Soul Taker

The Soul Takers (魂の収穫者 (ソウル・テーカ), Rei no Shūkakusha; literally "Harvester of Souls") were said to have been the "original", proceeding that of the balancers that came after and subsequently founded the , an organization of Shinigami devoted to protecting the cycle of life and death. It is still unclear when it was that they were replaced by the current Shinigami but it is held in historical accounts that the takers were extremely selfish beings that took advantage of their duties to reap the souls of humans far before they were naturally destined to die, luring them down paths that ensured their demise and then reaping their souls, in order to become more powerful by taking away the energy accumulated during their lifetime while leaving behind the core shell of the spirit so as not to disturb the flow of souls. However, over the centuries, certain Shinigami had begun to grow attached to the humans they encountered, wishing for them to continue living well past the age humans in the mortal world were expected to survive until, and thus a new faction of Shinigami emerged that opposed the practice of soul harvesting, eventually banishing those who clung to the old ways.