‘Invisible City’: Dry Body Explained
Invisible City took the streaming world by storm. This fascinating series is heavily influenced and inspired by Brazilian folklore, and this is one thing that made it an instant hit. While most of us are more familiar with western legends and lore, having a series that deviates from that well-beaten path is intriguing and introduces us to various lesser-known mythologies. Invisible City is like that. It offered a fresh insight into the world of Brazilian folklore, and one of the “main villains,” so to speak, was a creature or rather a spirit called “Dry Body,” but what exactly is Dry Body, and how does it fit into the Brazilian lore?
“Dry Body” is a person who was, after death, cursed to wander the world forever instead of attaining eternal rest due to the unspeakable crimes that were committed while the person was alive. Dry Body appears as an entity with hollow bones, shriveled leathery skin, and long nails and hair, and it strikes fear into the hearts of the innocent. In Invisible City, Dry Body took on the form of a malevolent entity capable of possessing other living people.
Now that we’ve briefly covered what Dry Body is, it’s time to analyze it in more detail. If you’re interested in where the showrunners got the idea to include Dry Body in the series and whether the entity was killed at the end of the series, stay with us and keep reading!
Invisible City Season 1 introduced us to a new type of villain
Pink Dolphins, sirens, witches, hunters with flaming skulls. Those are just some of the creatures that we got to know during the first season of Invisible City. This elaborate storyline introduced us to a hidden world of Brazilian folklore and some of the creatures that it entails. While most of the supernatural creatures were supporting characters, and quite a lot has been revealed about them, one entity that’s been at the center of all happenings is an entity called “Dry Body.” Dry Body wasn’t explained all that much, I suppose, to keep the air of mystery around it. So what is Dry Body?
In the series, Dry Body is a malevolent spirit capable of possessing other living people. It can also be quite lethal since the entity managed to kill Curupira’s family, which led him to a path of rampage. Dry Body was once a man called Mr. Antunes who was killed by the keeper of the forest Curupira for his crime “committed” against nature. Dry Body is responsible for the death of Eric’s wife, Gabriela, and during the whole ordeal, the entity managed to possess his daughter as well.
A person possessed by Dry Body manifests certain “symptoms”
As we’ve seen numerous times over the course of the season, when Dry Body possesses a person, that person appears to have milky white irises. It also displays unimaginable cruelty and appears emotionless, even toward the people it usually cares about. As was seen when Eric failed to reach his daughter Luna when the Dry Body possessed her.
Dry Body was also responsible for the death of fish and vegetation, as it’s known that the entity has such an effect on the surrounding nature since it literally poisons the land with its menacing and hateful presence.
We don’t know whether Dry Body is dead in the show
In the last episode of the first season, we’ve seen that Eric tried his best to avoid being completely taken over by Dry Body. And he was successful for the most part. Instead of attacking his allies in the final moments, he decided to turn on himself and destroy the vessel of Dry Body, his own physical Body. Eric stabbed himself in the chest with a stake and died.
His “physical” death resulted in him being freed from Dry Body and transported to a place we can assume is purgatory. He met his wife, Gabriela, one more Dry Body victim there. It seems that all victims of Dry Body are stuck in this purgatory, and this might be yet another hint that the spirit has not been destroyed. It was simply forced to look for another vessel.
Even though we’ve seen Dry Body living in Eric’s Body, it’s impossible to very whether the entity is truly destroyed. This is something that we’re going to find out in the second season.
Dry Body has its real-world equivalent in Brazillian folklore
Dry Body was inspired by the so-called Corpo Seco or Unhudo in literal translation that would mean “Dry Corpse.” Dry Body is created when a man is so evil and commits atrocious crimes that neither god nor the devil can forgive him. His skin is shriveled, and he is unable to attain peace in the afterlife, so he leaves his grave and wanders the earth as a zombie. Dry Body has skeletal remains and dried, shriveled skin paired with long hair and nails that never stop growing. It terrifies innocent people, and its only purpose in life is to strike fear into the hearts of humanity.
It is said that a person can become a Dry Body after disrespecting parents or a priest. This seems a bit drastic, but considering the time during which this legend originated, it makes perfect sense.
Even though Dry Body is now mostly associated with Brazilian folklore, the entity was first mentioned in European and Portuguese mythology. From there, it spread along with some other aspects of Portuguese culture to Brazil.
And that’s about it. Now you know what Dry Body is. It’s a highly evil creature unable to attain rest after dying, cursed to wander the world forever. Even though the entity was seemingly destroyed during season 1, we might see it reappear in season 2.
