  This paper investigates the changes in spatial properties when
magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves undergo resonant damping in the Alfv\'en
continuum. The analysis is carried out for a 1D cylindrical pressure-less
plasma with a straight magnetic field. The effect of the damping on the spatial
wave variables is determined by using complex frequencies that arise as a
result of the resonant damping. Compression and vorticity are used to
characterise the spatial evolution of the MHD wave. The most striking result is
the huge spatial variation in the vorticity component parallel to the magnetic
field. Parallel vorticity vanishes in the uniform part of the equilibrium.
However, when the MHD wave moves into the non-uniform part, parallel vorticity
explodes to values that are orders of magnitude higher than those attained by
the transverse components in planes normal to the straight magnetic field. In
the non-uniform part of the equilibrium plasma, the MHD wave is controlled by
parallel vorticity and resembles an Alfv\'en wave, with the unfamiliar property
that it has pressure variations even in the linear regime.
