Synonym: Shagh-toth (Minbari name) Type: humanoid Living conditions: unknown, optional oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere Life expectancy: unknown, very long Homeworld: unknown

Soul Hunters are about 2 meters high bold lifeforms with a very big head.  They are supposed to be immortal (which they are not) and develop great physical strength.

Soul hunters believe that the soul ends with the death of the body, unless it is saved by one of them.  Because they are drawn toward the moment of death, they travel to the place where it is to happen in order to save certain souls, but only outstanding ones - those of leaders, thinkers, poets and dreamers.  They regard themselves as preservers, who act only for the greater good.  The saved souls are stored in special glass containers and the owners of these collections regard the souls as their "children"; they even talk to them and never travel without them.

Other species in contrast accuse the soul hunter of stealing the souls - therefore soul hunters are one of the most feared and sometimes even despised species in the universe.  Many soul hunters know of the fear other beings feel for them and have generated especially an aversion for Minbari, a species who hinders them most often by surrounding the dying person with a wall of bodies.

 
History:

Soul hunters are a very old lifeform.  Although humans seem not to know of their existence, some of them have already visited Earth.  Nobody knows where the soul hunters come from, for they only appear when an important person is about to die.

In 2245 (?), a few soul hunters witnessed the disastrous first contact between Humans and Minbari.  Due to a misunderstanding, one of the Earth Alliance ships fired on the Minbari ships, causing the death of the Minbari leader Dukhat.  The other Minbari - especially Delenn - feared that "saving" his soul would harm their whole society - for they believe that each soul is reborn into the next generation - and prevented the present soul hunter from taking it.  This shamed his order and he became obsessed with the idea of rescuing Minbari souls - even by killing their "owners" prematurely.  Although his order attempted to stop him, he escaped.

In spring of the year 2258 he reached Babylon 5 and tried to kill Ambassador Delenn, but was stopped by Commander Jeffrey Sinclair who made Babylon 5 a prohibited area for soul hunters.

In 2262, another soul hunter arrived on Babylon 5. He was looking for a stolen orb full of souls and allowed on board by Captain Lockley. After being rescued by Lockley when the souls, freed of their prison, had tried to kill him, he sacrifized his life in order to save the station.