Bio on Shades

Regardless of their original appearance, Shades become very thin and pale after their transformation. Their eyes and hair became dark red: Their eyes are maroon, "as red as wine" and their hair was crimson, "as red as blood." Shades resembled humans in other ways, with lean bodies "like a runner's, thin and compact." Durza, one of only two known Shades, was noted for his height, and also for his nearly "translucent" skin. Shades could age, but this process was different to the aging seen in other species.

Since only an evil spirit would welcome the opportunity to enter and control the body of a living creature, Shades were altogether vile and cruel. Nevertheless, they are also intelligent and cunning, and skilled in magic and swordplay. They have gained a reputation of terror and dread among humans as dangerous monsters and sorcerers.

It is nearly impossible for a Shade to be good because of the inevitably evil nature of the spirit. The personality of the product Shade is an amalgam of the minds of the spirit and the spellcaster. Spirits can possess any creature. It is likely that there have been (or are) Shades of other genders and species.

Once created, Shades were extremely powerful and dangerous, among the most feared creatures in the world. In addition to sorcery, Shades were gifted with superhuman physical abilities, many times greater than the fittest humans. These abilities included supernatural strength, speed, stamina, pain tolerance, and unmatched senses: A Shade could see as clearly at night as they could during the day, track scents at great distances.

Perhaps their greatest ability was their resistance to death. A Shade could only be killed by being stabbed through the heart; otherwise, it would merely be temporarily disembodied, and would reappear elsewhere in spirit form before returning to a body, healed. This process was unpleasant for the Shade and extremely painful, but had no lasting consequences. According to Ajihad, Shades were actually strengthened from being disembodied.

All Shades could use magic. Usually only sorcerers became Shades, meaning they would already have experience in using magic when they came into being. It is likely that Shades would become sorcerers anyway after being possessed, because of the magical nature of the spirits controlling them. The True name of a Shade would incorporate the true names of the spirits within.

Because they possessed greater strength and stamina than any human, Shades were more powerful in magic than human magicians, and were able to cast spells that normally only elves could use, and for longer than a human without exhausting themselves. Shades were known to practice the darkest kinds of magic.

Shades were enormously difficult to kill. Only four people in the history of Alagaësia have ever killed a Shade and lived, and therefore been granted the title "Shadeslayer." One of these few was Eragon, who killed Durza with some help from Arya during the Battle under Farthen Dûr, and Arya, who stabbed Varaug in the heart with some help from Eragon during the Siege of Feinster.