Scar's ghost and Vanitas

[Silent hero_]

I just got to the second visit of the Pride Lands and I encountered the mysterious phantom of Scar. Although I've played through this part several times I never really put any tought into what The Scar's ghost really is. It's mentioned in Jiminy's Journal that it was created from the evil in Scar's heart and that it preys on the weakness in Simba's, yet it's not a heartless. What could it be then?

I then thought about Vanitas. Vanitas was born from the darkness in Ventus' heart thanks to MX's extraction, and like Scar's ghost, Vanitas gets stronger through negative emotions. Could these two then be classified as similiar beings? Maybe even the developers got the inspiration from Scar's ghost to create Vanitas in a similiar way.

So, what do you think, I'm I just talking nonsense here or could it be something similiar to Vanitas?

 

[Ruran]

I want to say that the confusion stems from cultural differences. You heard of the popular Japanese movie "The Grunge" aye? Where the spirits of the departed are so spiteful and fixated on something they torment the living?

I'm pretty sure there's an actual name for it, but it's a common idea in Eastern Asia that if someone either meets a violent end or if they have very strong emotions towards something that they'll manifest into something negative. We actually see this several times throughout KH.

Scar's Ghost I think is just what it is, "Scar's ghost". A manifestation born from a violent end transfixed on one person because that's who their strongest feelings are aimed at.

Lingering Will is a similar idea. Terra didn't die, but his life as he knew it was brought to an end leaving his emotions of hatred behind in his armour.

Vanitas Spirit, while likely non canon, also plays on the idea.

Then of course Vanitas himself also seems to borrow from the concept, though more so in the form of his Unversed. If you follow the novels then for all intents and purposes, Vanitas is a living example of these ghosties, with all the hate and supernatural powers needed.

Well, after all that rambling, yes, I think they can be classified as similar beings if only on a basic scale. Vanitas is just a "physical ghost" (that makes sense...right?) while Scar's ghost is a pretty straight forward one.

 

[Silent hero_]

I see, interesting.. I haven't seen the movie, but I understand the concept better now, thanks.

Understanding East Asian mythology, especially Japanese mythology, would truly be beneficial to getting a better understanding of the Kingdom Hearts lore. I guess a lot of misconceptions for the western audience regarding the story of KH (and Asian RPGs overall) lies in cultural differences, but the main problem is still the execution of the storyline and it being too convoluted.

But yeah, Vanitas is then a "physical ghost" like you said with a body and a heart of pure darkness based on both KH's own established plot points and East Asian mythology (manifesting and creating Unversed thanks to strong negative emotions towards Ventus I guess? I have to read the novels, they sound interesting!) while Scar's ghost is more or less just a manifestation of negative emotions towards Simba with no body nor heart.

So basically in the universe of KH, when a person has a violent "normal" death (when the body dies, like with Scar) or has strong negative feelings towards something/someone when disappearing (like Terra), they could manage to stay in the real world and not disappear completely by manifesting themselves through strong negative feelings, right?

Sorry for rambling and repeating myself, I just want to get a correct understanding of this procedure.