A revenant is a form of undead creature originating from European folklore. Supposedly, it is the spirit of a deceased human being that has returned to the mortal plane as a visible ghost or a vengeful spirit that has possessed a dead body, likely its own body.
Revenants are said to return to the living realm to take revenge on those who wronged them in their previous life. In a typical myth, only wicked or evil people tend to turn into revenants. Rarely, however, there were cases where a particularly strong willed individual had died before fulfilling an important task or a promise and would return as a revenant to complete what was left unfinished.
Revenants have become a popular trend in various works of horror fiction as well as fantasy fiction and video games.
Examples of revenants[]
Folklore[]
- Draugr, a Norse revenant.
- ??, a Greek revenant.
- Onryō, a Japanese revenant.
- Fext, a Slavic revenant.
- Dybbuk, a Hebrew revenant.
- Pocong, a Indonesian revenant.
- Dry Body, a Brazilian revenant.
Video Games[]
- Both Scorpion and Noob Saibot of the Mortal Kombat franchise qualify as revenants.
- The horror movie character Jason from Friday the 13th qualifies as a revenant as well.