Panserbjorne - Spectres

Spectres are also known as the Spectres of Indifference. They are beings of spirit escaped from the void between universes. Most commonly, a Spectre is created from each new window opened by the Subtle Knife. They appear in the second and third volumes, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

Spectres feed upon the Dust that makes up a person's soul (their dæmon), leaving the person as a lifeless zombie-like entity who does not move. They are invisible to and do not harm pre-adolescents, as Dust has not yet settled upon them. When travelling, all human groups in Cittàgazze are required by law to contain a man and woman on horseback to flee and look after the young in the case of a Spectre attack. They are normally not air-borne, so air travel over Cittàgazze is the only safe means possible for an adult to cross the city. The Spectres are shown to be capable of flight under the influence of Mrs. Coulter (who causes them to forget that they are earthbound) and Stanislaus Grumman, as shown in Lee Scoresby's "dream" where Grumman sends a Spectre into the sky and it attacks one of the pilots of a zeppelin. Cittàgazze, a city infested with them, is bereft of adults and filled with gangs of children.

When the effects of a Spectre attack on a human are explained to Will, he hypothesizes that they, or similar creatures, may also exist in our universe and cause mental illness. This opinion is formed by the case of his mother, who seems to be suffering from paranoia and other symptoms resembling a disorder similar to schizophrenia.

Spectres cannot be killed by any physical means, although numerous methods of countering their attacks exist. Angels have some means of neutralizing Spectres, and ghosts are able to hold them in combat. Humans whose dæmons have been removed from them via intercision can pass them without being attacked, and humans can repel them with the Subtle Knife. Stanislaus Grumman uses his skills as a shaman to control one and send it onto a church zeppelin to attack the pilot, causing the craft to crash. Mrs. Coulter convinces a group of Spectres that following her command would give them more access to prey and is thus able to control them, and is able to make them "forget that they were earthbound" (so that they can fly). Consequently, at the end of The Subtle Knife, Will and Lyra's guard of witches is taken by surprise and most, if not all, have their Dust consumed by Spectres while flying.

During the final battle of The Amber Spyglass, Spectres fight against Lord Asriel's forces, cornering Lyra and Will's dæmons so as to eliminate the children who have been such thorns in Metatron's side, but are held back by ghosts (including Lee Scoresby and John Parry) while the children and dæmons escape to the Mulefa world.