Cores are the same but also different, both bind energy but only one of the two kinds house the true essence of a being.

Living Cores hold together the energy of a living soul while their memories and everything else, while stored in said core, are not dependent on said core. Without the core, it may be hard to recall some things or to be exactly yourself but, as personalities often change between lives, most things in a core is mainly what holds the energy together, most memories are stored in a way that doesn't tie them to the core, a method that keeps them locked in later lives unless one reopens the boxes (for lack of a better term) that hold the memories. Should a living lose their core they will lose all abilities and become susceptible to much and will not end up continuing on in the cycle, losing their soul but not the current life.

A Dead Core holds the energies of a dead soul and also who they are, ESPECIALLY ghosts. Some such entities only exist as 'afterthoughts' of their actual soul, people created from fragments, often because of their cause of death or creation. A Ghost Core also includes one's obsession or obsessions, something which, should they fail, will cause their core to slowly break, or quickly depending on the obsession and how badly they failed it. Should a core completely break, a Dead Soul will fade away.

A Mixed Core, such as mine, is rare, containing properties of both. The only difference is what would happen should it break as only a dead core as the ability to truly break. A Mixed Soul will not fade away if the core breaks but part of them will disappear, leaving them as only part of who they were.

The cores can not be exchanged, it would kill the ones who did so, even if they have the same type, especially with the Dead and the Mixed Cores as they encompass one's entire being.