Spirit

A spirit is a natural inhabitant of the Fade.

Chantry beliefs
According to the Chantry, the spirits of the Fade are the first children of the Maker. He turned his back on them because they lacked a soul – they could twist the Fade to their liking, but lacked the ability to imagine and create, and thus emulate their creator. The Maker created a new realm, separated from the Fade by the Veil, and this realm would be one that his new children could not alter at will. These new children had the spark of the divine within them, and the Maker was pleased. Supposedly, ever since the Maker created His new children, the spirits from the Fade have watched humanity with curiosity and, in the case of the more malicious spirits, envy and desire.

The malicious ones among the Maker's first children were jealous. They called out to the mortals, drawing their sleeping minds across the Veil and saw the land that the Maker had created for them in their dreams. They coveted the spark within them, but did not understand it. They shape the Fade to create the land that they see in the minds of men, and seek to draw the spark from them without truly understanding where it might actually come from.

Description
Whether benevolent or malevolent, most spirits cannot help but mine a Fade visitor's mind for their thoughts and memories. They might then use these to shape the visitor's perceptions and trick them into thinking their dreams are reality.

A spirit cannot comprehend a world that is static and immutable and is not familiar with the concept of time. It cannot comprehend what it means to be within a body of flesh yet for some unknown reason, some spirits crave to join the living. Some spirits cross the Veil because they desire to experience life, either to indulge in an aspect of psyche or to fulfill a purpose they embody. Usually spirits or demons can only cross over the Fade by attaching themselves to something in the mortal world. This is known as possession. Some spirits, however, may be drawn to the mortal world and made manifest against their will. They will be driven mad by shock or even be made terrified by the waking world, resulting in them becoming unintentionally violent or turned into demons once they have crossed the Veil. Spirits deliberately crossing the Veil without coercion had to develop the will and personality to do so, allowing them to maintain their form and nature. In areas where the Veil is thin, spirits engrossed by a particular event may endeavor to preserve the "feeling" of the area by preserving some or all of the area itself. This close presence of spirits scare away the vermin and plants that would erode such an area.

Spirits seek out and latch onto specific purposes, since they are formed as a reflection of the real world and its passions. In fact, they embody these purposes. The more powerful spirits will do all in its power to fulfill that purpose. For instance, a hunger demon will attempt to feed on anything it crosses, and a spirit of justice will stop at nothing to uphold its name. Spirits however, don't remember much- a side effect of their ability to make themselves forget or "wash clean" unsettling facts which they cannot reconcile with their nature. While this routine keeps them pure, it also keeps them from learning, from growing. So all their acts to uphold their idea are mostly done in the simplest ways. Nevertheless, it is not unheard of for spirits to evolve and become more "human" by coming to terms with grief and thus be able to learn from what they endured. By coming to terms with grief, a spirit is able to grow as a person and not "wash clean" like a spirit.

According to Solas, when a spirit dies its energy returns to the Fade and may regenerate into another spirit. If the idea giving the spirit form is strong, or if its memory has shaped other spirits, it may someday rise again. It could also rise again with a different personality with no memory of its past.

Benevolent spirits
Spirits embodying virtues may be considered benevolent (or at least not malevolent). Such spirits characteristically do not wish to cross the Veil. They may instead comfort visitors of the Fade by dreams that strengthen the soul, or visions that promote epiphanies. There are five widely known types of benevolent spirits: Compassion, Valor, Justice, Faith and Hope. , which range in power from the relatively weak spirits of compassion to the strongest spirits of faith and hope. Spirit healers maintain close relationships with spirits of compassion. Spirits of Hope rarely appear in the waking world since little there attracts them.

Demons
Demon is one name for the malevolent spirits from the Fade that embody negative emotions like rage or fear. Often destructive, they can abuse the minds of dreaming mortals, possess living or dead creatures (generally preferring living mages – see abomination), or even animate rubble or suits of armor.

According to Solas, a more accurate distinction is "aggressive" and "non-aggressive" spirits. The classification of "malevolent" versus "benevolent" oversimplifies or overlooks the role that the mortal has to play in the spirit's demeanor. Depending on whom the spirit encounters, Wisdom and Purpose can be easily twisted into manifestations of Pride and Desire, but if the mortal is free of corrupting influences, the spirits will be very friendly.

There are numerous ways for a spirit to become a demon: These are by no means the only methods that a spirit can transform into a demon, but are the methods which are confirmed or demonstrated within canon.
 * 1) The spirit can already embody something mortals would perceive as a vice or an ambiguous concept.  (Ex: Torpor, Choice)
 * 2) The spirit can reflect or imitate human perversions of a virtue, or possess a mortal with distorted values.  (Ex: Allure, Vengeance)
 * 3) The spirit can oversimplify the application or fulfillment of its virtue.  (Ex: Compassion)
 * 4) The spirit gains ego, ambition, longing, or a thirst for power.  (Ex: Nightmare)
 * 5) The spirit can be driven insane by outside forces, particularly manifesting into the real world prematurely or against its will.  (Ex: Rift demons)
 * 6) The spirit can be denied its original purpose, particularly through blood magic binding (Ex: Wisdom).

Wisps and wraiths
Not all spirits represent a distinct virtue or vice. The weakest spirits, wisps, are shimmering orbs of light too simple and impressionable to be good or evil. In some cases they appear to be benign, aiding mages who summon them in the mortal realm (by distracting foes or boosting spellpower) or in the Fade (as guides). The Mortalitasi of Nevarra draw wisps rather than intelligent spirits across the Veil. Wisp wraiths, however, are known to attack anything in sight, and wraiths are scavengers of beings feeding on scraps of thought and unable to shape the Fade.

Spirits in other cultures
Dalish mages do not use any magic involving spirits, as they believe all spirits are dangerous. In party banter with Anders, Merrill states that the Dalish believe "there's no such thing as a good spirit". Spirits cannot be broken down into clear-cut categories and differ from each other, just as people do.

The Avvar revere the spirits as "gods" and interact with them much more than the rest of cultures of thedas, though only each hold's Augur has a direct link with the spirits. Avvar and spirits communicate regularly, through their Augurs, altars, offerings, and sometimes even direct contact. Sprits usually tend to assist Avvar in many tasks, such as providing cousel, assisting in battle, protecting holds from threats and dangerous people, and even helping train mages via voluntary, but temporary, possession.

Likewise in Rivain, local hedge witches called seers converse with spirits and even allow themselves to be possessed for the sake of their villages.

In the Tevinter Imperium, mages bind spirits and use them as servants.

Nevarrans have a unique relationship with magic and death. They believe that when a dead soul crosses the Fade it displaces a Fade spirit. In order to provide safe hosts for such spirits they mummify the corpses of their dead and place them in elaborate crypts in the Grand Necropolis for the spirits to possess. The Mortalitasi guides the spirits into possessing the corpses and handles these necromancy rituals. The Mortalitasi however, draw wisps rather than intelligent spirits across the Veil in order to possess their corpses.

Notable benevolent spirits

 * Spirit of Wisdom
 * Spirit of Faith
 * Spirit of Justice
 * Spirit of Valor

Trivia

 * Contrary to popular belief, David Gaider never said that spirits and demons are fundamentally different.
 * In Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, Justice claimed that his lyrium ring, a gift from the Warden-Commander, has a beautiful song which he wishes his spirit brethren were able to hear. Justice's unique ability to equip the ring also implies that spirits are resistant to lyrium's toxic effects.