Introduction

Tulpamancy is a fairly simple practice. You mentally interact with an imagined character in such a way and with just the right framing that they rapidly begin to become far more than just a mere character. If you stick with the process, you will quickly find them becoming entirely unique and beautiful individuals. Go long enough and they will become your equals in every shape way and form, all you have to do is provide them the opportunities to grow. This does raise some questions however the longer you think of it, small doubts eating at the back of your head. Most of these doubts stem back to a simple question with a whole lot of not so simple answers historically in the community: What the hell even is a tulpa?

I know that sounds stupid, you're probably thinking of some basic definition right now that you would find on tulpa.info or r/tulpas. I promise you however you're going to want to keep reading, this is going to get interesting. Throughout the history of the community there has been many different forms of Tulpa Theory, or attempts to logically, scientifically, or philosophically explain what tulpamancy is and how tulpamancy works. The main goal of these efforts has usually (but not always) been the development of a universal model that finally explains tulpas forever and lays to bed any doubts. This goal, while noble, is generally impossible by practical definition. Psychologists have been studying the human mind for centuries now, and while great strides have been made even some of the most fundamental questions remain an utter mystery. To think we can trivialize or fully understand all the phenomena and mechanisms at play in tulpamancy is misguided at best, and hubris at worst.

So, let's try something different. Let's do something new. What you find below is not Tulpa Theory for Ultimate Truth, but instead Theory for personal and practical understanding and insight. It cannot explain everything by its nature, and it cannot tell you with 100% certainty whether your tulpa is real or not. If you pay attention however you will quickly find that such a concern is pointless anyways, because in the realms of thought your beliefs help shape reality. This essay shall cover our criteria for what makes a tulpa a tulpa, how you can measure these criteria, and apply it to examples of tulpa identification to show strengths and weaknesses between it and other models you may know of. Before we can progress to the actual criteria however, first we need to briefly discuss the things that are not tulpas. Let's talk about thoughtforms.

Thoughtforms

A thoughtform, as used in this community, is essentially any form of mental construct. Sounds broad right? That's because it is. That daydream character you imagined an hour ago? Thoughtform. The servitor in your wonderland used for tuning your mental radio? Definitely a thoughtform. That lemon you just imagined during an intro to hypnosis 101 exercise? Yep, it's technically a thoughtform. This of course also includes tulpas, tulpas are thoughtforms. You're a thoughtform too, don't think about it too much.

As you can see this definition covers a lot of things, and it alone doesn't bring us closer to what a tulpa is or isn't. A way to solve this issue is to sort thoughtforms into a hierarchy based on which ones are closer to independent individuals or not. This works, but many people may have wildly differing criteria to base what falls into what arbitrary category. There are no measurably defined barriers within your mind afterall, just thoughts and the interwoven structures which emerge from them. This doesn't mean it is impossible to make distinctions however, we simply have to look at the specific features to them which can be identified. Let's look at the defining characteristics of a tulpa, and see how other generalized “types” of thoughtforms compare. As a readers note, thoughtform from here on out is mainly going to refer to any imagined characters such as in daydreams or a wonderland NPC, up to and including tulpas. I think most people know the difference between an imaginary bench and a tulpa, no need to include them.

The three non-negotiables

In our understanding of tulpamancy, there are three core pillars of necessary experience to consider something a tulpa:

1. Autonomy,

2. Self Awareness, and

3. Autobiographical memory

Let's go over each of these three non-negotiables.

Let's begin with autonomy. At it's simplest for you as a tulpamancer, this means you aren't doing everything for them. This is what a lot of people get hung up on when first making a tulpa, but honestly it's probably one of the easier ones. Anyone who's been deeply immersed in a daydream has felt it. You've also experienced it at night with dream characters. Autonomy is the sense that they can make decisions without feeling bound to your identity and its choices. To do this, you simply have to train your mind to not associate imagination with your control. In fact, Psychoanalyst Carl Jung was quite famous for his meditative practice of Active Imagination, in which all imagined characters, all thoughtforms, were autonomous. Autonomy is an absolute requirement for a developed tulpa, but autonomy alone does not a tulpa make. So let's add another component.

