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|type=Magical Entity
|universe=[[Cosmere]]
|books=[[Mistborn (series)|Mistborn]],{{msh ref|1|1}} [[Warbreaker]], [[The Stormlight Archive]], [[Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell]], [[Yumi and the Nightmare Painter]], [[The Sunlit Man]]
}}
{{spoilers|tsm}}
{{update|sa4|yumi}}
|[[Zahel]]’s description of a Cognitive Shadow{{book ref|sa4|15}}
}}
'''Cognitive Shadow''', also known as a '''Type Two Invested entity''',{{book ref|sa4|15}} is a term used to refer to a spirit that has not yet moved into the afterlife.{{wob ref|8836}} While the manifestations of this kind of entity can vary depending on the [[Shardworld|world]] it occurs on, Cognitive Shadows can occur on any planet in the [[cosmere]].
== Mechanics ==
Cognitive Shadows can be created by a variety of processes. Some of them are created when a person has sufficient attachment to something in the [[Physical Realm]]. When a [[Vessel]] that has held onto a [[Shard]] for a long time dies it becomes a Cognitive Shadow that can continue to act.{{wob ref|1391}}
The Cognitive aspect of a recently deceased person can become a Cognitive Shadow by finding a source of Investiture to anchor themselves to the [[Cognitive Realm]] before passing on to the [[Beyond]]. The Investiture replaces the parts of the soul that connects it to the Three Realms, providing an anchor for it in the Cognitive Realm.{{msh ref|1|1}}{{book ref|sa4|15}}{{wob ref|857}} Some [[Vessel]]s can prepare a Cognitive Shadow at or just prior to their death or [[Splinter|Splintering]], allowing a portion of their power to continue to function with a small amount of direction; the [[Stormfather]] is an example of this.{{wob ref|8439}}
A Cognitive Shadow can be permanently killed by the use of a [[raysium]] dagger touching a gem of anti-Light of the type of [[Investiture]] associated with the Cognitive Shadow.{{book ref|sa4|102}}{{book ref|sa4|97}} For instance, a raysium dagger with an [[anti-Voidlight]] gem can permanently kill a [[Fused]], and a similar dagger with [[anti-Stormlight]] can permanently kill a Herald.{{epigraph ref|sa4|91}} Additionally, Cognitive Shadows can be killed by negating their Connection to all three Realms, a process which destroys the anchor against the pull of the Beyond. The experience is described as having your soul ripped apart.{{book ref|sa4|116}}{{epigraph ref|sa4|92}}▼
It is theoretically possible for a Cognitive Shadow to form a [[Nahel bond]] with a human.{{wob ref|3239}} They are not able to burn [[God Metal]]s.{{book ref|mb7|epilogue|4}} They may be able to create objects from nothing, if they view it as an extension of themselves and are [[Connection|Connected]] to them.{{book ref|yumi|29}}{{wob ref|16341}}
Cognitive Shadows look different in the Cognitive Realm, where how they became a Cognitive Shadow will influence how they look.{{wob ref|14504}} Shards could create a physical body for Cognitive Shadows.{{wob ref|15841}}
=== Destruction ===
▲A Cognitive Shadow can be permanently killed by the use of a [[raysium]] dagger touching a gem of anti-Light of the type of [[Investiture]] associated with the Cognitive Shadow.{{book ref|sa4|102}}{{book ref|sa4|97}} For instance, a raysium dagger with an [[anti-Voidlight]] gem can permanently kill a [[Fused]],
Additionally, Cognitive Shadows can be killed by negating their Connection to all three Realms, a process which destroys the anchor against the pull of the Beyond.{{epigraph ref|sa4|92}} The experience is described as having your soul ripped apart.{{book ref|sa4|116}}
A Cognitive Shadow can also willingly choose to pass into the Beyond.{{msh ref|1|1}}
=== Cognitive Influence ===
Cognitive Shadows are influenced by how people view them over time, although this takes centuries due to their own strong sense of self.{{wob ref|16076}} But Cognitive Shadows with less sense of self, or less controlled by another source, are more easily malleable by Cognitive influence.{{book ref|yumi|3}}{{wob ref|15524}} Cognitive Shadows that are normally invisible to people in the Physical Realm can still be seen and heard by people who exist partly in the Cognitive Realm.{{book ref|Yumi|17}}
== Examples ==
=== Roshar ===
;[[Fused]]
When the [[
;[[Herald]]s
;[[Stormfather]]
Prior to Odium's splintering of Honor, the Stormfather was just the [[spren]] of the [[highstorm]] and one of the three [[Bondsmith]] spren. After Honor's death, the Cognitive Shadow of its Vessel, [[Tanavast]], merged with the Stormfather, though it does not appear that the Stormfather has Tanavast's memories.{{wob ref|4268}}
=== Scadrial ===
}}
After his death, Kelsier found the [[Well of Ascension]] in the Cognitive Realm and, with [[Leras]]' help, merged with it. As a result, he became infused with [[Preservation]]'s power and became a [[Cognitive Shadow]], though, since the Well was created as a prison, he was unable to leave.{{msh ref|1|1}} After [[Vin]] released [[Ruin]] from the Well he was able to travel the Scadrian Cognitive Realm and influence the [[Physical Realm]], though he was unable to actually leave the Cognitve Realm because his "ties to the Physical Realm [had] been severed" by his death.{{msh ref|2|1}} With the help of a device made by the [[Ire]], he was able to hold the [[Shard]] of Preservation after [[Leras]] died, though, according to [[Ruin]], he made for a weaker [[Vessel]] than a normal person.{{msh ref|6|4}} Some time after the [[Catacendre]], [[Kelsier]] found a way to recreate his physical body using [[Hemalurgy]] and return to the Physical Realm.{{book ref|mb6|epilogue}} Upon death, he lost his ability to use [[Allomancy]] and has not recovered
=== Nalthis ===
;[[Shade]]s
Shades are a unique kind of Cognitive Shadow found on [[Threnody]] that are able to interact with the Physical Realm. They are drawn by anyone moving quickly at night, lighting a fire, or drawing blood and their touch withers a person, which usually results in death.{{book ref|sfs}} Any person{{book ref|sfs}} or animal{{wob ref|7445}} killed by a Shade becomes a Shade. It is unknown how the first Shades were created, though, when [[Nazh]] first meets Kelsier, he is shocked that Kelsier managed to become a Cognitive Shadow and says it is "an important rite ... with requirements and traditions."{{msh ref|3|2}} Shades are repelled and can be harmed by silver, though it is unknown whether this applies to other kinds of Cognitive Shadows as well.{{wob ref|10879}} They also are not as self-aware as normal Cognitive Shadows.{{wob ref|2110}} If some other Cognitive Shadow traveled to Threnody, he or she would not become a Shade,{{wob ref|7444}} and if a Shade managed to leave Threnody, it would not be destroyed.{{wob ref|8543}} Differences between Shades and normal Cognitive Shadows are a result of the nature of the Investiture on Threnody and the lack of a Shard.{{wob ref|6891}}
=== Komashi ===
;[[Nightmare]]s
Nightmares are former inhabitants of the kingdom of [[Torio]], who are kept in servitude under the [[father machine]]. They were killed by the father machine, which absorbed their souls and destroyed their bodies. During the night, the control of the machine over them loosens, and they wander the planet looking for humans for cognitive activity to feed off of. Following the destruction of the father machine and dissolution of the [[shroud]], they dissolved into Investiture and vanished.{{book ref|yumi|40}}
They are defended against by [[painter]]s, who are able to force them into more harmless shapes, forcing them to dissolve away into black mist.{{book ref|yumi|3}}
;[[Yoki-hijo]]
The Yoki-hijo reformed after being killed by the father machine due to how heavily Invested they were. The father machine subsequently trapped them in simulations of their former life, constantly erasing their memory, and having them repeat a simulation of the same day ad infinitum.{{book ref|yumi|38}}{{book ref|yumi|39}}
;Body Swapping
[[Hijo]] are able to form a Spiritual Connection between two individuals and have them swap bodies with each other.{{book ref|yumi|34}}{{book ref|yumi|39}}{{book ref|yumi|40}} Those linked will swap bodies every day, where one is in control of the other's body while the other is a Cognitive Shadow.{{book ref|yumi|8}}{{book ref|yumi|11}} This Connection can be forcibly severed, causing the two to no longer swap bodies.{{book ref|yumi|34}}
== Trivia ==
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