Naya’sNight

THE LORE

Before JITS came along—which later became GIGGS—getting a ghost exorcised was an arduous process that could take months. Different ghosts require different techniques to get rid of them, which is why correct ghost identification is crucial. Most investigators operated locally and were only familiar with one or two kinds of ghosts, or maybe a handful of related ones (like the Japanese variants). So if you had a haunting, you’d have to hope that you could find an investigator in your area that knew what they were looking at; and even after correctly identifying the ghost, you’d still have to call an appropriate exorcist to get rid of it.

What Tango, Imp, Skizz, and Joker did was streamline the process. They compiled all known information about every ghost variant, condensed it down into a few tell-tale signs, and kept all their equipment small and portable enough to fit into one vehicle. They could go wherever they needed to, whenever they needed to be there, correctly identify any kind of ghost, and get rid of it for good. It was quick, it was simple, it was relatively cheap, and all of the sudden JITS found themselves in high demand as the top ghost hunters in the nation.

After Tango’s accident (and whatever happened to Joker which I still haven’t figured out), Imp and Skizz kept running investigations on their own for a while before recruiting some fresh blood from the local college. Grian, Gem, and Scar all brought something new and valuable to the company; Gem is a nurse, Scar has a knack for radios and marketing, and Grian just has some weird sixth sense for identifying ghosts. The company rebranded to GIGGS, and the rest is history.

THE GHOSTS

In this AU, ghosts are sorted into four categories, depending on how dangerous they are if they catch you during a hunt. 

Iota Class - Safe, cannot hurt you Delta Class - Slightly dangerous, can be annoying Omicron Class - Very dangerous, can cause harm and/or injury Kappa Class - EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, can kill you

Below is a list of all the ghost variants sorted by their threat level, with extra information and exorcism methods. I did my best to take inspiration from each ghost’s local folklore, as well as their unique behaviors in the Phasmo game. The list is incomplete, so if you have any fun ideas for lore and exorcism methods for the remaining ghosts, feel free to suggest them!

Iota Class Iota Class ghosts are considered “safe”. No Iota Class ghost on record has been shown to cause bodily harm or adverse mental effects during a hunt. 

Myling - Scandinavian origin, the ghost of a child killed by its mother, exorcised by giving the ghost a name or finding the corpse and burying it in holy soil

Shade - shy ghost, exorcised by N/A

Delta Class Delta Class ghosts are considered “mildly dangerous”. Upon capturing a victim during a hunt, Delta Class ghosts can inflict mild unpleasant side effects such as headaches, nausea, and disorientation. 

Spirit - exorcised by performing proper funeral rites according to the deceased’s religious beliefs or lack thereof

Yurei - Japanese origin, exorcised by completing funeral rites or resolving the ghost’s unfinished business

Yokai/Obake - Japanese origin, supernatural spirits (Obake can shapeshift), exorcised by performing chinkon ritual to appease the ghost and turn it into a benevolent spirit

Omicron Class Omicron Class ghosts are considered “dangerous”. Upon capturing a victim during a hunt, Omicron Class ghosts can inflict serious damage such as bodily harm, unconsciousness, hallucination, and temporary insanity. 

Hantu - WARNING: CAN CAUSE HYPOTHERMIA, Malay origin, often the ghost of a woman who died in childbirth, exorcised by baiting with ancak—yellow glutinous rice, eggs, roasted chicken, rice flakes, and a doll—and hitting a nail into its head

Jinn - WARNING: CAN CAUSE HALUCINATIONS, Arabic origin, supernatural spirit, exorcised by using protective amulets and/or writing the name of Allah on the house

Moroi - WARNING: FASTER AS TIME GOES ON, Romanian origin, often the spirit of an unbaptized child, exorcised by N/A

Mimic - WARNING: CAN CAUSE DISCONNECT WITH REALITY, exorcised by reminding the ghost of their true identity (suggested by @coelacanthdownpour)

Oni - WARNING: CAN CAUSE BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA, Japanese origin, ogre or supernatural spirit, exorcised by throwing roasted soybeans and chanting “evil spirits out, good fortune in” in Japanese

Phantom - WARNING: CAN CAUSE TEMPORARY BLINDNESS, exorcised by locating and destroying something that contains the ghost’s image

Raiju - WARNING: CAN CAUSE ELECTRIC SHOCK AND BURNS, Japanese origin, lightning spirit, exorcised by N/A

Twins - WARNING: CAN BE IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE, exorcised by N/A

Wraith - WARNING: CAN WALK THROUGH WALLS, exorcised by trapping in salt circle and purging with incense

Kappa Class Kappa Class ghosts are considered EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. They have been shown to have the ABILITY and INTENT to KILL. Upon capturing a victim during a hunt, Kappa Class ghosts are known to possess their victims and force them to inflict serious and potentially fatal injury upon themselves. DO NOT ENGAGE. 

