Supernatural Eyes

### Features

The supernatural ability to change the appearance of one's eyes to reflect their supernatural identity

Supernatural eyes are an aspect of Shapeshifting in which a supernatural creature can change the appearance of their eyes. The main function of this ability is to reveal their supernatural species, but in the case of shapeshifters, it can also allow them to tap into their superhuman powers (particularly their superhuman vision, super strength, and accelerated healing abilities) at a stronger level without fully shapeshifting in times where doing so is impractical or inopportune, though this process is not always necessary.

While the aforementioned powers are usually passive abilities that are nearly always in use, sometimes a supernatural creature may need to actively trigger these powers, which can be initiated through shapeshifting their eyes; this is particularly true for Werewolves who can use their glowing eyes to see a Kitsune's true nature through their aura, can see the Nemeton when it is cloaking itself, and can allow Alphas to see even when blind. Those who use this aspect of shapeshifting typically possess enough control over it that they can selectively choose to only change the appearance of their eyes without fully transforming their bodies along with it.

The extent to which this change in the eye's appearance occurs varies among the different supernatural species: most frequently, the iris or the entire eye changes color and/or glows, but it can also change based on the animal from whom the shapeshifter's powers are derived. Furthermore, this aspect of shapeshifting the eye's appearance can even change due to certain factors, such as ascending or descending in rank or to reflect a transformation into a new species. In addition to these changes, supernatural eyes will glow even brighter (and in some cases will change color) when their owners steal the power of other supernatural creatures, such as when an Alpha kills his own Beta, or when Belasko (or someone else) uses his talons to steal a supernatural creature's powers.

## Users of Supernatural Eyes

### Anuk-ite

The Anuk-ite, a powerful and ancient indigenous American shapeshifter, possessed glowing purple eyes similar to those possessed by the Chimera Josh Diaz. While the Anuk-ite was separated into two halves, one human and one supernatural, the supernatural half (in the form of the Beta Werewolf Quinn Finch) had glowing purple irises. After the two halves of the Anuk-ite merged, their entire eyes would glow purple and would then extend a hazy purple light from their sclera when using their power to petrify their victims into stone.

### Chimera

Chimeras are former humans with genetic chimerism who were granted the powers of a combination of various supernatural creatures; this typically meant that the Chimera would develop the same glowing eyes as the shapeshifter species from which their powers were derived. For example, Theo Raeken and Hayden Romero, as Werewolf/Werecoyote and Werewolf/Werejaguar hybrids, respectively, could both shapeshift their eyes so that their irises glowed bright gold like a Beta Werewolf who had not killed an innocent human. Tracy Stewart, a Werewolf/Kanima hybrid, initially had glowing gold irises as well before they eventually changed into a glowing, golden-hued reptilian appearance which covered her entire eye and which had slit pupils and visible blood vessels.

Donovan Donati, a Wendigo/Lamprey Chimera, could make his entire eye glow bright white like the former species, and they also would unconsciously turn completely silver to reflect the Modified Mercury that he was injected with, a trait that Hayden manifested as well after she received an overdose of the mercury. Lucas, a Werewolf/Scorpion Chimera, could shift his eyes so that they were entire sclera, iris, and pupil turned pure black, and Josh Diaz's irises glowed the exact same shade of purple as his claws and the electromagnetic energy he produced. Belasko, a Werewolf/Garuda hybrid, had the blue eyes of a Beta or Omega Werewolf who had taken an innocent human life, but the color of his eyes would change to reflect the power he stole from other creatures; for example, when Belasko attempted to use his talons to steal the Hellhound Jordan Parrish's powers, his glowing blue irises briefly turned the same reddish-orange flame-like color as Parrish's own eyes. Finally, Mason Hewitt, prior to transforming into Sebastien Valet, had eyes that glowed pure blue to reflect the number of innocent humans that the Beast of Gevaudan had killed.

While Belasko's eyes glowed the blue that signified that he had taken an innocent life, Theo and Tracy's did not, despite the fact they had both killed innocent humans. This indicates that, unless Belasko's eyes were indicators of his Garuda side, a Chimera's eyes do not change from golden to blue when they take an innocent life, possibly a side effect of them being pseudo-supernatural creatures and not truly supernatural.

