Phantom (The Spirits Within)

The Phantoms are ghosts of an aggressive, extraterrestrial race in Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. Initially thought to be a race of alien invaders arriving on Earth on a large chunk of meteorite known as the Leonid Meteor, the Phantoms consumed the spirit of every living thing they touched and forced the life on the planet to near extinction before they were defeated through the combined efforts of Doctor Aki Ross, Dr. Sid, Gray Edwards and the Deep Eyes.

Physiology
Invisible to the naked eye, Phantoms can only be seen through the use of specialized bio-etheric equipment. The body of a Phantom can also be charged by an external source, momentarily rendering it visible. Originally solid, their ghost-like bodies can go through any solid medium and if this medium happened to be a living being, the Phantom will extract the being's soul and consume it. Dr. Sid's research discovered that the mass number of the Phantom populace remained constant; that a Phantom will reappear when killed.

Types
Standing at around three meters in height, these Phantoms are the type most commonly encountered. They possess a bio-organic, tentacle-like weapons on their arms that they wield like whips to ensnare or impale a victim. Large flying serpent-like predators, these phantoms possess tentacle-like appendages which they use to impale or entrap group-based victims and draw the prey to their mouths. Originally these Phantoms were created as bio-engineered tanks, however over time they grew wild and became part of the Phantom planet’s echo system. Like the average Phantom, the Meta-Phantom possesses tentacle-like appendages over its body and on a turret-like appendage on its back. It is notoriously difficult to kill with non-artillery weaponry. The Proto-Phantom is the phantom from which all other Phantoms emerge. Originally residing within the Leonid Meteor, the Proto-Phantom emerged after the meteor was destroyed by the Zeus Cannon and continued to grow with each consecutive attack, attempting to consume Gaia.
 * Phantoms:
 * Flying-Phantoms:
 * Meta-Phantoms:
 * Proto-Phantom:

Demeanor
The Phantoms were a hostile race, even more so in death. It is perhaps due to the nature of their death that they remain aggressively hostile, actively pursuing any living organism.

Architecture and Technology
In life, the phantom race used biological technologies which were shown to be used in war in the form of tentacle-like weaponry, animal-like machines and mollusc-like transports. In death their weapons carried over to the nether realm with them, to be used against the living.

Story
When the Leonid Meteor fell on Earth and sudden worldwide deaths occurred, the blame was placed on a new type of virus. Many living things suddenly died across the world — thousands of plants and animals species — disrupting the natural cycles. Dr. Sid and his team of researchers in the scientific institute of Bio Etherium were the ones who revealed the existence of Phantoms, and thanks to the advancement of bio-etheric technology six years later, the United States Military Forces (USMF) began its campaign against the Phantom invasion. Bio-etheric weapons were developed, and barrier cities were erected as defense against the invasion.

Trivia

 * Described by one artist as his favourite vehicle in the movie, the Phantom Transporter self-destructs by crashing itself into the enemy, the Phantoms inside are kept safe from the shock by a protective jelly.
 * A group of artists, aptly named "The Phantom Team", created and animated all of the phantom creatures. There was no motion capture used for the Phantom animations.
 * The Whale-Phantom is a monolithic phantom that is only seen in the pre-production version of the Tucson Wasteland.