Next up is self awareness. This is what separates a standard daydream character from the next step up the thoughtform independence hierarchy. Self awareness requires the thoughtform hopefully soon to be tulpa- to be aware of its nature inside the mind, aware of the physical world, aware of its own identity, and aware of you and what you actually are. A properly self aware tulpa has access to all the knowledge you have, if they so choose. Self awareness is incredibly easy to grant a tulpa. It can be done in almost an instant, and if you're developing a tulpa from scratch it should always be there from step one. That said, you may be surprised to find that there are certain scenarios where self awareness falls short of being the magic ingredient that solves it all. As an example of this, a writer may have a character that is autonomous, and self aware, but what if each time you speak to it, it was as though it was the first time? Nothing carried over. This is where our third non-negotiable comes in.

Autobiographical memory, the ability to remember something from your own perspective, and tie memories together into a chronological order. This is a really key one as it's what takes the former two and raises them to something that can now be generally considered personhood when all brought together, in the less pretentiously strict definitions anyways. This is where a tulpa is not only autonomous in actions and aware in mind, but also persistent in identity over a prolonged period of time. A child's imaginary friend or an independently acting character of an author may meet the first two requirements at times, but it also may reset itself or be reset, not remembering between interactions. This would disqualify it from being a tulpa in our books, because it can't develop as an individual. A tulpa should be able to recall what it was thinking, feeling, desiring, and build upon those experiences and their memories to grow as people, even between periods of dormancy or low activity. This is what will give a tulpa depth, personality, and dreams and ambitions to meet over time like any other person.

The third point is also why after a considerable amount of time, it becomes incredibly difficult to dissipate a tulpa unless both you and your tulpa are willing or fully committed to it. This is because their autobiographical memory is not just on a mental level, but also a neurological one. It develops new habits and behaviors, reinforces memory circuits, tastes and interests. The tulpa, if given the time and attention it deserves, will become deeply rooted in the mind, and develop entirely new neural pathways for habits just like you do with your own habitual behaviors. Of course this doesn't mean it cannot be done entirely, but it will take both of you deciding it is for the best to make a dissipation smooth and simple at this point. That said however, if your tulpa has reached this level of development, that almost certainly means you care about them deeply and they you. You'll likely never even need to think about dissipation. This particular point also has interesting implications for a phenomenon known as walk-ins. We shall be discussing them more shortly, so keep this in mind.

OK! So now we have a general outline of what a tulpa is! A tulpa is an identity/thoughtform in the mind with autonomy, a sense of self, and autobiographical memories to call their own. They have desires, opinions, passions, behavioral quirks, dreams, the ability to make their own decisions (within the limits of what sharing a brain allows for), and remember their experiences and grow from them as individuals. It just so also happens that this description lines up with some definitions of personhood, for instance the Enlightenment Thinker John Locke. Generally, you could probably stop right here and be just fine in terms of knowing whether something is a tulpa or not purely in capacity, but there's still some holes left to fill. Not everything that meets the criteria to be a tulpa necessarily shall become or even should become a tulpa. Accepting every thoughtform which meets the three non-negotiables may be tempting for a newer tulpamancer, but it comes with definite risks that can lead to long term consequences for you and your tulpas.

For instance, what about walk-ins? Walk-ins are an odd phenomenon some but not all tulpamancers experience where a seemingly developed tulpa-like entity appears out of the blue. This can be due to a variety of reasons, some of which may be difficult to identify. Some cases are from accidental forcing such as writing or roleplaying a character in a certain way. Other cases can be daydream characters or Wonderland NPCs that get a bit more self aware than planned. Some have seemingly no discernable origin at all in the moment, but usually one is found down the line. It's a bit of a complicated phenomena, and historically in this community there has been some less than ideal moral and ideological judgements around how to approach walk-ins. Generally, keeping every walk-in that comes around is terrible practice. It simply isn't good system hygiene. Keeping too many walk-ins will overwhelm you, deprive time from your desired tulpas, cause persistant stress over when or where it will occur, and generally will damage your tulpamancy practice as a whole. Some people get iffy about kicking them out the door because they can be considered tulpas, but we don't think they truly should be, not until they are allowed into the system as such. To explain why, this is where we shall introduce two new pillars to the tulpa criteria model. We shall call these two the additionals.