Banshee - WARNING: WILL NOT STOP PURSUING CHOSEN VICTIM, Irish origin, wailing woman who heralds death (sometimes a woman who was murdered or died in childbirth), exorcised by N/A

Deogen - WARNING: CAN LOCATE VICTIMS EVEN WHEN HIDDEN, slow when close to living person, exorcised by drying and cleansing the air with salt and iron fillings (suggested by @cometconmain)

Goryo/Onryo - WARNING: MALINTENT, Japanese origin, vengeful ghosts, exorcised by building a shrine and venerating them to appease their wrath

Mare - WARNING: CAN CAUSE SUFFOCATION, Germanic origin, woman who steals breath at night, exorcised by reciting German prayer that no mares bother this home until they have swum through all the water on the earth and counted every star

Poltergeist - WARNING: CAN CAUSE FATAL BODILY INJURY, Germanic origin, literally translated "noisy spirit", exorcised by baiting with bone, cursed item, or personal belonging and trapping in ghost box to be burned

Thaye - WARNING: MALINTENT, Burmese origin, ghost of an evil person, exorcised by N/A

Revenant - WARNING: VERY FAST AND VERY DEADLY, Celtic origin, person returned from the dead to torment the living, exorcised by beheading, removing the heart, and/or and burning the body

Demon - WARNING: THE MOST EVIL OF EVIL SPIRITS, exorcised by crucifixes and exorcism by a priest

MISC. WORLD RULES 

I’m setting this AU in roughly 1985, so the general state of technology, music, clothing, etc. is pretty much what was available in the mid 80s or earlier. I might bend the rules a little bit and borrow some stuff from the late 80s on occasion, but I’m trying to avoid it.

In this AU, death is not cheap. Kappa Class ghosts can and will kill you, and it’s permanent. There’s a possibility that the monkey paw and tarot cards can bring you back, but it’s risky, and you really don’t want it to come to that point. GIGGS has been careful (or lucky) enough to make sure no one has ever died on the job; Skizz has the highest number of “workplace injuries” in the company, but he has never been killed by a ghost. (Yet.)

Different kinds of ghosts can have different reasons for haunting a place. Sometimes they’re conjured up by summoning circles or use of black magic. (These often turn out to be Kappa Class.) Other times they’re the spirits of people who died unnatural deaths and came back to haunt their homes. And other times they’re simply local restless spirits that got cheesed off for one reason or another. The GIGGS team works closely with the police and reports any signs of criminal activity; it’s not uncommon that they’re dealing with the aftermath of murders. 

Ghost hauntings are about as common as termite infestations. Not everybody has them, but you probably know someone who did, and you know it was a big deal. If you asked, most people would tell you that they don’t believe in ghosts, but they’re still not going to go into the haunted house. Y’know. Just to be safe. Some people might raise an eyebrow at the GIGGS team, wondering how on earth they make a living off a fairy tale—but the second a Poltergeist is banging around the house and literal crap hits the fan, all of the sudden those weirdos in the van are exactly the people that everyone wants to see. 

SKETCHES

Imp and Skizz

GIGGS on the job (minus Skizz)

Mr. Tek

Giggsmobile

DIGITAL

GIGGS arm heart

Giggsmobile

Character profiles

COMICS

Pocket polaroids

FANFICS

Occupational Hazards

[1st Clip]

Zedaph: "You. Are. Mine, Tango!"

[2nd Clip]

Skizz: "That was... I remember feeling a little jealousy about that."

Impulse: "Yeah! Me too."

Skizz: "I did cuz he's like—"

Impulse: "I was like: 'Don't steal my Tango and don't steal my Evan! They're mine!'"