Life state

A life state or a creature is a kind of Sim or Pet with special appearance and abilities, mostly inspired by legends or science fiction.

The Sims
Two alternate life states exist in The Sims and its expansions, though they are not well-defined and do not grant any changes in a Sim's behavior.

When Sims die, they become ghosts. In Livin' Large, pleading with the Grim Reaper may result in him bringing a recently-deceased Sim back as a zombie. If Unleashed is also installed, these zombies can be restored to normal by Miss Lucille, who can be found on community lots in Old Town, but she cannot restore their personalities. Also in Livin' Large, Sims using the chemistry set might make a purple potion that can temporarily turn a Sim into a monster.

It could be said that witches and warlocks come with Makin' Magic, but being magical is not treated as a life state in that expansion. Sims who take up magic still look and act the same, and the terms "witch" and "warlock" are not used.

In Makin' Magic, one of the charms that can be made is Beauty or Beast. This charm allows a Sim to temporarily change his or her appearance, and some of the available choices resemble life states from later games, such as werewolves and vampires. While players may choose to treat this as a temporary transformation or an illusion; the in-game effects are the same either way. The Sim who has been "charmed" is still a normal Sim; the charm does not affect the way the Sim behaves or the way other Sims react to him/her, and the Sim gains no extra abilities or interactions.

The Sims 2
Most expansion packs for The Sims 2 added an alternate state in which Sims can exist. Some added sentient creatures which Sims cannot become, but which can be playable Sims. These states have unique triggering techniques, advantages and disadvantages. These states are:
 * Normal Sim
 * Ghost (base game) (Not playable)
 * Alien (base game)
 * Zombie
 * Vampire
 * Werewolf
 * Servo
 * PlantSim
 * Bigfoot
 * Genie (Not playable)
 * Witch

Each life state offers new opportunities for the Sim, making certain aspects of play easier to handle and others harder.

The Sims 3
The Sims 3 and its expansion packs,, feature 14 life states. Occult Sims cannot be given makeovers by stylists. Official game text recognizes certain kinds of life state as "occult". Prior to The Sims 3: Supernatural, Ghost was not considered an occult status according to the game files. With Supernatural, players are able to create some occults with a Supernatural Type selector in Create a Sim. These life states include normal Sims, ghosts, vampires, genies, werewolves, witches, and fairies.
 * Non-occult
 * Normal Sim
 * Alien


 * Occult
 * Ghost
 * Mummy
 * SimBot
 * Vampire
 * Imaginary Friend
 * Unicorn
 * Genie
 * Werewolf
 * Witch
 * Fairy
 * Zombie
 * PlantSim
 * Mermaid

Trivia

 * Pack leader is considered as the life state for dogs in The Sims 2: Pets, because of their unique appearance and ability to nibble Sims and turn them into werewolves. However, it is not possible to become a pack leader.
 * Spectral cat is considered as the life state for cats in The Sims 2: Apartment Life, because of their unique appearance and abilities. They will never age, have no gender, are unable to breed, are immune to the Tempus Interruptus spell, and do not have the bladder need.
 * Unicorn is considered as a life state for a horse, because of their unique appearance and ability to bless or curse a Sim.
 * The Sims 3: Pets is the first expansion pack in the series to feature a non-humanoid occult life state.
 * The Sims 3: Supernatural is the first expansion pack in the series to feature more than one playable life state.