WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Spiritfarer.
As the Spiritfarer, Stella meets a variety of spirits that are on their way to the afterlife. However, before they are ready to pass through the Everdoor, Stella must help these souls complete certain tasks. Throughout the game, players will develop relationships with these characters, making it hard to let them go when the time comes.
However, not all of Spiritfarer's characters are equally lovable. While some offer heart-wrenching stories and powerful character arcs, some are easier to say goodbye to, and others aren't particularly memorable. Here are all 11 spirits ranked from worst to best.
Elena
In addition to probably being the last character you'll unlock, Elena is the last on this list. During her life, Elena was a strict and pedantic teacher who challenged students but struggled to connect with them. She is similarly hard to connect with in-game, as she's the one character who refuses to hug Stella, even getting a negative mood modifier if you try. Elena views Stella as another one of her students, though one with potential. Completing her goals involves a variety of frustrating challenges. Using late-game skills helps, but it doesn't make Elena any more empathic as a character.
Giovanni
Giovanni is saved from the bottom spot only by his Everdoor scene. Aside from that, he is easily the most frustrating and unlikable character in the game. A boastful man who celebrates his own bad puns, Giovanni went through his life charming anyone and everyone, breaking his wife Astrid's heart in the process. However, Giovanni's final moments are particularly powerful. He admits that he was a flawed person, but he loves Stella, and that love will continue even after he's gone. While it doesn't make up for his past behavior, Giovanni's parting words are a reminder of what Spiritfarer is all about.
Bruce & Mickey
Bruce & Mickey are brothers that do everything together, though the hummingbird Bruce is the one who does all the talking. Bruce is incredibly ungrateful and difficult to please right up to the end, when he berates you for "incorrectly" bringing him exactly what he asked for and choosing to go through the Everdoor rather than deal with your supposed incompetence. However, the times where you can see behind Bruce's facade paint him as a sympathetic character. His bond with Mickey trumps everything else, and his tendency to speak on his behalf stems from an inability to accept that his brother is gone even if his body is still alive.
Gustav
Though he can come off as snooty and intellectual, the art curator Gustav is another character with a memorable Everdoor scene. Gustav is an Existentialist who believes that life has no inherent meaning, something that makes lots of people uncomfortable. However, Gustav also believes that we can create purpose and meaning for ourselves through art and creation, an idea that is quite powerful.
Summer
Though she falls in the middle of this list, Summer is not a bad character. She isn't openly rude or hostile, but she isn't the most memorable either. A peaceful woman who loved Stella's Aunt Rose, Spiritfarer - The Artbook reveals that Summer was the one who inspired Stella to become a nurse. Her connection to the earth and spirituality provides Stella with a useful method of speeding up plant growth, and her fight against the dragons is a great metaphor for her cancer battle. However, as an early-game character who'll probably be one of the first you take to the Everdoor, she doesn't leave the same impression that others do.
Alice
Alice is a sweet old lady whose storyline especially resonates with players who have watched a loved one suffer from dementia. As the game goes on, it becomes clear that Alice's well-being is deteriorating. She needs help moving around the boat, and she becomes increasingly forgetful, even mistaking Stella for her daughter. Alice is the one character who doesn't even know what's happening when you bring her to the Everdoor, making the idea of her finally finding peace just as comforting as the situation is tragic.
Buck
Buck is a unique character, as he's the only one you can't take through the Everdoor. The artbook reveals he's the one spirit that Stella didn't know during her life, as the rest were family members or patients she encountered as an end-of-life care nurse. Instead, Stella learned about Buck through her sister, who was friends with him before his untimely death during their teenage years. Because he's already passed through the Everdoor, he can't go again. Instead, he stays on the boat until Stella is ready to go herself, making him, in a way, another Spiritfarer.
Additionally, Buck is a fun character to interact with. His room and dialogue options contain pop-culture references to things like Lord of the Rings and The Witcher, and he speaks as if in the middle of a Dungeons & Dragons session.
Gwen
As the first spirit Stella meets after becoming the Spiritfarer, Gwen is a memorable and helpful character who guides Stella early on in her journey. The two were lifelong friends, with Gwen acting as a big sister to Stella.
Gwen is a complex character whose upper-class upbringing is apparent, though that doesn't keep her from showing affection to Stella. While on the boat, she is working through her complicated relationship with her father and dysfunctional family life. This involves visiting her parent's house before she is ready to move on. Gwen's backstory not only informs her character, but it also sets the tone for what the rest of the game entails.
Astrid
Another grandmotherly figure, Astrid comes with what is perhaps the longest arc of the game. When Stella first meets Astrid, she is leading a group of workers rising up against a terrible CEO. Later, you learn that Astrid and her family hid children during a war, heavily implied to be World War II, which is likely the source of her political convictions.
After joining Stella, Astrid begins searching for her husband, Giovanni. Despite his infidelity, she is willing to forgive him so long as he promises to behave, but when he breaks her trust again, she leaves him for good. Still, Giovanni's decision to go through the Everdoor leaves her conflicted. While she discovers her own self-worth and is finally able to cut ties with a man who was never worthy of her, his loss brings her no joy.
Atul
Stella's Uncle Atul is easily the most upbeat and friendly character you'll encounter in Spiritfarer. A jovial man who is easy to please with food since he loves everything and dislikes nothing, Atul is kind, compassionate and easy to love. His final mission even involves setting up a feast for the other passengers.
Unfortunately, Atul's story has what may be the game's saddest ending. The morning after the feast, Atul is nowhere to be found. Upon searching the boat, Stella finds his Spirit Flower in his room, just as she would find one from a spirit she had taken through the Everdoor. In a game about goodbyes, Atul is the one character you don't get to have one final conversation and hug with, which serves as a cruel reminder of how we don't always get that in the real world.
Stanley
While he can be demanding and frustrating to deal with when making incomprehensible requests or handing you literal garbage, Stanley is adorable, energetic and exceptionally wise for his age. His innocence is as charming as his presence on the boat is tragic. The game does a great job of telling stories without explicitly spelling them out for the player, and it doesn't need words to convey that Stanley is a child who died.
Stanley's story epitomizes what's so great about Spiritfarer. It's easy to forget how tragic the game is with its colorful, cozy aesthetic and lovable characters. However, the seriousness of the subject matter is always lurking just below the surface, even during the game's most lighthearted moments.