the fertility of the earth, turning barren plains into fertile fields, and encourage orchards to bare fruit and flowers to bloom, bringing good harvest and mild weather. The Dying Grass Moon in the month of October, also known as the Blood Moon, can be considered both a corporeal and symbolic representation of the old gods' presence.

It is interesting to note that Madame Delphine LaLaurie mentions she had read many stories about "vengeful gods and wondrous, miraculous creatures"[5] as a child, and Fiona Goode is later seen invoking the Greek goddess Hecate while performing a ritual to make Delphi Trust go bankrupt.[11] Whether or not both women were referring to the Old Gods or other unrelated deities is unclear.

Introduced in "Apocalypse" []

Androids[]

Crafted from "the most brilliant minds in the world" - a shadowy organization known as "The Cooperative" - Androids are robotic beings that are able to masquerade as human beings, complete with false memories and their own individual senses of identity. These identities previously belonged to human beings that are now deceased, whose consciousness have been replicated and placed in synthetic human likenesses of themselves, which emulate the aforementioned dead both physically and emotionally. Due to the realisticity of these likenesses, androids are unable to distinguish themselves from those they have been based off of, and will become confused and disoriented if given evidence that they are robots. They seem programmed solely to protect agents within The Cooperative from being harmed by outside influences and to follow through on what is commanded of them, though it is possible for them to malfunction and turn against those they are charged with looking after. Miriam Mead, whose likeness was based off of the real human of the same name, was originally loyal to fellow Cooperative agent Wilhemina Venable until the presence of Michael Langdon, a leading figure of the organization and Venable's superior, who convinced Mead to shoot Venable under his orders; due to Mead's transplanted memories of having raised Michael, she was reconfigured into joining his side.[16] Interestingly, androids have a viscous greenish-yellow liquid in place of blood, and where internal organs would be there are wires and pumps.[17]

Introduced in "Double Feature" []

The Pale[]


The Pale are human beings who have become addicted to "Muse", a black pill which greatly enhances a person's ability to create art through any medium (writing, singing, painting, etc.) at the expense of needing to feed on blood. Those who ingest Muse immediately succumb to its effects, as neurons in their Occipital Lobe function anywhere from 1000x to 5000x their normal rate, increasing their ability to perform artistic activities at the cost of four vital minerals in their blood depleting: Magnesium, Calcium, Sodium, and Potassium. These minerals must be replenished mere hours after ingesting the pill, as failure to do so will result in death to the hosts, though they are capable of subsisting off blood from one feed per week. The Pale of Provincetown have taken to filing their teeth into razor-sharp fangs to make this process easier, though they cover their true teeth with dentures as a means of blending in amongst normal humans. Prolonged use of the pill gradually saps the color of those addicted to it, turning their lips black and skin chalky, akin to fresh cadavers.

Unlike the Afflicted, who are infected by a supernatural blood virus which grants immortality at the price of exclusively drinking fresh human blood, the Pale remain mortal and continue to age normally, and can consume blood from both humans and animals regardless of how fresh it is. The blood of those with drugs or alcohol in their system has no negative effect on them, though they may experience a buzz from feeding off them. They do not possess any unusual abilities and as such, are fully capable of functioning in daylight, though they may prefer to hunt at night to keep their identities hidden from law enforcement.

Flesh Phantoms[]

Flesh Phantoms, also known as Pale Creatures, are human beings who have similarly undergone changes as a result of Muse but, unlike those born with natural artistic brilliance, were instead negatively impacted by the drug due to their lack of talent, turning them into lanky creatures with deathly pale skin, bald hairless heads, pointy bat-like ears, and mouths full of sharp fangs. They appear to twitch and contract uncontrollably, moving toward their prey erratically, and do not appear to share the sentience of their talented human-looking counterparts. They appear to function under a hive mind structure, typically hunting in packs, and are able to detect those who have consumed Muse by smelling them.


Hybrids[]

Hybrids are a scientific breed mixture between the extraterrestrials and humans. They are the main contidure of the aliens' re-population scheme, as these hybrids are able to breath the air of Earth like humans, but have distinguishable features of the aliens', like pure-black pupils about the size of a tennis ball, and their teeth, which are given to them as soon as they're born. A prominent alien-human hybrid in the show, is Theta, which is the closest a hybrid has ever come to looking like organic humans, until 2021.

The hybrids aren't usually perfect, however, and have many alien side-affects that Area 51 researchers are trying to eliminate. These could range from hybrids having tails instead of legs (like one of Calico's offspring), to have eight tentacles, like an octopuse' s, for legs (like Cal Cambon's offspring). These hybrids have their throats slit by researchers, until they reach the "perfect specimen". The only known perfect hybrid was the offspring of Kendall Carr.

Introduced in "NYC" []

Big Daddy[]

Introduced in "American Horror Stories" []

Drive In[]

The Rabid[]

The Rabid are human beings who have been mentally and physiologically affected from viewing the banned 1960s film Rabbit, Rabbit developed by director Larry Bitterman, a former researcher for Project MKUltra, a classified brainwashing experiment which was intended to corrupt the human mind with subliminal messaging for government distribution during warfare. Upon viewing the film's amalgamation of disturbing sounds and content, the pupils of audience members become black and dilated, their previously white scleras filling with blood as they undergo a near-instantaneous alteration in brain and body. Their entire personalities are erased as they become manic and violent, their veins noticeably darkening beneath sickly pale skin; this change takes place regardless of whether viewers have seen the film's entire duration or merely glanced at one of its scenes. After becoming one of the Rabid, an affected person no longer has autonomy over their thoughts and actions, exhibiting animalistic behavior in the vicinity of other living things, which they will repeatedly thrash, bite and tear at until they are reduced to unrecognizable corpses. Affected people lose all sense of their prior identities and are incapable of recognizing their own family, friends and loved ones, and thus must be disposed of immediately.

BA'AL[]

Ba'al[]

Ba'al is a demon and the alleged god of fertility.


Feral[]

The Feral[]

The Feral are a type of cannibalistic humanoid creature that dwell in the National Parks of the United States, appearing as hideously disfigured entities with bumpy, distorted facial features, asymmetrical postures and partially missing limbs. Some are unusually tall, standing at roughly 7 feet, whereas others appear to lack legs entirely. According to Stan Vogel, the US government knows about the Feral but will not inform the public, instead preferring to contain them in parks where they are allowed to eat a few thousand unsuspecting tourists and National Guard troops each year, thus preventing the Feral from migrating into the rest of the country. Stan stated he was unsure whether or not they are human, though it seems likely they were previously human prior to whatever transformed them, as Jay and Addy Gantz' son became one after being captured and raised by them for several years. The Feral seem to function under a tribal Neolithic scavenger-pillager mentality and speak their own language, and are capable of constructing crude clothing from flesh, hide and tree vines, which appear to grow directly into their limbs and cover where their eyes should be.

Bloody Mary[]

Bloody Mary[]

Mami Wata[]

Facelift[]

Goddess Étaín[]

The Beautiful Ones[]

Lake[]

Water Zombies[]

References

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