Skinwalker

**Notice:** This **article** uses content directly taken from the Skinwalker **article** at the Teen Wolf Wiki, and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.
**Skinwalkers** are a species of shapeshifters who were introduced in *Teen Wolf* in Season 5. According to Native American folklore, Skinwalkers are people that possess the ability to shapeshift into any animal at will. They are often referred to as medicine men, witches or, in the Navajo language, *yee naaldooshii*, which translates to “with it, he goes on all fours.” In most legends, Skinwalkers are considered evil, but in the series, this doesn't seem to be the case; Noshiko Yukimura and Athena Beaumont even made a point of reminding Kira Yukimura that the Skinwalkers wearing animal pelts and fighting with spears was not that different from Kira herself wearing a leather jacket and wielding a *katana*. They traditionally transform into wolves, coyotes, owls, foxes, or crows, but they are said to be able to turn into any animal so long as it is native to their region. They've been known to wear the pelt of the animal they desire to shift into, though this doesn't seem to be a requirement.

In most Native American lore, this rare form of shapeshifter can also possess the ability to "to steal the face" or shapeshift into another person. How this ability is acquired is varies between cultures; many believe a Skinwalker can steal someone's form by looking them in the eyes, while others believe they could only access this ability after they killed a blood relative.

The Shiprock Skinwalkers were introduced in *Damnatio Memoriae* after Athena, Noshiko, and Kira sought them out to ask for their assistance in teaching Kira control her inner Kitsune spirit, which has grown too powerful for her to keep contained. Though the Skinwalkers, three indigenous American women who live in Shiprock, New Mexico, agreed to help Kira, they did so under one condition: if Kira was unsuccessful in controlling her inner Fox spirit after their training and testing, Kira would be forced to stay with them and become a Skinwalker herself, spending the rest of her days walking under the sun and through the dust with them.

After their initial sparring match with Kira when Kira, Noshiko, and Athena arrived, the Skinwalkers used a special wrap to help the Thunder Kitsune heal her battle wounds faster while they prepared a test for her that involved fighting a desert version of an Oni demon, insisting that Kira could only return home if she passed the test. However, though Kira defeated the Oni, it was because her Kitsune spirit took control and destroyed it, proving that Kira was not in control and causing her to fail the test. When the Skinwalkers attempted to get her to stay and become one of their kind, Athena and Noshiko fought the women until Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski arrived to rescue them.

In *The Beast of Beacon Hills*, Kira, knowing that she needed help in order to help defeat the Beast and save the life of her friend and packmate Mason, returned to Shiprock to ask for the Skinwalkers' help once again. Despite the fact that their last meeting ended on very poor terms, the Skinwalkers did agree to help and gave Kira a message to give to The Chosen One and defeat the threats to Beacon Hills (the Beast and the Werecoyote-Werewolf Chimera Theo Raeken); however, they once again had a condition-- after Kira protected her friends and defeated the town's threats, she would return to Shiprock and train with them in order to finally get control over her inner Fox spirit. As pained as Kira was to be separated from her family and pack, Kira agreed to these terms and worked with the Skinwalkers to help organize Kira's plan for when she returned to Beacon Hills.