Tulpas and Tulpa-like Things in the Media

[Xantan]

In the show "the venture brothers", Henchman 21 loses his best friend (hench 24) to an unfortunate accident. Sometime afterwards 21 starts seeing the "ghost" of 24. they talk, hang-out, ect, but no one else can see 24. 24 even starts messing with 21's head, asking him things like "am i really helping you, or am i only giving you the confidence to do it yourself?!"

 

24 brings other "ghost" friends to meet 21, as well as give him sage advice and stuff. Near the end of the arc, 21 discovers that 24 isn't really a ghost, but just a figment of his imagination. Both of the characters were unaware of this and each had a little existential crisis before 21 decided he needs to move on with his life and stop deluding himself.

 

it is almost a text-book example of accidental tulpa.

[PaidStraw8]

So now that I've started making a tulpa and I know what they are, I have a question. In pop culture, there are many tulpa-like characters. Tyler Durden, Fight Club. Viktor Reznov, Call of Duty: Black Ops. Even Eminem- could Slim Shady be a tulpa? I mean, after all, we say he's Em's alter ego, but Marshall talks about Slim like he's another person. So, are these characters tulpae? What other tulpa-like characters can you think of in pop culture?

[left blank]

You might appreciate glancing over this thorough list of media tulpas and tulpa-like creations. Unfortunately I can't recall if Slim Shady was mentioned amongst the suggestions.

 

I don't personally differentiate between an 'alter ego' and 'tulpa' outside of semantics and basic presentation. People manifest tulpas and later allow 'possession,' but the reverse can also be achieved. In both cases, what I see happening is the creation and embodiment of a personality division.

 

So, tulpas and alter-egos are, to my mind, two sides of the same coin. "Slim" might represent a tulpa who's only manifestation has been through 'possession' — a split personality inhabiting the same body. Obviously the arrangement has provided Mathers with a multitude of creative benefits. This is also a phenomenon with which actors are all too familiar.

 

(Post merged from Tulpa in Pop Culture thread.)

[LukeDude759]

Aiden in Beyond: Two Souls. From a metaphysical viewpoint (Not that I believe in that kind of stuff; just saying), he's probably the most accurate representation of a tulpa in any video game ever. He talks to Jodie, he can possess other people (similarly to how our tulpas use possession, except Aiden does it completely against people's will), and Jodie once "switched" with him to unlock a door he locked. Aiden is physically (for lack of a better term) bonded to Jodie, which is why I say he's more of a tulpa than simply a ghost.

 

TL;DR: In Beyond: Two Souls, Aiden is a metaphysical tulpa.

[raphael97]

Well, i know a movie that fits the characteristics of tulpa.

The name of the movie is: "Mulher Invisivel" its a brazilian movie that tells the story of a guy that lives with a perfect woman for him but he does not realize that she dont "exist in the real world". This movie, in my opinion, is what better pictures a tulpa existance and behavior, based in what i read and i heard from others.

Check it out, it will be fun. The title of the movie means "Invisible Woman".

[HydesLittleOne]

Marshall in the "Mr. Brooks" movie starring Kevin Costner. Marshall is played by William Hurt, but he is a lot like a Tulpa. I never realized it after seeing the movie so many times that maybe that's what he was in Mr. Brooks mind, a Tulpa who had been with him since he started killing and stuff. He's described as an "alter ego" in the Wikipedia, but I think he is very Tulpa like.

[garland]

You all want to know how i happened to discover that tulpas existed? It was thanks to a X-Files episode i saw years ago, named Arcadia, the character Mulder itself describes what a tulpa is, if you check it's http://x-files.wikia.com/wiki/Arcadia in the article about the episode it mentions tulpas as well, the episode is about a monster, which is in fact a tulpa with a physical form. Strangely in all media i watched all my life, besides a powerpuff girls episode ("imaginary fiend") and foster's home for imaginary friends i never seen much references to tulpas at all.

 

Actually only very recently, last july i found out that it actually EXISTS a psychological version of tulpas which obviously made me quite excited and i jumped right in and started making tulpas. But before this i actually tought tulpas were just mythology and i was kinda fooled by the wikipedia article that i seen a few years ago and i gaved up searching more about it, if only i know that a few links below there was tulpa.info... jeez it was such a waste of time, i could have have tulpas a LOT longer ago, dammend wikipedia article which only talks about that version of physical tulpas...

[LukeDude759]

I just started playing Deadpool. The two voices in Deadpool's head seem enough like tulpas to be included here. Or schizophrenia. I'm actually not sure which one they are.

 

Also, Deadpool is possibly one of the most fourth wall breaking games you will ever play.

[Sophie]

Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger is a Japanese show (which you can watch subbed online -- it's hilarious, by the way). It's about three people who enter a "delusion world" to fight (among others) a woman named Malshina, who is essentially a tulpa created by someone one of the main characters knows. Malshina escapes the delusion world into the real world, becoming a real person. In the second season, the bad guy (and maybe the good guys too?) creates lots of tulpas in the delusion world, though most of them don't live through the episode.

 

Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius is a short story by Jorge Luis Borges (which you can also find online for free). It's very difficult to read, but it's sort of about an entire tulpa country being born out of an encyclopedia article. As Wikipedia puts it: "One of the major themes of "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" is that ideas ultimately manifest themselves in the physical world".

 

I know I've seen more recently. Maybe they'll come back to me.

[Stryke]

Okay, this is probably more multiple-personality disorder than tulpa, but in the American Dad episode 'The One That Got Away' Roger discovers that one of his personas that he created for his disguises took on a life of it's own and started to possess his body without him knowing about it, living a completely separate life to him. The persona has separate memories and relationships to Roger, even going so far as to hire a hitman to kill roger when he tries to destroy the persona's life. They eventually meet, reconcile their differences and the persona uses the password to call off the hit, then Roger murders him.

 

While not strictly a tulpa, since Roger has no knowledge of it's existence whatsoever, the fact that his other self has individual knowledge and can possess Roger's body for long periods of time (even if it isn't a conscious decision by both parties) makes him seem a lot like one.