### Darach

While Druids in general do not seem to be able to supernaturally alter their eye's appearance, Jennifer Blake, a Darach who had sacrificed twelve people and hundreds of crows to gain enough power to defeat Deucalion, Kali, and their Alpha Pack, was shown to have the ability to make her irises and pupils glow bright white, as demonstrated when she activated her warrior-derived super strength in order to throw Kali down the hallway at Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital.

### Hellhound

A Hellhound has the ability to shapeshift the eyes of their vessel in order to make their irises glow the same reddish-orange color as the flames they can generate from their bodies. This color can vary from a light orange to almost an Alpha red depending on the circumstances. As with most shapeshifters, Hellhounds who have made an agreement to fully merge with their hosts and share their power can change their eyes to trigger their powers without fully transforming, such as when they need to activate their accelerated healing ability after a serious injury. However, when the Hellhound wishes to gain complete control over their host's body, they will also flash their eyes to suppress the spirit of their host, as evidenced when Chris Argent, Gerard Argent, and Lydia Martin used the Argent Family freezer to communicate with Cerberus, who was inside of Jordan Parrish. Other supernatural phenomena can seemingly trigger this change as well, as Parrish's eyes flashed reddish-orange when he and Lydia Martin finally found the Nemeton in the Beacon Hills Preserve.

It was recently revealed that when a Hellhound is under the control of the Ghost Riders of the Wild Hunt (or someone with their powers, such as Garrett Douglas, who had become empowered by their supernatural venom and the pineal gland of one of the Riders), their glowing reddish-orange irises will change to a bright bluish-green color to match the energy the Ghost Riders use.

### Kanima

A full-blooded Kanima, such as Jackson Whittemore, can transform their eyes to look like that of the reptiles they take after, which include whitish-pink sclera of their eyes with slit black pupils like a snake, along with what appeared to be vertical eyelids that appear only when their eyes are in Kanima form. Since Jackson was under the control of two different masters (first Matt Daehler, and then Gerard Argent) while he was a Kanima, his ability to shapeshift his eyes and body was dependent on their will; the only times he transformed his eyes were when he was compelled by a master to shift in order to attack, paralyze, and/or kill someone. Even after Jackson was transformed into the Werewolf he was intended to be and gained the glowing blue irises of a Beta-level Werewolf who has taken human lives, he still retained a few Kanima traits, including the power to make his eyes change back into his former reptilian Kanima appearance, though he admitted that it took concentration to make this change.

### Kitsune

Most Kitsune, such as the Thunder Kitsune Kira Yukimura and the Celestial Kitsune Noshiko Yukimura, can make their irises glow a golden-orange color with a dark purple limbal ring; however, Void Kitsune such as the Nogitsune can make their entire eyes glow white, as evidenced by the Kumicho when he showed his Nogitsune form. Their glowing eyes are part of their aura, and even if the Kitsune in question's eyes do not appear to be glowing to the human eye, a supernatural creature who uses their glowing eyes to enhance their eyesight will see their eyes glowing the same color of their flame-like aura, which takes the outline of a fox and envelopes the Kitsune's human body.

As with other shapeshifters, their eyes can change and glow to allow the Kitsune in question to tap into their powers more easily as well, particularly in young Kitsune like Kira, who hadn't yet triggered the active forms for many of her powers, though this is not necessary to use their powers. For example, when Kira was stabbed in the chest with a Berserker's bone claw, she used a broken piece of an obsidian boulder to cut her hand, causing her eyes to glow bright golden-orange and activate her accelerated healing power. This also can extend to a Kitsune's foxfire, which is fire or lightning a Kitsune can create based on what type of Fox spirit they have; for example, when Kira, a Thunder Kitsune, used her lightning-based foxfire ability to siphon the electricity from a live wire flipping around Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital's parking lot, her eyes glowed bright orange for the first time, as she had only learned of her supernatural identity several days earlier.

