Kanima

*“Like the wolf, its power is greatest at the moon's peak. Like the wolf, the Jackson from teen wolf Lydia’s boyfriend scott and stiles enemy Allison’s sneaky link*

*is a social creature but where the wolf seeks a pack the Kanima seeks a master."*
---Ms. Morrell to Allison Argent about **Kanimas** in Venomous

In Teen Wolf, the Kanima is a species of shape-shifter, as well as a reptilian supernatural creature. "The Kanima, a weapon of vengeance, is used to carry out the bidding of its master. The Kanima was once used by a South American priest who took it upon himself to rid his village of all murderers. The bond between master and servant grew stronger until the will of the master became that of the Kanima's and whomever the priest deemed unworthy, the Kanima served his vengeance." Jackson Whittemore is the only known real kanima, he became this creature when his inner emotional issues forced his body to reject an alpha bite. Because of this Jackson didn't turn into a Werewolf, he turned into a snake-like creature, the reason for this is believed that on rare occasions, the character of an individual will be reflected by the shape they take.

According to Peter Hale, the kanima has a beta and alpha form, what is seen from Jackson was only the beta form. Gerard Argent attempted to transition Jackson into an alpha form which would make him even more powerful, it was said to have had wings, the process involves the kanima wrapping itself within a cocoon made from its own venom. However, the process was interrupted before Jackson could complete his transition.

## Appearance

The Kanima is about the size of an average human. It has dark green reptilian scales; while the Beta form has a long, smooth, normal tail, the tail on an Alpha Kanima has spikes on its tail. The Alpha form also includes wings on the Kanima's back. Both forms of the Kanima have very large and sharp claws, almost like talons, that discharge some type of paralytic venom that is capable of rendering its victim totally immobile from the neck down within seconds. The length of time it takes to become fully paralyzed, as well as the length of time the person remains paralyzed, varies based on several different factors, such as how much venom they were exposed to and how they were exposed, as well as whether or not the victim has a supernatural healing ability. Like most reptiles, the Kanima can climb walls.

## Personality

Kanimas are described as social creatures, and they desire a master, someone to control them. Once this connection is made with their master, the Kanima will usually do whatever its told. If the bond is strong enough between the Kanima and its master then the master will only need to consciously will their intentions, and the Kanima will carry it out. However, after Matt had forced Jackson to kill several people from the 2006 Beacon Hills High School swim team, Matt then sent Jackson to kill a married couple from the team; though Jackson did successfully kill the man, he was unable to kill the woman after he realized that she was pregnant, forcing Matt to kill her himself. It is believed that this is because Kanimas are meant to only kill those who have committed murder, and killing a pregnant woman would not achieve this, though it is also possible that Jackson's past history (having been born via C-section after the death of his biological mother) prevented him from being able to go through with it as well. Because Matt had broken the metaphysical rules of the Kanima, he began to turn into a Kanima as well.

## Bestiary Entry

* Like the wolf, its power is greatest at the moon’s peak."
* "The Kanima is a mutation of the werewolf gene that cannot fully transform until it resolves that in its past which manifest it."
* "Like the wolf, the Kanima is a social creature but where the wolf seeks a pack the Kanima seeks a master."
* "The Kanima, a weapon of vengeance, is used to carry out the bidding of its master. The Kanima was once used by a South American priest who took it upon himself to rid his village of all murderers. The bond between master and servant grew stronger until the will of the master became that of the Kanima's and whomever the priest deemed unworthy, the Kanima served his vengeance."

## Powers and Abilities

* **Super Strength:** Kanimas possess a tremendous amount of strength. This was demonstrated in almost every encounter with it, as Jackson was shown to be capable of tearing through bones, ripping off car doors, and breaking through steel walls. The Kanima is superior in strength to most, if not all,Werewolves.
* **Super Speed**: Kanimas are capable of running faster than any human, and they also seem to be faster than werewolves; his was suggested when Derek Hale was chasing Jackson but couldn't catch up until after the Kanima had already stopped. They also appear to run faster when loping or better known as running on all fours.
* **Super Agility/Reflexes:'** Kanimas are supernaturally enhanced with agility and reflexes. The Kanima has been known to climb and flip of things with ease such as walls or buildings. They're also capable of leaping very large distances.
* **Super Durability:** Kanimas are supernaturally durable. They are much more durable to blunt force trauma than humans, allowing them to be thrown through walls and from tall heights with only minor injuries. They appear to far more durable than werewolves as well, Chris Argent emptied an entire clip into Jackson and it didn't even slow him down, and Allison Argent even shot him in the skull with a crossbow bolt, and he simply hissed and pulled it out without even being slightly or temporarily incapacitated.
* **Heightened Senses:** Kanimas have extremely sensitive senses of sight, hearing, and smell. They can see in the dark and across large distances, track scents for up to several miles and can hear whispered conversations from far away with ease. This ability allows them to do things that no human would be possible of doing.
* **Accelerated Healing:'** Kanimas are capable of healing rapidly even after the most extreme injuries such as being shot multiple times, getting stabbed and clawed or even getting its throat slashed by an Alpha. This extraordinarily enhanced healing factor allows them to heal from anything within moments. Because their healing factor is so extreme, just like Werewolves, its assumed that Kanimas can't become intoxicated.
* **Shapeshifting:** Kanimas possess the ability to shape shift their body into a lizard, they're also capable of only partially shifting certain features on their body such as their eyes to make them glow or shifting their hand to become reptilian and grow claws. The Kanima typically fully transforms and when that happens, its full body becomes snake-like with smooth, shiny green scales. When in their full Kanima form, the Kanima's claws are more like talons that secrete venom.
* **Paralytic Venom:** The Kanimas claws contain an unknown form of venom that can paralyze its victims in seconds or minutes, depending on the amount of exposure and the healing ability of the victim. Skin contact is required for the venom to take effect. Seeing as the kanima is like a snake, it should be noted that the Kanima in it's shifted form cannot be paralyzed by its own venom, however, in human form it can be paralyzed. If Kanima venom is injected into a human's body, it will cause their diaphragm to be paralyzed and prevent them from breathing, much like the lethal injections used on death row. However, this side effect does not happen to supernatural creatures with accelerated healing abilities, as Deucalionwas injected with a syringe full of Tracy's venom, and he was simply paralyzed for several hours.

## Weaknesses

* **Mountain Ash:** Kanimas cannot pass the the nearly impenetrable barrier created by the mountain ash. If done correctly, it would have no way out.
* **Ketamine**: Though it only works briefly at very, very large doses, Kanimas can be temporarily incapacitated by injections of the animal tranquilizer ketamine. This was demonstrated when Isaac Laheyinjected an entire vial of it into Jackson's neck at the rave, but it only kept him neutralized for several minutes before he transformed into his Kanima form and escaped.

## Trivia

* The Kanima is a mutation of the original wolf gene.
* The Kanimas alpha form was mentioned but never shown on screen.