Shtriga

"*A Shtriga. It's kind of like a witch. Actually, it's kind of witch. They're Albanian, but legends about them date back to Ancient Rome. They feed of Spiritus Vitae or 'Breath of Life'. You know, kind of like your life force or essence. You know, she takes your vitality, maybe your immunity goes to Hell, pneumonia takes hold. Shtriga's can feed off anyone, but they prefer children. Because they have stronger life force. Shtrigas are invulnerable to virtually all weapons devised by God and Man.*"
—Rayne, describing a Shtriga
**Shtriga** is a witch-like supernatural creature of Albanian origin that feeds off children's lifeforce, and takes on a friendly appearance in society. Shtriga is Albanian for "witch," however they are monsters not witches.

In Albanian folklore a **Shtriga** is a witch who preys upon infants by drinking their blood at night. But instead of transforming into an owl when she goes for her midnight snack, she is more apt to take the form of a flying insect.

Even recently many Albanians regard the Shtriga as the most common cause of infant deaths.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Longevity/Immortality:** By feeding off life force, the Shtrige can live for an extended long period of time, the limits of this are unknown.
* **Drain Spiritus Vitae/Life Force Draining:** Shtrigas can remain immortal by sucking the life force out of children, they can drain the life force of humans of any age, but prefer children. The life force that Shtrigas suck out is called "Spiritus Vitae" with is Latin for "Breath of Life." Due to this, their hand prints cause wood to rot. When they die, the life force they stole will return to all the children still alive.
* **Invulnerability:** Shtrigas are very difficult to kill. They can not be killed with normal weapons like standard bullets and knives, but Shtrigas can only be killed when it is feeding and then shot with iron bullets.
* **Shapeshifting:** By day a Shtriga can take a human disguise by shapeshifting into a human, so that no one, even hunters, won't be able to suspect or detect the witch creature. At night, the Shtriga can transform back to its hag form. They commonly take the form of old women, but this is not a rule. This particular Shtriga depicted in the episode took form as a local pediatrician, Dr. Hydeker.
* **Superhuman Strength:** Although most witches have normal human strength, Shtriga possess this ability. They can easily overpower humans and lift them and throw them with great force.
* **Superhuman Speed:** Shtrigas can move faster than humans. They use this ability to run from danger or for defense.

## Weaknesses

"*She's vulnerable when she feeds. If you catch her when she's eating, you can blast her with consecrated wrought irons, buckshots or rounds I think."*
—Rayne, about killing a Shtriga
As mentioned above, Shtriga's to almost all weapons ever created, making them difficult, but not impossible, to kill.

* **Consecrated Iron** - When feeding, a shtriga is vulnerable to consecrated iron rounds. However, the shtriga must actually be feeding as one was only killed when Dean shot it while it was feeding on Sam. An attempt beforehand when it was interrupted feeding on Michael failed.