Liam Dunbar

> "Theo? [...] you're still here?"
>
> -Liam to Theo Raeken fighting a Ghost Rider

* Human
* Beta Shift
* Evolved Wolf Shift

**Liam Dunbar** is a Shifter Werewolf, and the first beta bitten by Scott McCall. Liam originally attended Devenford Preparatory Academy, he was expelled at the end of his first semester of freshman year, which required him to transfer to Beacon Hills High School, where he went on to join the lacrosse team. After becoming a werewolf, Liam was constantly thrown into one crisis after another, which led him to despise Beacon Hills, moving away as soon as he graduated high school.

Liam is a member of the **Dunbar Family**, and the **Geyer Family**, since his mother married his stepdad. Liam is also a member of the **McCall Pack,** and unbeknownst to his alpha, he is also a member of the **Hale Pack.**

## Early life

Liam was raised by his mother, Jenna and step-father, a Harvard-educated doctor at Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital named Dr. Geyer, and he battled significant anger issues throughout his childhood. According to Liam, his step-father told him that children deal with anger in one of two ways: by hurting themselves, or by hurting someone else. Liam typically dealt with his anger by hitting things, thereby hurting himself, but also occasionally took his anger out on others by getting into physical fights.

He got expelled from school and sent to a psychologist for an evaluation. The psychologist diagnosed Liam with intermittent explosive disorder, otherwise known as I.E.D., and prescribed him Risperdal, to manage the symptoms. However, the medication caused Liam to be so tired that he couldn't play lacrosse, which was one of his few healthy outlets for his anger, and he eventually quit taking the medication completely. Afterward, Liam enrolled at Beacon Hills High School for his second semester of freshman year, just in time for lacrosse try-outs.

When Liam was in sixth grade, he got into a fist-fight in the hallway of his school with another male student. Hayden Romero had the misfortune of walking into the hall at the wrong time and accidentally got punched in the face by Liam, who broke her nose in the process. Furious at Liam, Hayden punched him in the face and broke *his* nose to get back at them. Unfortunately for both of them, this fight occurred on school picture day, and both Hayden and Liam had to have their picture taken with black eyes and taped-up noses, causing the two to develop a rivalry that lasted until their sophomore year of high school.

## History

The transformation initially terrified Liam due to fear that his parents would find out and look at him like he was a monster, but Scott eventually convinced him that being a supernatural "monster" did not mean he was compelled to do monstrous acts, and that they could choose to be good just as any human can. Liam later proved to be an exceptionally strong Werewolf despite being a newly-bitten Beta, but the anger that made him so much stronger than Werewolves his age also made it much harder for him to control his transformations. Even still, after over half a year of practice and training, Liam has become a very proficient Werewolf, though he still has difficulty controlling himself on full moons, especially during supermoons.

Liam grew closer to all of the members of his new pack, especially Scott and Stiles, but he was initially afraid to confess his new supernatural identity to his human best friend Mason Hewitt. However, Liam eventually conquered this fear after he was forced to shift in front of him, and he was relieved when Mason accepted his confession with excitement and joy rather than the fear and revulsion he was expecting. The two then helped the McCall Pack deal with the Dread Doctors and their newly created Chimeras. Unbeknownst to anyone, Theo Raeken, a Chimera masquerading as a true Werewolf who claimed to have returned to Beacon Hills after a long absence to join Scott's pack, was actually manipulating all of the members to turn against Scott, Liam included. When Liam's then-failed-Chimera girlfriend Hayden Romero was near death due to a mercury overdose and Scott refused to give her the Bite out of fear of killing her, Theo used the anger Liam already felt and the effects of the impending supermoon to convince him to kill Scott so that he could become an Alpha and give Hayden the Bite himself; Liam was too overwhelmed with anger and grief to realize that Theo needed Liam, as the True Alpha Scott's only bitten Beta, to kill Scott and steal his powers so that Theo could then kill Liam and take the powers for himself, which ultimately failed.

Liam was reunited with Theo during the fight against the Ghost Riders and the Wild Hunt, when the chimera returned to Beacon Hills with members of his new pack, to destroy the threat made against the sheriff, and Liam himself. Theo nearly died, sacrificing himself to let Liam escape, and they soon, began bonding. During the summer, Liam started getting overwhelmed and was taken from Beacon Hills, to Long Island, New York, where Derek Hale lived with his new pack, where the owner of the pack house, Conri Tlanta, a werewolf-witch hybrid took him in with open arms, and his mother, Danae Tlanta taught Liam better control in the woods, even going so far as to teach him the full shift into a wolf, which he wasn't able to do again, until the next year, when he returned to see Theo and the pack. Liam became even more involved in the supernatural world, as his Alpha and close friend Scott would soon be leaving for college, forcing Liam to step up in preparation to take over the leadership of the pack in Scott's absence. Despite his insecurity, he learned a lot about what it takes to be an Alpha and successfully defeated a Hellhound in one-on-one combat, all while suffering from the effects of the Anuk-ite's fear-inducement powers. The Hale Pack came to his aid when the hunters threatened his life, and he watched as their double agent, a hunter named Diana slaughtered nearly all of the hunters trying to kill him and Theo with multiple firearms, and hand to hand combat.

### Post War

After the war between hunters and werewolves, when the Hale Pack saved Liam and his friends from the hunters, Liam began to question the perfection put out into the world by the members of his pack, specifically his alpha, and the emissary. After spending so much time with the pack on the East Coast, getting a taste of what a traditional and well-operated pack functioned, Liam returned home and found that his own pack no longer felt like the family it had when he first turned, since a majority of the members who had been there when he first entered the supernatural world, belonged to the Hale Pack. With his alpha in college, and the emissary trying to run things in Beacon Hills, Liam felt trapped in his own hometown, and started resenting being a member, and planned to attend college out of state once he graduated, planning to move in order to play lacrosse at his new college.

In his senior year, leading up to his graduation, Liam was faced with multiple issues, which included new betas, orphaned from their packs in the war, brought in by Scott, and brought onto the alpha's plan to track down the members of the Hale Pack who had violently killed hunters in their quest to end the war, and ensure the lives of the werewolves to be saved while their alpha and his partners, Danae and Diana took down the Anuk-Ite, in order to prevent the hunters who were acting out of fear, from killing the werewolves. Liam had been involved in the battle between the hunters and those members of the Hale Pack, while Scott was not which was one of the reasons that he was so against hunting them down, because Liam knew that they were defending each other, the other werewolves, and even the humans that had been trapped in the hospital during the whole ordeal, but it seemed that his alpha didn't care, because those members had killed people, so they had to be found and 'cured' of the evil inside of them. For months, Liam was subjected to Scott calling him at random times during school, work, and lacrosse practice.

* **November 2013;** Before the alpha ended up coming from college at UC Davis, back to Beacon Hills in order to hunt down the 'immortal killers' as he did not care to say the names of the Hale Pack members, nor did he know that Peter Hale was a part of the pack. He told Liam that he had a lead in Lebanon, Kansas, where he'd gotten the scent of the mother of one of the members, and that they had to go after her, but Liam advised him against it, because one of their allies, Diana lived with two hunters in a bunker in Lebanon, and did not want the hunters to know that Scott was after Diana. Scott did end up going, but since Diana had a multitude of protection wards on the bunker, thanks to Danae, he was not able to get into the bunker, nor find it for that matter, and Liam was relieved, as he had called Diana beforehand and she assured him that it would be fine. After the hunt for Danae went terribly in Lebanon, with the hunters Diana lived with, killing most of the betas Scott took with him, and when he got back to Beacon Hills, he complained about it to Deaton, before going back to college, and for awhile, it was peaceful again, but Liam soon realized that he could only hope.

* **December 2013;** While Liam and Mason were planning their graduation trip to Yosemite, while Liam's parents got ready for Christmas, while in the middle of a shift at the diner he'd started working at after the war, one of the newer betas in the pack-Eve-started talking to him about pack things. Liam thought about how annoying all of the new members of the pack were...at least the ones who Scott had found, and had been practically radicalized by Scott's 'True Alpha' status, and worshipped him because of it, and how serious he got about his philosophy of never killing, and how he viewed killing as an evil act, and how they should never kill, or try to kill...eluding to not even being close to someone who had killed. Liam knew that the betas believed that Scott would exile anyone who killed, just because there weren't any killers in Scott's pack, since none of the wolves had eyes that bled blue, due to the only members of his pack...who had blue eyes, Malia and Peter Hale...left the pack.

* Liam thought on the subject of most of the new betas in Scott's pack being blonde, petite, or brunette, and have a great body or sense of style, and complained to Mason about the betas and how they had been following him around and watching him since Scott came back with less betas than he left for Lebanon with, and how he was sick of it. Mason brought up one of the betas, from Alaska, who he'd taken a hair sample of, and who's results had come back, bearing panther DNA, and concluded that Katya, the beta was a werepanther. Liam informed Mason that he would talk to Katya, since they lived in the same subdivision, and went back to work, ignoring the stares from Eve. After work, Liam found Katya in their neighborhood, and Katya noted to herself that Liam was not as loyal to the other betas, due to his mixed views on his alpha, and talked to him about a black bear she'd wrestled at home in Alaska, and Liam told her that if she wanted to leave Beacon Hills, because she didn't feel safe, she could go to Long Island, and extended an invite for her to come to his house for Christmas dinner, which she ended up accepting, and came the next night, where they talked about full shifting, and Liam told her about the time Danae had forced him to learn the full shift by beating him, and Katya just told him that she learned it as a kid.

* **February, 2014;** Upon hearing that Satomi Ito was alive, Liam kept it as good of a secret as he could, and was throwing himself into his schoolwork, when Scott came back up to Beacon Hills in order to secure pack alliances, and Liam was not happy about it since most of the packs had been decimated by the hunters, or were run by a different species of werewolf. After school one day, he was driving home when Annie, another one of Scott's blindly loyal betas tried to tell him that she was coming to his house for dinner, because Scott told her to talk to him about the alliance meeting, and Liam brushed her off, driving away, and drove through the cloaking spell that Nixie, one of the witches had put on the area around the house, along with a small barrier spell so that they couldn't even get in if they got past the spell. His mother was waiting for him inside, and asked him about 'Danae' in his phone and Liam told her all about the Hale Pack, before explaining why he wanted to go to school on the other side of the country, and she encouraged him to start looking at scholarships and programs to get into those colleges.

* A few days later, Liam had a meeting with the pack and Scott told them that they were going to have a meeting with Satomi, and Liam argued about coming, since they would be meeting at the Hale House, which was insulting to the members who died there because Scott didn't have his own place, he was leeching off the Hales. Liam argued who would be Right and Left Hand, when Scott told him that he and Annie would be representing alongside him, and that Katya and the others were not allowed to speak. Deaton tried to get clearance to pick Liam up and take him to the meeting, but Liam told them to just send the date and time, and he would show up before leaving and telling the Hales all about the situation, relieved that Derek had seized the loft, and rented it out, so that Scott couldn't have anymore meetings there.

* The next day, Liam went to the meeting and parked outside of the warded cameras that had been put in place by Peter's lawyers to ensure that the Hale House would be protected and in decent shape for when they eventually started on remodeling it. He walked with Katya up to Scott, Annie, and Deaton, who parked right next to the house, and went in with Satomi and her two betas, starting the incredibly awkward meeting, in which they got nowhere, and the police showed up as Satomi was leaving, and both Liam and Katya followed, only for them to watch as Scott, Deaton, and Annie got fined for being on private property, and breaking the privacy laws. Liam went home, where Mason confronted him and Katya, asking about what went down, and Liam told him that Scott had been fined, before Mason told him that Scott said he was being framed, and Liam told Peter over the phone the next day what had happened and that he and Satomi had parked beyond the cameras, so they had been safe.

* **April, 2014;** Liam was called by Scott at a lacrosse game and shut him down after he told him about what he'd heard from Deaton, who claimed to be having visions of Conri in New Orleans as, unbeknownst to Deaton-his uncle was being held underground for his crimes against his sires, and that Conri had left New Orleans, but Derek didn't know where he'd gone after that. Liam finished his game and then told Mason about what Scott had been talking about before Liam shut him down and hung up.

## Personality

Liam was an outgoing and overconfident teenage boy, but it was quickly revealed that he was much more complicated and nuanced. After the initial shock of his transformation into a Werewolf, he was also a very supportive and loyal friend to those who he truly cares about, such as his best friend Mason, his girlfriend Hayden, his Alpha and good friend Scott, and the rest of his pack, until he matured more, and realized that many of the dynamics within his pack were extremely toxic. He's also incredibly brave and quite intelligent despite being considered to be more brawny than brainy. However, despite all this, he does have a few more negative traits, mainly his difficulty controlling his anger. Liam was diagnosed with intermittent explosive disorder as a freshman, which causes him to be incredibly impulsive (which can lead to irrationality and poor judgment), as well as possessing a quick temper that causes him to be eager for a fight when angered.

Despite this general improvement in Liam's anger and personality in general, he is still prone to bouts of irrationality and violence in certain circumstances, such as the most recent supermoon, when the effect of the moonrise combined with his anger toward Scott and fear of Hayden's impending death made it easy for Theo to manipulate him into killing Scott to the point that he actually believed that he *wanted* to do so at the time. Afterward, however, Liam was so horrified by his behavior that he has dedicated himself to making up for it, and has demonstrated a much better sense of control over his emotions ever since, due to not only repairing friendships, but learning better control over his human side and his wolf side from Derek Hale, and Danae Tlanta.

When Liam was almost to his senior year of high school, he faced with a large portion of his friends soon leaving for college (including his Alpha, Scott McCall), Liam matured a great deal and took on more responsibility with both the McCall Pack and the lacrosse team, ultimately becoming team captain of the latter and being groomed to lead the younger pack members in Scott's absence. He soon proved himself capable of quickly coming up with plans, standing up for his loved ones and the town at large even in the face of fear and adversity, and refusing to give up, even when the outlook is grim. In many ways, he has modeled himself after his Alpha and in the process, he lost many of his more immature traits, though his residual anger issues will always remain a struggle for him, as demonstrated during the Anuk-ite's time in Beacon Hills, when the entire town was affected by its power to induce fear.

He has also shown himself to be an amazing caregiver to Eli Hale, when he and Theo babysit the kid together when Liam visits the Hale Pack in the summer of 2013, before school starts and the hunters arrive, which helped him in seeing just how much Theo had changed since the Dread Doctors, and even though he knew the Chimera was different, he didn't truly see it until Theo babysat the one year old Eli.

## Physical Appearance

Liam is a short-statured young man with an athletic build. Due to his intense workout schedule, both out of love for lacrosse and an eagerness to help control his anger, Liam is quite muscular for his age, and he has honey-blond hair, tanned white skin, and baby blue eyes.

He prefers comfortable clothing such as hoodies, baseball shirts, jeans, and sneakers, though he has shown to wear more trendy clothing like leather jackets and boots when going to Sinema with Mason. He has also stolen a number of Theo's clothing items when he was visiting, and wears them proudly, knowing that none of his friends knew that they were Theo's

As he gets older, Liam's hair becomes darker and grows longer, and by the end of the war between hunters and werewolves, it was nearly long enough to tuck behind his ears. He leaves it like this, and by the time he returns to the Hale Pack's mansion pack house, he can put it in a ponytail and allows Eli to play with his hair while Theo laughs and Liam flips him off.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

Liam possesses the standard powers of a Beta Werewolf, though he is considered to be exceptionally powerful for his age and rank as a result of his anger, which boosts his strength considerably. Additionally, as he is Scott's first bitten Beta, Liam is one of the only two people who can steal or inherit Scott's Alpha spark.

### Abilities

Aside from his werewolf powers, Liam possesses several abilities that have helped him throughout his time on the series.