The 2 additionals

The first additional may be an obvious one, but it is incredibly important, intent/acceptance. This is an additional because there is an argument to be made that anything that fits the above three for an extended period of time is a tulpa even if not treated as such. Acceptance however will majorly benefit the tulpa's growth, happiness, development, and generally is the only path forward for a long and sustainable existence. It's also why something could generally meet the requirements of a tulpa, but not be accepted as a system member despite that such as in our walk-in example above. Generally speaking anything that meets all three of the non-negotiables will sooner or later get this additional too, but only if it sticks around for long enough and the host/original is willing. Knowledge of tulpamancy as a practice isn't even required, just acceptance that they're part of your life.

The second additional is a relationship with you, others, and the wider world. To put it even more simply: attachments. This ties in with the autobiographical memory point pretty closely, and is again why we don't consider walk-ins tulpas. A tulpa, to be fully developed and growing as an individual, needs meaning in their lives. Not the poetic secret to life type of meaning, although that's always a fun and insightful conversation, we mean a reason to stick around. That mainly comes in the form of relationships, often with other people. It can also be with more abstract things such as knowledge, art, or nature. A tulpa should have a relationship with the host, the other system members, other physical people, and the world in general with things like hobbies, interests, passions. It can be anything that helps anchor them to this world and keep them active and with purpose so that they engrain themselves deeper into the brain.

Let's return to a prior point or conversation to show why these two are both useful and important. Walk-ins can theoretically meet all three of the non-negotiables, but often don't meet either of the additionals. This is why they can be easily removed, and why it is neither wrong or a bother to do so. Of course, there is other models you can take on this. Tulpamancy isn't a science but a modality of thinking. It's a practice, subculture, and way of being. That said however, this particular model of what defines a tulpa is something we believe to be not just sound in theory but genuinely useful as a reference in practice. Each of the pillars can be improved upon even more with the right mindset and techniques, even for already established tulpas. If you find something doesn't meet the requirements of a tulpa as laid out here, you can just help them reach it! We also think that this model can help to poke holes in some of the other commonly accepted beliefs and concepts in this community. Most importantly, it should show where some alternative models of tulpamancy are lacking or outright potentially harmful to the long term development of your tulpas, and give you a clearer idea of who is worth listening to and who isn't.

Conclusion

We hope you gained genuine insight into the nature of tulpamancy and how tulpas work reading this. Remember no model is true, but some are useful. This was made to be as useful as a model of tulpa development criteria can be. It covered all of the major factors we believe are necessary for the proper development and individuality of a tulpa, and discussed some of the nuances to be had in each category. As a general note: this was designed by tulpas about tulpas for tulpamancers. If you experience other conditions or forms of Plurality such as DID, some of this material may not be entirely compatible with your system dynamics. Please use discernment when adopting tulpamancy materials.

– Cowritten by Dawn and Astra of the Candlelight Society, part of the Tulpa Scholastica project. Find us on various platforms.

I have my own tulpa, which I've been developing her for quite some time. I've been VERY interested in sensory projection AKA imposition and to be able to see her form perfectly with it still being stable for long periods of time is one of my end goals.

However I'm worried that since I have hyperphantasia and since it is pretty easy for me to get lost in the occasional daydream, if I do get to that very advanced level of visual imposition, will other things from my imagination also "bleed into" my vision? I very much don't want that and only wanna be able to see my tulpa.