The eyes of a Kitsune can also change when they are praying to their ancestors, such as when Noshiko's changed as she prayed for *kitsune-tsuki* with the intention of having a Nogitsune possess her to give her the power to defeat the corrupt leaders of Camp Oak Creek. Likewise, their eyes will glow when a Kitsune's inner Fox spirit takes control over them, such as when Kira's powers were destabilized by the Dread Doctors and her inner Fox wielded her body as a weapon against others; another example was when the Void Kitsune inside of the Kumicho of a branch of the Yakuza took control of his body in an attempt to fight against the Oni who had come to kill him. When Kira's inner Fox took control over her in Season 5's *A Credible Threat*, her eyes became more golden than orange and flickered from one side of the iris to the other, marking a different appearance from the generally uniform orange-gold color they normally take.

### Löwenmensch

The Löwenmensch, a shapeshifting wolf/lion hybrid, seems to possess the same supernatural eyes as their Werewolf cousins, with gold or blue glowing eyes for the Betas and Omegas and red glowing eyes for their Alphas. The only known Löwenmensch, Garrett Douglas, had glowing crimson eyes that reflected his status as an Alpha; this was first shown when Douglas flashed his glowing red eyes to trigger his accelerated healing power in order to recover from the damage caused to his body after spending nearly seventy years submerged in the Dread Doctors' tank of green serum, and was seen again when his eyes flashed after eating a human's pineal gland to augment his healing and other powers even further.

In Season 6, it was eventually revealed that, when a Löwenmensch such as Douglas, who had been exposed to the venom on the whips of the Ghost Riders of the Wild Hunt, ate the pineal gland of a Ghost Rider, they would gain some of the powers of a Ghost Rider; this change was reflected by the color of his supernatural eyes, which transformed from Alpha red to a bright bluish-green color that matched the energy created by the Riders. When Douglas used the command "*Steigen höllenhund*" to take control of the Hellhound Jordan Parrish, Parrish's normally reddish-orange eyes changed to the same bluish-green color as Douglas' as well.

### Oni

The Oni, as demonic warriors, do not seem to have human eyes as a result of the fact that they do not have a humanoid body; they are instead made up of swirling darkness that is contained within the samurai armor they wear. However, they do have what appear to be bright glowing greenish-yellow eyes that are the same color of the fireflies that animate them. These pseudo-eyes appear when they are using their supernatural scanning power in order to identify Nogitsune who are possessing humans. This scanning power requires that the Oni make prolonged eye contact with their target, which causes the target to become immobile for the duration of the scanning; afterward, the scanning performed by their glowing greenish-yellow eyes cause a brand of the *jiko* *kanji* (Japanese for "self") behind their ear to indicate that they are not possessed before the victim is left in a hypothermic state.

### Wendigo

Like the Nogitsune, a Wendigo can shapeshift their eyes, turning the entirety of its surface to glow with a dull white light whenever their hunger is aroused and/or when they are preparing to fight. This shapeshifting is nearly always accompanied by the extension of their fangs and a deepening of their voice, as with many other shapeshifting species.

### Werecoyote

Werecoyotes possess the same colored eyes as their Werewolf cousins, with Betas possessing gold or blue eyes depending on if they have taken innocent human lives. Three Werecoyotes have been introduced in the series: Malia Tate, whose supernatural eyes were blue because she accidentally killed her human adoptive mother and sister on her first transformation during a full moon when she was nine years old; Corinne, who had blue supernatural eyes because she has taken countless human lives as a professional assassin; and Edgar, a golden-eyed Werecoyote high schooler whose entire family were also Werecoyotes. It is unknown if a Werecoyote can attain Alpha status and the red eyes that accompany it, as they have yet to be shown to do so on the series, but it seems likely that they can.

When a Werecoyote steals the powers of another, their irises will glow even brighter than normal and will consume their pupils as well, as demonstrated when Malia Tate used Belasko's talons to steal her mother Corinne's powers. Their eyes, as with most shapeshifters, can also be used to tap into their powers at a stronger level without needing to fully transform, though this is not a necessary process, and their eyes will often transform involuntarily if they lose control over their transformations, such as due to strong emotions, a lack of an anchor, and/or the overwhelming force of a full moon. Additionally, an Alpha Werewolf's Alpha roar can also trigger the change in their eye's appearance from human to Werecoyote, and their eyes can still glow even when fully-shifted into the form of a true coyote.

### Werejaguar

The only known full-blooded Werejaguar, Kate Argent, can change her eye's appearance from their human green color to a glowing bright shade of jade green when she identifies herself as supernatural, loses control over her transformation due to overwhelming emotions or the full moon, or when she is tapping into her powers such as superhuman sight, strength, or accelerated healing. It is unknown why her eyes are green, if Werejaguars have an eye-color-based hierarchy like Werewolves and Werecoyotes, and whether this is a common trait among all Werejaguars or just something specific to Kate herself.

### Werewolf (TWU)

Werewolves, like Löwenmenschen and Werecoyotes, have glowing irises that vary in color based on their rank and status; Betas and Omegas will have gold eyes if they have never taken an innocent human life and will have blue eyes if they have taken innocent human life. If a Beta or Omega kills an Alpha (or, on exceedingly rare conditions, if a Beta or Omega ascends to the rank of True Alpha through their own indomitable strength of will), their eye color will change from gold or blue to a bright crimson red; conversely, if an Alpha loses their powers for whatever reason, their eyes will return to the color that they were prior to their ascension.

For example, Derek Hale is a Werewolf who has managed to possess every color of Werewolf eyes throughout his life: upon reaching supernatural puberty, he had the golden eyes of a Beta, which turned blue after he was forced to mercy-kill the dying Paige Krasikeva; after he killed his uncle Peter Hale and stole his Alpha powers, his eyes turned red; when he sacrificed his Alpha spark to heal his sister Cora Hale of her mistletoe poisoning, his eyes once again returned to blue; when he was in the process of becoming an Evolved Werewolf, Derek's eyes briefly turned gold again until he temporarily lost his powers, including the ability to change his eye's appearance, until finally, he completed this evolution and regained his glowing blue eyes when he fully-shifted into the body of a wolf. During his final moments of life before being incinerated and destroyed by Jordan Parrish, his sacrifice for his loved ones turned his eyes red, allowing him to become a True Alpha just like Scott.

As with many shapeshifters, a Werewolf's eyes will transform under a variety of circumstances, such as when they are enhancing their vision or tapping into their other powers without having to fully shapeshift (though this is not always necessary), when they have lost control over their transformation due to the full moon, overwhelming emotions, or a loss of their anchor. Other less-common circumstances can also have this effect, such as: when Scott McCall was suffering from the side-effects of the Surrogate Sacrifice Ritual and couldn't control his transformations, causing his eyes to glow involuntarily; when a Werewolf is sickened through Wolfsbane poisoning or exposure to the modified canine distemper virus, which can either cause their eyes to glow involuntarily or can keep them from being able to manifest them when they want to; or when a Werewolf is gravely injured, as demonstrated when Scott was resurrected after being killed by Theo Raeken and was unable to keep his eyes glowing red, due in part to the guilt and grief he felt for the fracturing of his pack disabling his accelerated healing ability.

Their supernatural eyes will also come out when they are in a trance-like state, such as during an ice bath ritual, or when they are delving into the minds of others by piercing the back of a person's neck with their claws. An Alpha's eyes will glow when they are roaring to communicate with their packmates, as shown in *Amplification* when Scott's roar caused Malia Tate and Liam Dunbar's eyes to glow, and conversely, the glowing eyes of a Beta can be used to enhance their voices to pull the Alpha who bit them out of a trance-like state as well, as Liam used to awaken Scott from the flashback-hallucination he was experiencing after reading *The Dread Doctors* novel.

When a Werewolf shapeshifts their eyes in this manner, it will cast a reddish tint on their vision, especially when they're using this aspect to see in darkness; this was demonstrated by the de-aged Derek Hale when he partially-shifted out of stress when he awoke in the Beacon Hills Animal Clinic, as well as with Scott McCall when he used his glowing eyes to look for Kira Yukimura in a crowd. Their supernatural eyes will also allow them to see supernatural phenomena such as the aura of a Kitsune who is not concealing their aura or the Nemeton when it is cloaking itself. Additionally, a Werewolf's glowing eyes can allow them to see even when their human eyes have been blinded, as Deucalion learned after his eyes were severely burned by flash-bang arrows shoved into his eye sockets by Gerard Argent; Deucalion's supernatural eyes were also notable for the entirety of his eyes glowing red rather than just the iris, due in part to the fact that his eyes were damaged. The glow from an Alpha's eyes may briefly become more intense when they have taken the powers of their Betas, as Derek's red eyes glowed brighter when he was forced to kill and steal the powers of his Beta, Vernon Boyd.

It appears that a Werewolf's supernatural eyes can also reflect if their owner has been corrupted, as the Augmented Alphas Kali and Ennis (who had killed all of their Betas and stolen their power) had eyes that were blood red but did not glow; instead, they remained a dull shade with the limbal ring and sclera of their eyes turning black. When Scott briefly shifted into his more monstrous and bestial form when he was viciously fighting a Deadpool assassin and Hunter, his eyes, too, turned black around the iris until his shifted back into his normal Werewolf form. In an extremely rare case, Jackson Whittemore, who was given the Bite by then-Alpha Werewolf Derek Hale and was unexpectedly turned into a Kanima due to his unresolved identity issues, was ultimately killed and subsequently reborn as the Werewolf he intended to become; afterward, he gained the blue glowing eyes of a Beta Werewolf who had taken innocent human life, but also retained the ability to shift his eyes back into their previous Kanima appearance, though doing requires a significant amount of effort on his part.

### Werewolf (TVD)

With the other breed of wolf, they have naturally golden eyes, they don't have the ability to have their eye color change because they have to take a life to trigger their curse. Their eye color will always be golden.

### Primordial Werewolf

The Primordial werewolves have different eye colors, some has gold like a normal werewolf and some has red like an alpha werewolf and Selene has bright green eyes.

## Trivia

* Several characters have had their eye colors change throughout the series, including:
	+ Derek Hale: Gold as a young Beta, Blue as a Beta after killing Paige *("Visionary")*, Red as an Alpha *("Code Breaker")*, Blue as a Beta again after giving up his Alpha spark to heal Cora *("Alpha Pact")*, Gold briefly during his evolving process, Blue again after evolving process ended *("Smoke and Mirrors")*, and Red again as a True Alpha *("Teen Wolf: The Movie")*. This makes him the character with the highest number of eye color changes.
	+ Peter Hale: Gold as a young Beta *("Visionary")*, Blue as a Beta after his first innocent kill, Red as an Alpha *("Wolf Moon")*, Blue again upon resurrection as an Omega *("Battlefield")*
	+ Jackson Whittemore: Reptilian as a Kanima *("Lunatic")*, Blue as an Omega Werewolf *("Master Plan")*
	+ Scott McCall: Gold as an Omega *("Wolf Moon")*, Red as a True Alpha *("Lunar Ellipse")*.
	+ Satomi Ito: Gold as an Omega *("The Fox and the Wolf")*, Red as an Alpha *("Weaponized")*
	+ Garrett Douglas: Red as an Alpha *("Sundowning")*, Bluish-Green as a Ghost-Rider-Enhanced Löwenmensch *("Heartless")*
	+ Jordan Parrish: Reddish-Orange as a Hellhound, Bluish-Green as a Ghost-Rider-controlled Hellhound *("Blitzkrieg")*
	+ Ethan and Aiden: Red as an Alphas (Tattoo), Blue as Omegas (Galvanize)
* The eye design and its glow effect have changed throughout the series, especially in the earlier seasons when the effects were achieved through a combination of CGI and colored contact lenses. For example, Scott's gold eyes in earlier seasons were a dull yellow that was almost green when not glowing. In Season 3, the eyes changed again, specifically its actual pattern, as whenever they did use the glowing effects, the Werewolves' eye color didn't fully encompass the iris, causing it to have a sunburst or star-like pattern, which was later dropped in favor of the fully-glowing eyes that are currently used.
* In a Season 3 Promo trailer taglined *"This Might Hurt"*, red, yellow, blue, and black eyes are seen up close. However, these pitch black onyx eyes were not seen in the season.