Ancestors are game characters who provide the player with Expressions, Cosmetics, and other Collectibles. All Ancestors are semi-translucent people who are much larger than Sky Kids (because they represent adults). There are several different types of Ancestors. This article summarizes and defines these different types; full details are provided on separate articles.
Ancestors should not be confused, however, with Children of Light -- who are child-size characters (same size as Sky Kids) and are a bright white or golden color.
Spirits[]
Spirits (sometimes called Ancestor Spirits or Ancient Spirits) are the most common type of Ancestor. They are found scattered throughout the game's Realms, as kneeling or sitting characters. A flame icon appears over a Spirit, allowing you to relive the Spirit Memories and learn that Spirit's Expression. Expression upgrades, Cosmetics, and other Collectibles can be purchased from a Spirit's Friendship Tree.
New Spirits (ones whose memory you have not relived) glow blue and are highlighted by a colored lens flare resembling a parhelion/sundog.
- Blue is used for Regular Spirits
- Orange is used for Current Season Spirits. An orange flare also highlights any current Traveling Spirit or Spirit who is featured in the Daily Quests, however the Spirit's body glows pale white or yellow instead of blue or gold if you have previously collected the Spirit's memory.
- Purple is used for all other past-Season Seasonal Spirits.
Once you have saved a regular Spirit, you can also find them standing by their gravestone in their Realm's social space.
Spirits can occasionally appear in places other than their Spirit memory or gravestone. Spirits can participate in Special Events -- where they might act as Guides from whom event items can be purchased; or, they might simply congregate to enjoy the festivities. One Spirit will show up at a Realm's Sapling for the Admire the Sapling Daily Quest. Spirits also watch performances at the Village Theater.
Gender[]
The Spirits are referred to with gender neutral pronouns in the original English version of the game. In other languages the game has been localized to, all Spirits are given a grammatical gender if the language necessitates it. This is not indicative of a Spirit's canonical gender, and only serves to follow a language's grammar rules properly.[1]
Certain characters, however, are referred to with gendered pronouns through in-game dialogue. Only the following characters have been referred to with gendered pronouns:
- The Rose from the Season of The Little Prince is referred to as "she" in seasonal quests.[2]
- The Little Prince from the same season is referred to as "he" in seasonal quests.[3]
- AURORA from the Season of AURORA is referred to as "she" in the AURORA Concert's prompt in Home.[4]
- The Herb Gatherer from the Season of the Nine-Colored Deer is referred to as "he" in a seasonal quest.[5]
Regular Spirits[]
The first Spirits encountered by new players are Regular Spirits. Regular Spirits are tied to specific Realms, and allow the Realm's Constellation be completed. They are the primary source of Expression upgrades (purchased using 
Candles) and cosmetics (purchased using 
Hearts).
Isle of Dawn
Daylight Prairie
Hidden Forest
Valley of Triumph
Golden Wasteland
Vault of Knowledge
Seasonal Spirits[]
Seasonal Spirits is a general term for all Spirits introduced by Seasonal Events.
All past-Season Spirits still appear in the game, but access to Seasonal Spirits is more restricted than Regular Spirits. Typically, new players must complete the game once (travel to the end of each Realm) before being able to relive the memories of past-Season Spirits. Even then, only the Spirit's base Expression is available -- other items cannot be purchased until the Spirit returns as a Traveling Spirit.
Gratitude
Lightseekers
Belonging
Rhythm
Enchantment
Sanctuary
Prophecy
Dreams
Assembly
Little Prince
Flight
Abyss
Performance
Shattering
AURORA
Remembrance
Passage
Moments
Nine-Colored Deer
Current Season Spirits[]
Seasonal Spirits who are part of the current Season are different from other Season Spirits. New players must progress far enough in the game to unlock the Seasonal content (but do not need to complete all Realms). Once saved, the current Season Spirits can be seen in the Season's Constellation, where players can access their Friendship Trees. Current-Season items are purchased exclusively with Season Candles; half of the items are exclusively available to Season Pass holders. These Friendship Trees are only available for the duration of the current Season; once the Season ends, it is no longer to purchase any upgrades or cosmetics from the Spirits (until they return as Traveling Spirits.
Traveling Spirits[]
Once every two weeks, one Spirit from a past Season returns as a Traveling Spirit. This is the only time when newer players can purchase upgraded Expressions and cosmetics from past-Season Spirits. The items available for purchase from Traveling Spirits are typically the same items they offered during their Season (including Season Pass-exclusive items), but they can be purchased using non-Seasonal currency. The currencies used by Traveling Spirits are effectively the reverse of Regular Spirits: Expression upgrades cost Hearts and cosmetics cost Candles.