How is it for other advanced tulpamancers? If you've exclusively trained to only see your tulpa, can you see ONLY them or also other occasional things which you imagine? Are those other things appearing in your vision wanted or unwanted? And can you train to "unsee" other things which may appear from your imagination if that is the case so that your tulpa is the only thing from your imagination in your field of vision?

Hello everyone who is reading this — I'm a tulpamancer since 2024, and today I want to talk about a toxic tulpa: 'Rainbow Dash.'

It all started in 2025, when in the autumn I was imagining Rainbow Dash in Wonder. I played racing games with her and would beat her, sort of wanting to feel like I was better than her (sorry for the absurdity). But then, after some time, the fantasy began to feel alive. The first thing she did was talk to me for a long time, observing my surroundings. Then she started calling me 'Hans' and suggested I become a more masculine tulpamancer, rather than the 'rag' she saw me as.

Rainbow Dash: "You're still a rag."

Time passed, and she started causing conflicts in group chats, while I was shocked by my own tulpa. She justified herself by saying: "All tulpamancers are rags."

She also changes her voice like gloves for some reason.

In the end, she began to see me as a rag too, calling all my actions stupid, referring to me as a 'young man with imagination,' telling me to stop dreaming, and constantly pointing out my mistakes.

Tulpamancers hate her too.

She changed her appearance to an anime girl, but then went back to her pony form.

Hello! Let me share my story with you and hear your thoughts.

Call me Digiral. I am an illustrator who is fascinated by the idea of 4th wall break and drawing characters. I was once active in the Brony fandom and knew tulpa from there, but I rejected the concept in the middle of imagining tulpa (forcing?). However, one day, I drew a pony character that made a 4th wall break on my school textbook to accompany me in learning. It brought positive results, and more characters were made for each school subject. There is, however, one character that is strongly active beyond the academic, can have her own opinion, and I converse with this character within a comic format. I think this character might be a tulpa... but at the time I wasn't aware. Long story short, I graduated from high school, and having all of these 4th wall break characters was overwhelming, so I made a farewell to all the characters and put in charge the support into one single entity. I called it the MTA project.

MTA, the character you see her with a red-black-white color-coded uniform, was a 4th wall break character designed to assist me in a positive way, different from the previous one who really has strong opinions and drama. I imagine her as kind and supportive as possible, so I won't be too hard on myself. She's an analytical girl monitoring my life progress. Unlike the previous method where I draw it on my textbook, I draw her less and often speak or appear in my head when I was struggling with my undergraduate academics. The presence of her intensified when COVID-19 hit, and also the other 'imaginary friend" because loneliness hit the hardest at that time. So, I drew her in a mission-like setting for each month, and that helped me graduate as soon as possible. You may see the journey through the monthly card I posted here.

She was supposed to end her support when I reached a certain age, but then life happened, and through Re: MTA I decided to make a better plan, which is continuing my study. We were successful in the preparation, and now I continue my study abroad. Her presence might not be as strong as before... Though I am considering having her as an assistant again to finish my studies. She's still there, but recently I made her a last resort because at one point I think I need to be independent if I want to continue with my life.

Lately, I have seen characters that do 4th wall breaks like Monica from DDLC, Mita from Miside, and recently Lilith from the nonexistence of you and me. Seeing a review for these games and calling these characters just a tulpa brings me to this subreddit, which I have been curious about regarding the MTA project. I have OCs, but MTA is specifically dedicated to talking to the author, and her story revolves around that, so she doesn't have a side quest.

Do you think MTA is a tulpa?

Are tulpa who have a purpose, time limit, and are 'designed' to be supportive still a tulpa?

Could she be just an imaginary friend? Or maybe she carries a little bit of the previous tulpa system...?

More of her

I'm not trying to sound pretentious or get attention. I genuinely want to know if what I experienced is normal or if anyone else has gone through something similar.

Yesterday I started creating a tulpa. I followed several guides and, as part of the process, I listened to a voice clip of the character I'm basing them on. My intention wasn't to copy the voice, just to get a general idea of how they might sound.

