Soul vs Soulless?

[definition of insane]

So I was thinking at work today (in the soulless monotomy of work that work is)...Angel and Spike obviously go through the guilt of killing so many people and things when they weren't soulless blood-sucking fiends...so if you can get the essence of a slayer into all of the potentials from a scythe, why can't you ensoul all the vamps somehow?

But then I got to thinking...we have really messed up people in the world...and they supposedly have souls (I'm not going to start the debate of whether a soul exists or not, for the purpose of the Buffyverse, they do) and they do some pretty messed up things that go beyong killing and feeding. So even if there was some way to ensoul the vamps, would it make a difference? Maybe some would feel guilty and bad (like Angel and Spike) but then maybe some of them are killers and stuff to begin with so it might not matter.

Comments? Discussions? Please don't leave me hanging out here with the crickets....

 

[chiigusa]

I think it depends on the vampire, really. For example, Angelus did SO much destruction that I think it would be practically impossible for him to function once he remembered every little thing he did, as was proven with all of the various flashbacks. I think that's why he sought redemption instead of continued with killing. In Spike's case, he wanted to be good, so he was completely different from Angel(us). He sought out a soul to prove he could be a good man.

If the rest of the vampire race was ensouled, I think it would be quite different for each and every vampire. As you said, killers in the real world are considered to have souls, yet they rape, murder, etc. I think some vampires might continue to kill, but might start to eventually feel terrible, while other vampires might be going crazy and feasting on rats a la Angel. Or the vampires might get a case of Faith. Go crazy with murdering (even with a soul), then just seek out death because they can't face all the people they've killed or be the killer they are/were anymore.

Anyway, it's a very interesting thought. I hope that made some semblance of sense.

 

[T.I.P]

Assuming souls are real, maybe they are like everything else in life eg, the more you make use of it, the better it gets.
Just like, if you lift weights, your body gets stronger, or the more you talk and socialize, the easier it becomes, so maybe the more
good you try to do, the more fulfilled your soul becomes. If someone just sits on the fence in life and, although not hurting anyone, dosent help anyone either, their soul, through lack of use, becomes emptier, and the more they'll start accepting evil, then when some people who have zero use of their soul, the evilness spirals out of control.(but given time can re-fill their soul)

 

[Buffanator]

I've thought along these lines before. Why can't Willow just re-ensoul every Vamp with her witchy ways? But I keep coming back to Xander's line regarding Warren in Villians:

"I'm just saying he's ... he's just as bad as any vampire you've sent to dustville."

Regarding the souls & what they're actually WORTH, for some odd reason, that one line sums it up for me.

 

[KhaoticLove]

Depends on the vampires personality, I mean if he/she doesn't care about killing people its not going to haunt them. With Angel and Spike they were pretty good before they turned and felt guilty when they did stuff. So I think its based on the person not the soul.

 

[palabravampiress]

It depends on the vamp. Someone like Dru, who's absolutely mad, probably lacks the ability to discern right from wrong in the manner of sane, rational human beings, and so the soul probably wouldn't have the same result. Someone like Dracula, by contrast, might also feel differently. In life, he was a warrior king in a vastly different, more violent time and was known for horrendous acts of cruelty on a massive scale (this reign was preceded, naturally, by a lengthy imprisonment in his youth). Someone like Dracula might have a different view of right, wrong, evil, cruelty, and other concepts by virtue of having lived a different life in a different time. For a warrior king like him, simply sucking someone's blood is mere child's play. The thinking of someone like Harmony might be too simplistic to really grasp the enormity of her crimes. Other vamps might exhibit guilt to the same extents and extremes that I believe these vamps might not exhibit guilt -- for example, Angel and Spike. Basically, it all depends on the vamp (just like it all depends on the human).

 

[Lou]

I can't say for SURE yet, but I just might almost disagree with Palabra.
(Someone go call the USA Today)

Dru IS crazy, but I think with a soul, she'd just wander about, kind of like Tara did when she was nuts. I doubt she'd be sane, but a killer...probably not.
Harmony is a ditz, but I don't think she WANTS to kill people. She seems to deal pretty well with a no killing life-style just for a job.

It probably does have something to do with the actual vamp. I'm sure just like people, there would be some vampires who would still kill and ignore the guilt. (Just like people do.)

I would bet that it would end with a LOT more vampires living normal lives and not in nests in the sewers and flop houses. They'd be living more like on Moonlight. Still, it would be a neat trick to try.

 

[CharmedSlayer85]

If every vampire had a soul it would depend on the human being that person was before they turned into a vampire, to determine what kind of souled vampire they'd be. Take Kralik, I believe that was his name from the episode "Helpless," they said he was a brutal bastard and killed hundreds even in life and then he was mad a vampire and became worst. So if he was evil alive, he'd more than likely still be evil with a soul. But if say Drusilla got a soul she'd be horrified at the things she did as a vampire and would probably want to kill herself. Even look at Darla when she became human again, she regretted the things the did to people and to Angel, and did again when Connor's soul infected her.