Dybbuks

Dybbuks
Information
Home planet(s)	Earth
Language(s)	Unknown English
Characteristic(s)	Incorporeal Possessing

"What's a dybbuk?"

"It's the dislocated soul of a dead person. Someone so wicked that their spirit never crossed over."

—Zari Tarazi and Charlie^[src]

Dybbuks are a type of malevolent spirits from Jewish mythology. A dybbuk, who was originally the famous killer Mike the Spike, was a magical fugitive, who preyed on the citizens of New Orleans, and whose crimes were blamed on voodoo magic of Marie Laveau.

Overview

Dybbuks are incorporeal spirits of deceased individuals, so evil that they were unable to cross over to afterlife, whose natural presence resembles a moving gust of freezing wind, and is thus capable of making others feel its presence (for example, Zari Tarazi felt Mike the Spike's incorporeal from brushing against her back). To fully interact with the outside world however, dybbuks must possess an inanimate object, such as a doll.

History

Rory Regan referred to Prometheus as a 'dybbuk' after reviewing the S.T.A.R. Labs security footage Cisco Ramon had sent Team Arrow that showed the villain vanishing after breaking Laurel Lance out of the Pipeline.

Later, the Legends would encounter a real mischievous dybbuk that escaped from Mallus's realm into New Orleans, where it possessed dolls to kill people in mysterious ways. In a resulting temporal aberration, its crimes were blamed on Marie Laveau.

Known dybbuks

• Mike the Spike

Powers and abilities

Powers

• Enhanced agility: Dybbuks are able to make the dolls they possess jump at heights normally impossible for such objects.
• Enhanced strength: While possessing objects, dybbuks are able to show enhanced strength, normally impossible for such objects.
• Possession: Dybbuks need to possess other objects to fully interact with the material world.
• Self-propelled flight: Being incorporeal spirits, dybbuks can fly and float in thin air at their leisure.

Appearances

Arrow

Season 5

• "Who Are You?" (mentioned)

DC's Legends of Tomorrow

Season 4

• "Hell No, Dolly!"
• "Legends of To-Meow-Meow"
• "Lucha De Apuestas"
• "Terms of Service"
• "Hey, World!"

Behind the scenes

• Dybbuk comes from the Hebrew word that is pronounced similarly (דיבוק), and means "possession". Historically, it has been believed that malicious spirits and dislocated souls of the dead are possessing people who acted weirdly, as an attempt to explain their bizarre behavior.