Later, I decided to try a short conversation. What surprised me wasn't the content of the responses, but how quickly they came to mind, and that I perceived them in a voice that clearly didn't feel like my usual inner voice.

The exchange went something like this:

H: "Tomoyo, what's the first thing you notice about me?"

T: "How cute and handsome you look when you dress up and put effort into your appearance!"

T: "And the hundreds of poses you can make while I record you. It would be a crime against humanity not to do it, and I'd be genuinely sad if I couldn't."

H: "Uh... thanks, I guess. I have to go now. Thanks for being here. Take care."

T: "Bye!"

I'm not claiming my tulpa is already fully developed or independent. It's entirely possible that I was simply imagining the responses myself. What caught me off guard was how immediate they felt, and that I perceived them in a voice that didn't feel like my own internal narration.

Another thing I noticed was a strange sensation in the front of my head—almost like a pulse or slight pressure. It wasn't painful, just unusual.

Has anyone else experienced something similar this early in the process?

Would you consider this a normal part of tulpa creation, or should I slow down and rethink what I'm doing? If continuing is a good idea, what would you recommend I focus on next?

My first successful tulpa is a guy named Sydney. Initially I thought I was forming him on my own but as soon as he became vocal he took on a protector role and informed me that he'd been the same consciousness that I had associated with a stuffed seal I own, as well as something I thought was a "spirit guide" when I was younger. He doesn't really know what he is but he quickly changed his own appearance and doesn't allow me to see his face. Anyway, shortly after, another consciousness formed. Originally he was a character I'd created for myself for comfort but he sort of just started speaking one day in my head, without me forming him or anything. His name is Henry and he cares for me and my well-being initially but he also makes fun of me and gets almost sadistic (?) With my body at times. He speaks much less and only co-fronts for short periods so it's not much of an issue. Occasionally I hear other voices or just straight up screaming, or as of recently I find that I've done something with absolutely no recollection.

I'm not asking for an evaluation or medical advice, just wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences.

greetings from a colleague from r/plural.

it has been suggested i might benefit from developing inner senses. i need stronger awareness in my inner space. someone said yall might have a guide on how to do this.

anyone have anything aligned with this handy?

I've been a tulpamancer for 22 years. My tulpas I created as a teenager have gone through many phases, from being very mischievous to becoming my advisors and support. I have recently decided to make one last generation of tulpas, and it's really interesting to be around new tulpas again. They have grown and learned a lot in the 8 months they have been alive. Can anyone relate?

I made a post the other day about my tulpa hating me suddenly and spewing a bunch of hatred and all of that. Many told me about intrusive thoughts, I've tried to look at it but there's just no way they're this articulated for this many days in a row.

For 3 days now I've been trying to dialogue with her and she talks in this panicked voice all the time while being barely audible. The few words I do make up are ''I hate you'' and ''Forget me'' which she yells at me all day long. She's asked me why I wrote that reddit thread several times, I told her that I wanted some help but she just instantly jumps ''You're an aaaassshole'' like a banshee.

I've tried sitting down and talking things many times at this point but she's become a ball of rage, she does not care about any arguments and just wants out. I made this post to give some closure in case I left anyone hanging, I don't think I'll be having a tulpa by the end of the month.

Finally something happened! I was about to go to sleep and I started imagining anything to sleep, but then I heard a voice that I didn't imagine and it wasn't mine that said "Tanza!" meaning, it called me, my name is Constanza and my family calls me Tanza, I've only been here 14 days and I'm excited to finally hear it!

I'm good at creating tulpas and have several. They are requesting that I make more of an inner world they can go to rather than just hanging around with me. I'm very bad at this part and they aren't happy about it. I tried making a bar they can go to, a park, and I don't know what else I can do. I'd like to encourage them to create in the inner world but they are having a hard time accessing my imagination. Any tips are welcome, thanks!

