The Kanima is a reptilian shapeshifter featured on Teen Wolf. The only known Kanima to appear in the series were Jackson Whittemore and the unnamed Kanima controlled by the Brazilian priest.
Biology[]
The Kanima from the bestiary
The Kanima is a shapeshifter who has a mutated werewolf gene after being bitten by an Alpha. At first, it appears the body will reject the werewolf bite before its transformation due to black blood pouring from the victim's nostrils, mouth, and ears. According to legends, the rule usually applies to someone who suffers from inner turmoil and a conflicted identity. For example, Jackson was an adopted child and never knew his biological parents, the Millers. As taking the shape you take reflects the person you are, Jackson turned into the Kanima because it was a reflection of his inner turmoil and outward behavior. To reflect on this, Derek described Jackson as "a snake" and Lydia as "cold-blooded." As they were both bitten by alphas, he suspected one of them to be the Kanima before realizing it was Jackson. When he or she resolves their inner conflict, they will transition from a Kanima to a true werewolf. For Jackson, it was the true love he felt for Lydia Martin that allowed him to resolve himself. However, he had to be killed by Peter and Derek to complete the transformation. However even though Jackson became a full-blooded werewolf, he still retained some Kanima traits, such as the tail and shifting his blue werewolf eyes into The Kanima's reptilian eyes.
Instead of looking for a Pack, it is looking for a Master, who uses a telepathic bond with the creature and he or she is forced to do their master's bidding. According to Legends, the Kanima only goes after murderers as a benefit deity due to someone in their past being murdered. For instance, it was heavily implied that the accident that took Jackson's parents' lives was intentional, further supplementing why Jackson became the Kanima. Additionally, some of the master's fears and personalities reflected on the Kanima when they were humans. Matt Daehler's inner turmoil may have influenced Jackson to become more aggressive, nastier, and crueler than he was before, as he yelled at Lydia and insulted Allison in ways the real Jackson never would have. He also had Matt's fear of hydrophobia (fear of water) However Jackson didn't remember the conversation and the last thing he recalled was coming into the boys' locker room. The bond becomes so strong that the Kanima goes after whoever the Master wishes. However, if the Master does not adhere to the rules of going after murderers only and becomes a killer themselves, then the Master will turn into a Kanima. Matt Daehler was in the process of becoming a Kanima because he murdered an innocent mother after Jackson refused to do it.
It also produces venom that causes the victim to become paralyzed just long enough to kill its victim or until it wears off. The Kanima is also immune to its venom with some exceptions; it doesn't work on them when they are in human form as demonstrated with Jackson.
History[]
Pre-series[]
In South America, an unnamed person who suffered from from inner turmoil and a conflicted identity became the Kanima when after being bitten by an Alpha Werewolf. The man or woman became bonded to the local priest, a South American man who took control of a Kanima and used it to rid his village of murderers. However, the symbiotic bond between the creature and its master became so strong that the Kanima began killing whomever its master wanted, regardless of whether or not the victim had taken a life.
Season 1[]
Wanting to become a werewolf, Jackson demanded the bite from his rival, Scott McCall and later Derek Hale. He believed that Derek owed him the bite because he helped Derek ascend as an Alpha and aided Scott, Allison, and Stiles in defeating his uncle. However, Derek, who immensely disliked Jackson for all the trouble he caused himself and Scott, bit him, hoping the lacrosse jock's body would reject the Bite. However, when this plan didn't work, Derek decided to have Jackson among his pack so he could get stronger and have a better fighting chance against the Alpha pack; however, Jackson and later Scott, rejected Derek as their new Alpha, leading Derek to bite three other people.
Season 2[]
Though Jackson was given the Bite, his body was rejecting it; during the school day, Jackson noticed his nose and ears were bleeding black blood, so he fled to the bathroom. Later, Derek found Jackson in the bathroom and asked him why he looked so sick. When the Jock lied, the werewolf told Jackson that if there was a problem, he should tell him about it because Derek was his alpha. However, Jackson started telling Derek off when the latter noticed black blood pouring from Jackson's ear. He turned the younger man's head so Jackson could see the blood coming from his ear. The boy panicked, and Derek told Jackson was rejecting the Bite. Remembering the same thing happened to his late girlfriend Paige Krasikeva, Derek feared that Jackson was dying but he left before he could answer. Later that night, Jackson continued throwing up black blood in his bedroom.
Late on, Matt Daehler formed a bond with the Kanima after he took a picture of Isaac Lahey's father and went after Coach Lahey, killing him for Matt, who had hatred for the Coach because he allowed the swim team to drink and throw him into the swimming pool when he was a child. The next night, Matt gave Jackson his camera; however, Matt used an app called Ustream on his phone, which he used to connect to his camera and see what Jackson was recording. To his surprise, Jackson rose from his bed and shapeshifted into the Kanima. Matt suddenly found Jackson near his car and placed his hand on the glass. Thus, the bond was supplemented between the two and Matt made Jackson go after everyone else who was on the swim team. ("Fury", "Shape Shifted", "Ice Pack", "Abomination", "Restraint," "Raving," "Fury")
When Derek, Erica Reyes, and Issac Lahey tested him, Jackson was paralyzed by his venom. Banshees are also immune to the venom's effects as well. Afterward, Derek suspected Jackson's ex-girlfriend and Derek's eventual ally Lydia Martin to be the Kanima because she was the other person (besides Scott McCall) who Peter Hale bit. During their lab experiment, Scott and Stiles realized that Isaac and Erica planned to administer the Kanima venom to Lydia through an edible crystal. However, much to the surprise of the Werewolves, Allison and Stiles, Lydia didn't fall to the paralytic effects of the venom, and all but confirmed Derek's suspicions. Scott noticed that Derek was outside and Allison feared he was waiting to kill her. As Stiles and Allison came up with ways to protect Lydia, Scott confronted Derek and Boyd. During the conversation, Derek revealed he wasn't going to kill Lydia; Erica and Isaac were. When he failed to change Derek's mind, Scott revealed that he was only distracting him long enough for Jackson, Allison, and Stiles to get Lydia out of the school.
When the Hale pack confronted Scott's team at the McCall House, Stiles, and Allison were forced to face the Hale pack alone so they could protect Lydia from Erica and Isaac. Allison was almost tempted to call her father until Stiles talked her out of it and convinced her to shoot at Derek. Due to the overwhelming nature of Jackson and Lydia reconciling and the re-consummating of their relationship, Jackson's heart rate went up and he transformed into the Kanima. Allison came up to Scott's room and saw the Kanima venom on the window sill alerting her of the creature's presence. Allison, knowing that the werewolves would be able to catch her arrows like Scott did, took some of the venom and coated her arrow with it. As Allison anticipated, Erica caught the arrow but she didn't realize the tip was coated in the Kanima's venom until Erica saw it on her fingers.
A few moments later, Scott came to his friends' rescue; he easily incapacitated Isaac and threw him and Erica out of the house and at Derek's feet. As they confronted Derek on the porch, the two packs suddenly saw the Kanima emerge from Scott's bedroom window. However, both teams were even more surprised when Lydia entered the scene at the same time the Kanima left. Scott realized that it was Jackson and so did Derek. ("Venomous", "Restraint")
Derek, Argent, and Scott tracked Jackson (as the Kanima) at an abandoned parking lot, where Derek fought it off with no effort. Chris came to the scene and shot the Kanima dead; however, Jackson quickly recovered from Chris' attempts. Gerard Argent took an interest in The Kanima for a moment (hinting at his inner turmoil to take the creature for himself. Scott saw the Kanima near Gerard and tackled it to the ground. He and Gerard looked at each other for a moment; however, due to Gerard blackmailing Scott into helping him, the old hunter did nothing to stop Scott from pursuing the Kanima. Scott and Stiles found Jackson at a nearby gay club, where he intended to kill his best friend Danny Mahealani, who had seen the footage of Jackson turning into the Kanima. The boys snuck into the building through the secret backdoor, which Scott ripped off with his werewolf strength and they saw Jackson walking on the roof and targeting Danny. The Kanima managed to wound and paralyze some of the partygoers until Derek severely wounded him and ignored Scott's pleas not to kill Jackson. Scott followed the trail of blood and found an unconscious Jackson in the old parking lot. He and Stiles proceeded to kidnap Jackson and held him hostage by chaining him up in the back of an old trailer at the Beacon Hills Preserve. When Scott and Allison were away at school, Stiles told Jackson that he was the Kanima but the lacrosse jock refused to listen to him and didn't believe him.
In "Restraint," Jackson and his Adoptive father, David Whittemore file a restraining order against Scott and Stiles out of spite, so they wouldn't get in the way of Matt's plans, or a combination of the two. Erica finally realized Jackson was the Kanima even though she was unsure why the venom still worked on Jackson.
Season 3[]
After Jackson left Beacon Hills and went to live in London, Lydia described her ex-boyfriend as a homicidal lizard to Cora.
Known Kanimas[]
- Jackson Whittemore (now a hybrid)
- Unnamed Brazilian Kanima
Kanima chimeras[]
- Tracy Stewart (Kanima/Werewolf)