* **Athleticism:** For example, even prior to his transformation into a Werewolf, Liam was exceptionally athletic, to the point where Scott and Stiles suspected him of being a shapeshifter despite being only a human at the time. Coach Finstock has referred to Liam as the most talented lacrosse prodigy he has ever coached in his career, and his lacrosse skills have only improved with the addition of his Werewolf powers.

* **Photographic Memory:** Liam has also been shown to have an excellent memory, with the ability to recall conversations and even small details when it is important. For example, he remembered the leaf pendant necklace he found in the hole he fell into in the Beacon Hills Preserve and was able to identify it as belonging to Tracy Stewart after seeing a photo of her wearing it, an important observation that helped the McCall Pack learn that being buried alive in the woods was part of the Chimera transformation process.

* **Intellect:** Though Liam is more commonly lumped into the "brawn" side of the pack rather than the "brain" side, Liam has demonstrated an above-average intellect that has helped him as he slowly gained a leadership role in the pack. He also mentioned he has a love for history (much like his ally, and future alpha, Derek Hale), which has helped him quite a bit during his time in the supernatural world; for example, as he used his knowledge of Mykonos, Greece to help him with his battle strategy against Monroe's Army.

* **Expert Combatant:** Though he doesn't seem to have formal training, Liam has shown that he is a great fighter by combining his Werewolf powers with his instincts, particularly when angered or afraid. His style of combat is more similar to the brawling style also utilized by his packmate Stiles Stilinski. During the supermoon, while empowered by its power and his own rage, Liam was able to overpower and almost kill Scott. He later received professional training from Diana Winchester, who taught him many styles of martial arts, boxing, and even how to handle, use, and fire a gun, using the numerous weapons in the trunk of her car.

## Weaknesses

Liam possesses all the standard weaknesses associated with Werewolves, including, but not limited to;

* **Wolfsbane,**
* **Mountain ash,**
* **Electricity,**
* **Ultrasonic and subsonic frequencies,**
* **Full moons/supermoons,**
* **Lunar eclipses,**
* **Heightened emotions.**

## Etymology

* **Liam**: Liam is a short form of the Irish name William, a derivation of the Frankish name Willahelm. The name breaks down into two Old German elements-- *vila* ("will," "desire," "resolution") and *helma* ("helmet of will," "guardian"). In Arabic, the pronunciation equivalent to Liam means "harmonious in opinion or feeling," while in Persian, the name is of a plant in southern Iran whose name means "protector and supporter," a fitting title, considering that as a member of the McCall Pack, Liam Dunbar is both a protector and a supporter.
* **Dunbar**: Dunbar is a Scottish habitational name from Dunbar, located on the North Sea coast near Edinburgh. It is a combination of the Gaelic words *dùn*, meaning "fort," and *barr*, meaning "top" or "summit." It can also mean "castle headland" due to the fact that the town of Dunbar is at the mouth of the Frith of Forth in Scotland, so named for the fact that it is situated on a rock that overlooks the sea. It is also the name of a Scottish clan hailing from the Lowlands of Scotland.

## Relationships

* Derek and Liam (Alpha/Beta, Packmates)
* Liam and Malia (Close Friends, Packmates)
* Liam and Peter (Former Enemies, Allies, Packmates)
* Liam and Mason (Best Friends, Packmates)
* Liam and Theo (Former Enemies, Allies, Dating)
* Liam and Stiles (Best Friends, Packmates)
* Deucalion and Liam (Allies, Packmates)
* Liam and Conri (Allies, Packmates)
* Liam and Danae (Mentor/Mentee, Packmates)
* Liam and Diana (Mentor/Mentee, Friends)
* Liam and Eli (Packmates)
* Liam and Dr. Geyer (Step-father/Son, Family)
* Liam and Corey (Former Enemies, Allies, Close Friends, Packmates)
* Liam and Nolan (Former Enemies, Allies, Friends)
* Liam and Lydia (Close Friends, Packmates)
* Liam and Scott (Alpha/Beta, Packmates)

## Gallery

Liam Dunbar; HumanFull ShiftBeta ShiftCute Little BetaSmiley LiamFunny WolfLiam with Theo in full shiftSoft WolvesDisgusted TeenagerGym ModeI see you