Ōkami

• Jinrō

### Description

•Transform into large hyper-aggressive wolves on the night of a full moon, provided their gene has been triggered.

### Related Species

•Humans•Werewolves

•Wolf-shifters

•Vargulfs

•Aswangs

The **Ōkamis** are a japanese subspecies of werewolves that can turn completely in wolves.

## Triggering The Ōkami Gene

The Ōkami affliction is an inherited genetic condition due to a curse, and a person can only be a Ōkami if they are born to Ōkami parents; they cannot be turned by a bite or scratch like werewolves. Furthermore, the Ōkami gene must be "triggered" by taking the life of a human, either intentionally or by accident, in order to gain access to their enhanced physical abilities, though this comes at the cost of transforming into a wolf during every full moon. It does not matter if the kill was accidental or intentional, premeditated or out of self-defense — if a Ōkami causes the death of a human in any way, their Ōkami gene will be activated. Untriggered Ōkamis, however, can kill vampires without activating their curse.

## Physiology

### Food

Like normal humans, can eat human food if they wish. However, because they turn into ferocious beasts during the full moon, they are carnivores. When in wolf form, they can feed on human or vampire body parts and organs, but they are not required to ingest them in order to prolong their existence, like vampires, must do with blood. There are no known consequences from abstaining from human or vampire flesh while in wolf form. It seems that most werewolves do not get to feed on humanoid flesh, because most tend to lock themselves up during the full moon, or are scared or distracted away from their victim before they can eat them.

### Appearance

Ōkamis in their wolf form are quite similar to natural wolves, although unlike natural wolves, Ōkamis have glowing yellow or orange eyes, wicked fangs, a large sizw and a much more feral and predatory appearance. They can also be distinguished from regular wolves by their displays of supernatural strength, blurred speed, and size which is comparable to fully grown humans. The fur color of wolf forms differs from one to the other (e.g., Akira Inugami's fur color is dark brown, Masaki Okawa's is white and grey, Shizuka' is light brown with a hint of white, and Haruo's is tan and brown). Werewolves appear the same as any other human the rest of the month, aside from their enhanced abilities of speed, strength, and healing.

### Okami Transformation

A Ōkami will only transform into a wolf under a full moon. The first transformation is quite slow, and the person is subjected to at least five or six hours of intense, bone-breaking pain before the actual transformation. After the first transformation, the experience does not last nearly as long, but it is still painful and something many werewolves come to dread. Klaus mentions that embracing the transformation rather than fighting it as most werewolves do, would make the process faster. Hope Mikaelson, who was on her first transformation followed this advice and her transformation was considerably faster, taking only moments instead of hours. It is unknown if this is due to her unique nature or possible for any okami that accepts the transformation rather than fights them.

During the transformation, the body of the person is twisted in an unnatural manner as bones reshape and shift to form a wolf's skeleton, causing the person immense physical and psychological pain. Later, the okami grows excessive body hair and becomes feral. Their irises turn golden-yellow, their sclera turns black, and their teeth elongate into canines before they finally transform into their wolf shape. A okami returns to their human form after a few hours, sometimes sooner, sometimes later. After the first transformation, the werewolf will experience muscle aches.

Older Ōkamis can control themselves to some extent on the night of the full moon, but many find it necessary to dose themselves with wolfsbane to weaken them before they lock themselves up in chains to prevent hurting anyone while they're transformed. The Crescent okamis have seemed to gain much more control over their actions in wolf form than typical okamis, most likely, as a result, spending all of their time in wolf form while they were cursed by Céleste Dubois. Ōkamis also feel everything more sharply in their animal form, especially familial ties. Ansel, for example, would wake up from his transformation closer to his son's village after each full moon. Since he was brought back to life he would wake further from Klaus and New Orleans, drawn to his granddaughter, despite not even knowing she was alive. This shows familial ties in their wolf form prioritizes the younger generation over the old.

## Psychological Characteristics

Ōkamis are known to be aggressive, strong and fast, even in human form. Akira Inugami often had trouble controlling his temper, especially leading up to and during the full moon. Those with the werewolf curse still latent can exhibit some supernatural traits which can be triggered by aggression, along with unusual physical strength for the person's given size and age, but they cannot fully transform, and they also have a tendency to black out when they become overwhelmed in fits of rage. Ōkamis seem to have a strong sense of duty and loyalty to protect their own and feel a responsibility to help their fellow okamis whenever they can.