Liminal being

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In speculative fiction and, loosely applied, in mythology, a liminal being is a fantasy character that combines two distinct states of simultaneous existence within one physical body. This unique perspective may provide the liminal being with wisdom and the ability to instruct, making them suitable mentors, whilst also making them dangerous and uncanny.

Many beings in fantasy and folklore exist in liminal states impossible in actual beings:

• both animal and human in form:
  • centaurs from classical mythology, among them Chiron, the mentor of Hercules.
• both human and spirit by blood:
  • Merlin, the son of a woman and an incubus^[1]
  • Abe no Seimei, legendarily attributed a human father but a kitsune (fox spirit) mother.
• both human and vegetable
  • The Green Man
• both alive and dead
  • ghosts, among them Tiresias, the dead seer whom Odysseus consulted in the underworld, in Odyssey
• both human and machine
  • In science fiction, liminal beings include cyborgs, such as The Bionic Woman
• hybrids
  • hybrids or adoptives torn between their human and alien nature, like Spock from Star Trek

[edit] See also

• Liminality
• Anthropomorphism
• Lycanthropy

[edit] References

• John Clute and John Grant, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy