Anuk-ite

The **Anuk-ite** is an ancient shapeshifter known among Druids as a creature of disharmony that can manipulate people into turning on each other. It does this by creating and amplifying a person's fear, as well as any associated emotions such as paranoia, panic, anger, even suicidal ideation. This causes people, even those who have never or desired to commit violent acts becoming hostile to the source of their fear. As a result, the Anuk-ite has no need to commit violence personally or require the physical powers that most other supernaturals possess; claws, fangs, etc. All the while, the Anuk-ite feeds on the fear of those affected by its powers, which makes it more powerful and dangerous.

Because it is known for causing disharmony and discord, the Anuk-ite is also known as "Double-Face" or "Two-Faces," with representations of the creature typically depicting half of its face as beautiful, and the other half as hideous. After the Anuk-ite's existence was first figured out by the McCall Pack and their allies, it was initially unclear whether this information meant that the Anuk-ite was two different people or if it was two different creatures who would ultimately be unstoppable once they merged. However, it was eventually revealed that the latter was true, as the Anuk-ite had taken over the identities of a human, Aaron, and a Werewolf, Quinn, believing that the supernatural half would prevent it from ever being imprisoned again.

## Release

The original form of the Anuk-ite that was imprisoned by the Wild Hunt remains unknown. However, upon its release, it transformed into a flood of spiders which chose its two victims, Aaron and Quinn, and began stealing its identity, leaving them nothing more than flayed corpses devoid of DNA. Though it began living on under their identities, gaining more and more strength by inducing fear in everyone around them, they were also capable of reanimating the corpses of their victims to create more discord and disharmony. Those affected by the Anuk-ite's powers began behaving in ways that they ordinarily wouldn't due to their increased fear, paranoia, violent impulses, and self-doubt.

Because of how powerful it is, the creature was eventually taken by the Ghost Riders of the Wild Hunt in an effort to contain it in the dimension colloquially known as the Phantom Train Station. According to a premonition experienced by the Banshee Lydia Martin, the creature was released when Scott McCall, Malia Tate, and herself opened a Rift to rescue Stiles Stilinski from the Hunt.

## Beacon Hills

The Anuk-ite takes the form of a wolf in Lacrosse game where Scott McCall as the assistant coach and Liam Dunbar who transfer into a senior. As the animal is intimidate by the True Alpha it runs into the woods revealing dead bodies of wolves releasing a flood of spiders as it's trying to find two people.

## Mythology

In the real world, the Anuk-ite is a mythological creature of the Plains Indian tribes in what is now the United States of America, specifically the Cheyenne, Sioux, and Omaha tribes. The creature is known by many names, such as *Hestovatohkeo'o* and *Héstova'kéke* in Cheyenne, and *Anuk-Ité*, *Anuk Ite Win*, and *Winyan Nupa* in Sioux; in English, the Anuk-Ite is known as Double-Face, Sharp-Elbows, Two-Faces, Two-Faced People, and Twoface, among many others. In some legends, it is only one creature (or, rather, a two-faced woman and/or a two-faced man) that appears as a human but has a second face on the back of its head, while other legends state that the Anuk-ite is a race of two-faced creatures. They are known to act violently by kidnapping, mutilating, and even eating other people.

## Characteristics

Because the Anuk-ite is also known as "Two-Faces or "Double-Face" it's speculated that it can manifest itself in several different forms. When it first appeared in the series, it took the form of hundreds of spiders, which then consumed the genetic material of its two victims, the human teenager Aaron and the Beta Werewolf Quinn. Following the consumption, the victims were reduced to corpses that appeared to have had their skin flayed from their bodies. These corpses bore little to no traits of their former identity (with only Quinn's body retaining the symbol of her pack due to the fact that the symbol was burned into the muscles of her arm), and could be reanimated by the Anuk-ite by imbuing it with more of its spiders; from there, the creature could then use the reanimated corpse's grotesque appearance to create and amplify even more fear in a given area and feeding on the fear-related emotions it induced, from a remote location.

These flayed corpses were able to induce fear even without being animated by the Anuk-ite itself, as demonstrated when Melissa McCall and Chris Argent had to force themselves just to get close enough to it to obtain a tissue sample, believing it could help them learn more about the creature. However, when Melissa looked at the sample with a microscope, she discovered that the body tissue possessed no identifying factors, such as DNA, fingerprints, gender traits, etc.

Because it has the means to sustain itself on the emotions it induces in others, the Anuk-ite need not rely on supernatural weapons such as fangs or claws like most shapeshifters do to give themselves the advantage in combat, and it is unknown if the Anuk-ite possesses any other defenses. However, this does not mean that the Anuk-ite is unable or unwilling to resort to violence, as the merged form of the creature engaged in a physical fight with Scott McCall after he temporarily blinded himself to prevent him from being influenced by the Anuk-ite's Petrification power.

Both halves of the Anuk-ite each possess a supernatural connection to one another in that if one is harmed, the other will manifest the wound as well. The Anuk-ite can use this to track down its other half, as shown when "Aaron" baited Theo Raeken into attacking him so that "Quinn" would gain the information needed to reunite with him.

## History

Very little is known about the Anuk-ite, except for the fact that it is regarded as an ancient shapeshifter by supernatural scholars such as Alan Deaton. This could mean that it is one of the oldest supernatural creatures in existence. What is conclusively known about its history is that it became so powerful that there was no other choice but to seal it within the Wild Hunt, believed to be the only known location where such a powerful and dangerous shapeshifter could be safely contained.

The McCall Pack successfully saved Stiles Stilinski and the majority of the Beacon Hills community (both human and supernatural) from the Wild Hunt by defeating the Ghost Riders led by Garrett Douglas (a Ghost Rider empowered *Löwenmensch*). However, because the Wild Hunt's captives aren't meant to escape, the Anuk-ite was inadvertently released into the town of Beacon Hills, where the rift between the real world and what is known as the Phantom Train Station was created by Scott McCall, Malia Tate, and Lydia Martin.

Upon the Anuk-ite's release from its prison, it seemingly spent the first three months slowly inflicting its fear-inducing power on the town, feeding on all of the related emotions that came of it and eventually building up its strength. It started by causing fear and panic among a mundane wolf pack in the Beacon Hills Preserve and the population of rats that lived in the sewers. From there, the Anuk-ite took the form of hundreds of spiders, which it used to infect and eventually consume the bodies of two separate victims, one human and one Werewolf, Aaron and Quinn.

Stealing the DNA, traits, and identity of the two victims, each half of the Anuk-ite worked to find its pair, testing (and, in the process, killing) multiple people in the process until they finally merged. However, despite gaining the power to petrify a being into stone simply by making eye contact, the even-more-powerful Anuk-ite was ultimately defeated by Scott McCall (who temporarily blinded himself to rid himself of any fear of the creature) and Stiles Stilinski (who used Mountain Ash to turn the Anuk-ite's power against itself).

The Anuk-ite left a legacy of prejudice and fate behind it, even in death, as it was its fear-inducing power that caused Tamora Monroe and Gerard Argent to create a global army of Hunters to commit a mass genocide of supernatural creatures all over the world. Though the defeat of the Anuk-ite did cause many to lose their motivation to fight against the supernaturals, many more were devoted to the cause even before their pre-existing fears were amplified, causing the army to continue to be a threat years after the Anuk-ite was slayed.

## Culture

It's unknown whether the Anuk-ite seen in the series is a single creature or a supernatural species, and, if it is the latter, whether or not it possesses any kind of culture or society as a species aside from causing fear and strife wherever they go. This is likely why the Anuk-ite was sealed within the Wild Hunt; since the it possesses no understanding of right or wrong, and appears to have a more animalistic mindset, it would to chaotic to allow to roam the earth. Its also likely that the Anuk-ite presence would expose the world of the supernatural, a secret which the Hellhounds of the Wild Hunt are tasked with protecting.

For reasons unknown, the Anuk-ite initially took the form of two separate beings, but Alan Deaton, a Druid familiar with the creature, and Halwyn, the Hellhound who imprisoned it, both stated that once the two halves merged, the Anuk-ite would be nigh-unstoppable. did mention after discovering what the creature is, that due to the Anuk-Ite possessing two-faces (one beautiful, and one horrifying), that if both of these 'faces' where to unite, the Anuk-Ite would become unstoppable, though it is a mystery as to what kind of bodies it needs to take before merging, whether supernatural or otherwise.

## Powers and Abilities

### Pre-Merging

* **Pathokinesis**: The Anuk-ite possesses the power to manipulate the emotions of others, specifically fear and its related feelings such as anger, paranoia, etc.
	+ **Fear Inducement**: The Anuk-ite has the power to induce feelings of fear in living beings (humans, supernaturals, and even animals) as well as amplify fear that already exists in a person. It used this power to scare the human population of Beacon Hills into turning against the supernatural community and joining Tamora Monroe and Gerard Argent's Hunter army, who was dedicated to the eventual genocide of all supernatural creatures. This power went so far as to drive normally kind people to act violently, to the point of killing others and even committing suicide. The Anuk-ite could imbue locations with this power as well, causing anyone who comes near them to be crippled by intense fear.
	+ **Fear Empowerment**: The Anuk-ite was not only able to induce fear in others, but it was able to essentially feed on the resulting fear and negative emotions its power creates, making itself more powerful in the process. During its fight against True Alpha Werewolf Scott McCall, the Anuk-ite stated, "Your fear brings me freedom," implying that the creature was intent to generate enough fear that neither the Wild Hunt nor anyone else could ever imprison him.
* **Zoopathy**: The Anuk-ite possessed the power to control animals, specifically spiders, which it could thereby use for a number of effects, such as enhancement of its fear inducement power, allowing the Anuk-ite to cause more fear even remotely.
	+ **Identity Theft**: The Anuk-ite was able to use this power to consume the genetic material of its host, stealing their DNA and traits so that they can make themselves look like the victim in question. The creature used this aspect of its power on Aaron and Quinn, leaving only a flayed corpse behind that was devoid of any DNA or cellular structure.
	+ **Pairing Identification**: The half of the Anuk-ite who took on the appearance of Aaron used this aspect of zoopathy to test supernatural creatures in an effort to find its other half. When this power was used against Werewolves, Werecoyotes, and other shapeshifters, those being tested would develop reddened blood vessels all over their body from the spiders infecting them and consuming their eyes.
	+ **Reanimation**: The Anuk-ite is capable of using the spiders under its control to reanimate the flayed corpses of its victims, allowing them to terrorize the area without being physical present itself. This was shown during the attempted peace summit between Scott, Malia and Lydia and Gerard Argent and Tamora Monroe, where the reanimated corpse was present to cause the two sides to turn on each other until the Hellhound Jordan Parrish used his pyrokinetic powers to defeat it.
* **Self-Link**: The two halves of the Anuk-ite possess a type of sympathetic link that causes injuries sustained by one half to be inflicted on the other. This power was used by "Aaron" and "Quinn" to find each other and finally merge.

### Post-Merging

* *Merging*: When the two sides of the Anuk-ite finally reunite, they are able to merge with one another and become more powerful. This was demonstrated when "Aaron" and "Quinn" began kissing each other, each infecting the other with the spiders under its control. The two then began a physical fight in which "Aaron," the human half, defeated "Quinn's" Werewolf half.
	+ **Shapeshifting**: Though the Anuk-ite is capable of a limited form of shapeshifting pre-merging (in terms of taking on the appearance of the victims consumed by its spiders), it is able to shapeshift further once it merged, taking on the appearance of a tall, thin man with no hair, sunken eyes (that can glow purple), and flayed skin.
* **Illusion Casting**: After merging, the Anuk-ite proved capable of implanting realistic illusions in the minds of its victims. It successfully tricked Peter Hale into thinking his daughter Malia Tate was in danger, as well as Jackson Whittemore and Ethan believing the other was in trouble. It almost convinced Derek Hale that his former girlfriend Jennifer Blake was alive and trying to get back to him, and it took on the form of the Nogitsune (both in its bandaged form and Void Stiles form) during its battle with Scott McCall.
	+ **Telepathy**: Given the nature of the illusions the Anuk-ite created, it is likely that this power has a basis in telepathy, allowing the ancient shapeshifter to look into the minds of its targets and replicate the memories they find most traumatizing.
* **Petrification**: After merging, the Anuk-ite is able to petrify anyone who makes eye contact with it into stone. This is fatal for humans, but supernatural creatures with Accelerated Healing powers will be in a state of limbo for some time before they finally die, giving them a chance to be saved by killing the Anuk-ite.

## Weaknesses

The main weakness displayed by the Anuk-ite is to Mountain Ash, a weapon commonly used against supernatural creatures. However, while a Werewolf or other shapeshifter would simply be trapped within or outside of a mountain ash barrier, the substance caused the Anuk-ite's powers to rebound off of the barrier and onto itself, causing its own body to be petrified into stone before disintegrating into a pile of ashes.

Since the Anuk-ite's talents lay in the mind, as evidenced by its power to manipulate emotions and create illusions, it lacks the physical strength of other shapeshifters. Even after merging, the Anuk-ite could not match the True Alpha Werewolf Scott McCall once the latter temporarily blinded himself to prevent the Anuk-ite's mental powers from affecting him. The two halves also share injuries, indicating that the creature is more vulnerable in its separated form.

## Trivia

* This creature has abilities and a function similar to the Nogitsune, being an entity that is not physically involved and instead uses its powers to create discord and fear.
	+ It would later take on the form of the Nogitsune, both as Rhys and Stiles when confronting Scott in the series finale.
* It's unknown whether the Anuk-ite seen in *Teen Wolf* Season 6B is the only creature of its kind that was locked inside the Wild Hunt, or if multiple ones were sealed inside of the mystical dimension.