what are negative spirits?

the negative spirits are a fictional alien race from the show doom patrol. they originated in the doom patrol comics, but i consider doom patrol negative spirits to be divergent from comic negative spirits, so that's what this shrine focuses on. negative spirits are energy being aliens that have a variety of powers, such as immortality, psychic ability, interdimensional travel, electrocution and electricity manipulation, flight, and possession of human hosts (though it makes them radioactive, but this can be contained via emotional bonding with host).

where do they come from?

they come from a nebula called the negative space. the negative spirits enter their human hosts via contact with a rift that exists in space, and there have been two known contactees, larry trainor and valentina vostok.

why do they fascinate me so much?

the negative spirits have been shown to be extremely emotionally sensitive, at least according to niles caulder. larry's negative spirit, specifically, is my favorite character in the whole universe, and i find their heroic nature to be very beautiful. larry doesn't want to intervene in the world, but the negative spirit forces him to help. larry doesn't want to heal from his trauma and the negative spirit helps him confront his demons. the negative spirit helps save the world and fight evil and wants to be in the center of it all, and they have no reason to do this as the world has only been unkind and cruel to them during 95% of their time on earth.

now, the negative spirit is still an asshole, but that's also part of why i love them. they put larry on the ceiling when he tries to communicate with them. they repeatedly leave larrys body (which knocks him unconscious). they crash larry's bus after he calls them a parasite. but there are also so many tender moments between them--larry saying they have an untraditional connection in frances patrol, larry saying he believes in them and their general closeness during the 6 month time skip between 1x14 and 1x15, larry falling asleep with his hand over his chest as they emitted their glow, larry's attempted sacrifice and them choosing to say, and of course the face touch. negative spirits are, well, aliens with complex emotional states! larry's NS only seems to lash out when larry is cruel to them, as larry's self hatred is extremely torturous to live with---negative spirits are merged with their hosts' mind and thoughts on top of being incredibly emotionally sensitive already.

and then there's valentina vostok, who is larry's narrative parallel. her negative spirit has bonded with her entirely and they have perfect communication, however this has made her entirely alien, though this is likely due to being stuck alone in a spaceship airlock in space for 50 years. valentina acts detached from humanity and more serene, so does her spirit, and this indicates to me that negative spirits in healthier dynamics are good companions and generally calm, and also that larry's negative spirit is a bit of the black sheep among their dimension (mainly headcanon there.)

i love the negative spirits so much. i'm going to make a page for my headcanons and conlang dictionary later!