Guides[]
Guides are Ancestors who provide access to Seasonal or Special Event content. They are found in various locations throughout Sky. They can be distinguished from standard Spirits by the fact that they are always standing (not kneeling/sitting), and they have a multiple-star icon allowing players to interact with them.
Most Guides are Season Guides, who act as Quest-givers for the Season Quests. During the Season, Ultimate Gifts can be purchased from Season Guides. Season Guides are separate characters from any of the Seasonal Spirits.
Special Event Guides, however, are frequently Spirits acting in a temporary role. You can interact with Event Guides even if you have not previously met the Spirit or relived their memories.
Elders[]
Elders are the Ancestors specifically found in the temples at the end of each Realm. The only interaction with Elders normally is watching a cutscene after lighting the temple's altar.
However, once a Realm's Constellation is completed, it is possible to interact directly with an Elder at Orbit and purchase their Elder Hair and Face Accessory.
See more information on the Elders page.
Auspicious Visitor[]
The Auspicious Visitor is an Ancestor who appears at Home during some Special Events to sell event specific-items. The visitor is found at the end of a pier that is temporarily added to Home, to the left of the outfit closets. Events featuring the visitor have included Days of Fortune and Days of Love.
The visitor first appeared during the Season of Gratitude, acting as the Season Guide. They are wearing the deer mask that was the Season's Ultimate Gift. The other Gratitude Seasonal Spirits generally appear on the pier along with the Auspicious Visitor, but you cannot interact with the other Spirits besides using friendship Emotes with them.
Sleepy Traveling Merchant[]
The Sleepy Traveling Merchant[6] and their boat appear in Home and Aviary Village during most Special Events, in between the outfit closets and the portal for the Isle of Dawn and in front of the Spell Shop in Aviary Village respectively.
The merchant's boat has containers where players can obtain various Blessings. Specifically there are containers for the Scroll Shop, the Potion Shop, and the Spell Shop (from left to right). These are the same shops found on the Forgotten Ark, but they are available even to players who have not restored the Ark. The Sleepy Merchant's shops and the Ark shops share the same inventory, meaning that if you buy all available copies of a Spell from the Sleepy Merchant, you cannot then obtain more of the Spell from the Ark.
Most events provide free Spells allowing players to try out the event cosmetics for 30 minutes. These Spells can be obtained from the Sleepy Merchant's Spell Shop (or equally the Forgotten Ark Spell Shop), in addition to the regular Spell shop inventory.
If thatskyshop has new items available for purchase, a meditation circle will appear next to the Sleepy Merchant's boat allowing players to access the shop.
The Sleepy Traveler can also be found sleeping in the back room of the Spell Shop in Aviary Village when there isn't an active event or That Sky Shop wave.
Trivia[]
- The Sleepy Traveling Merchant is depicted in several merch items from That Sky Shop. To know more about That Sky Shop products, visit their website: https://thatskyshop.com
References[]
- ↑ TGC Staff, Sagomay on Discord, said the following:
Hey all! I was scrolling past earlier and wanted to clarify something that looks like it’s been somewhat misunderstood at times. In our storytelling, we purposely do not announce what gender spirits and elders do or don’t have. We don't state their place on the gender spectrum, nor does the game say that they are canonically one thing or another or all of the above or none of the above. That is 100% up for each player to interpret however they like for whatever reason they like, and there is room for all interpretations on that matter. ❤️ I’ve seen that comment from Ktjn [TGC Staff], posted two and a half years ago, shared out of context, often framed explicitly or implicitly as a canonical statement. However, our non-definition of this aspect of spirits’ identities is the same now as it has been since the game launched.
This expands upon this official TGC Helpshift page regarding gender of spirits.
- ↑ During the Fourth quest in the Season of The Little Prince, the Little Prince says "I listened to my rose when she grumbled, or boasted... or even sometimes when she said nothing."
- ↑ During the First quest in the Season of The Little Prince, the story reads "Once upon a time there was a little prince who lived on a planet hardly bigger than he was, and who needed a friend..."
- ↑ The prompt reads, "AURORA's light grows brighter. It's time for her Musical Voyage. Would you like to travel there?"
- ↑ During the Third quest in the Season of the Nine-Colored Deer, the story reads "but the villager knew that he could be rewarded."
- ↑ https://thatgamecompany.helpshift.com/a/sky-children-of-the-light/?p=all&s=gameplay-features&f=who-is-the-sleepy-traveling-merchant-and-what-does-the-boat-in-home-do&l=en
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