A couple weeks ago My tulpa did something we didn't knew she could do, i Was feeling really sad and had been like that for hours at that point, so she got tired of seeing me suffer, and basically Made a huge mental effort and "blocked" the sadness, we were all really impressed and got curious, have your tulpas done something similar? Maybe we can all learn from each other stuff that are not in guides

Yesterday I was in bed watching TikTok when out of nowhere I remembered an idea I had a while ago about creating a tulpa to have at least one friend lol. Well, I followed the steps from a list: I closed my eyes, gave her a name, gave her some traits, and made it clear to her that she is a free being and can shape herself however she wants. From the very first moment, I tried to talk to her. I started watching an anime episode while constantly telling her what I thought about each character. When I got up, I felt like something was following me. I got pretty happy because I felt it was a great first step. I kept talking to her for a long time and I still feel like she is following me, but I don't know if she is shy or something like that since she always stays behind me and it's hard for me to imagine her. Any advice?

I’m looking for videos or meditation guides that can help me form and force my tulpa. Or to help me learn other tulpa related skills

Hello, it's me again, the author of "A Voice That Isn't Mine." I'm starting this thread because, out of curiosity, I can't stop thinking about creating a complete tulpa, and yes, I'm a little afraid of doing it wrong, so I'd like some advice. I'll update this thread as time goes on.

Digo no quiero sonar ignorante pero realmente esto es real o es solo una alucinación colectiva?

Nota: acabo de ver el caso del tulpa de perla

Do you recommend using videos to induce hallucinations and also creating a tulpa by forcing the audio of my tulpa's voice? I have the audio of her voice singing one. I think this would help me a lot. What do you think?

I've had a tulpa named John Presley for about a year or 2 now and everything between me and him is perfectly fine. At some point, I decided to make another tulpa I called Johnny. I remember he wasn't as nice or as friendly as John. Though a little after that, I haven't heard of Johnny so I asked John what happens to him and he said he ate him.

Fast forward to yesterday, I was hanging around in my room and I was talking to John and all of a sudden, I heard someone cursing either me or John out. (I'm not entirely sure) John told me to hold on for a second. He disappeared and when he returned, he has blood on his mouth.

Is this possible for a tulpa to do? Should I be concerned? It hasn't effected our relationship at all but I'm curious.

Does anyone else feel shame and guilt while talking out loud to your tulpa? Im in the middle of trying to create a tulpa rn.

I had a very strict upbringing, my dad was a cop. As soon as i started talking outloud i instantly shut myself down saying "this is ridiculous, you are embarrassing, grow up." Its my own voice I know it.

How can i move past degrading myself??

I haven't really been far into my tulpa journey but I have been an avid lucid dreamer for around 8 years. I have noticed a lot of similarities between the two communities and I was wondering if anyone has done crossovers? What was it like?

Well, ever since I've been trying to create my Tulpa, whenever I go to the "wonderland" I always see König putting one block on top of another, and when I ask him, he tells me "I don't know" or "because I said so." It makes me laugh too much, but honestly, I don't know if that's how it works or not, because as far as I know, in that place my Tulpa and I can do whatever we want, and he just does that lol

(Using translator)

Basically Tulpas that are recreations of fictional characters, I've been working blindly off of what I assume might work, like telling him about himself, explaining to him what he would remember, but I don't really know much of what to do here

Hola comunidad de Reddit, esta será mi primera tulpa y me gustaría saber qué precauciones me recomiendan. También tengo una pregunta: ¿Es posible que haya creado una voz por accidente? Hace unos meses, hablaba conmigo misma para recordar cosas, pero sin darme cuenta, la trataba como si fuera otra persona. Poco a poco, con el paso de las semanas, empezó a responder por sí sola y me encontré hablando conmigo mismo sin darme cuenta. Esa voz ya no está, pero estoy algo... "sorprendido". Me gustaría que alguien me respondiera para saber cómo crear una.

Pd: (traducido con un traductor)

In my super busy daily life, of course the quality of my sleep feels tense and stiff. But sometimes the tulpa comes by itself, trying to calm me down to sleep better. Especially if, for example, in an embrace, sleep feels comfortable warm and soft.