AbstractGiven the success of categorical approaches to quantum theory, it is interesting to consider why the complex numbers are special from a categorical perspective. We describe natural categorical conditions under which the scalars of a monoidal †-category gain many of the features of the complex numbers. Central to our approach are †-limits, certain types of limits which are compatible with the †-functor; we explore their properties and prove an existence theorem for them. Our main theorem is that in a nontrivial monoidal †-category with finite †-limits and simple tensor unit, and in which the self-adjoint scalars satisfy a completeness condition, the scalars are valued in the complex numbers, and scalar involution is exactly complex conjugation.