Kanima

**Notice:** This **article** uses content directly taken from the Kanima **article** at the Teen Wolf Wiki, and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.
**The** **Kanima** is a type of human-animal hybrid that is reptilian in nature. It is considered a mutation of the werewolf gene, though how exactly they came to be remains a mystery.

## Biography

In a legend about the kanima found in the Bestiary belonging to the Argent family of hunters, the being is known as a weapon of vengeance; the legend in question detailed a South American priest who took control of a kanima, and used it to rid his village of murderers. The more the priest and master influenced the kanima, the symbiotic bond between them grew until the kanima began killing whomever its master wanted to die regardless of whether or not it had taken a life.

The kanima is essentially a werewolf whose transformation has somehow "gone wrong;" it is believed that this is as a result of the personal demons in the kanima's past, which for some reason caused the human to mutate and take on a more reptilian form. Unlike a werewolf, who is predisposed to seek out a pack (as it both makes them more powerful individually and provides them with a support system of fellow werewolves who are closer to them than family), the kanima is an inherently subservient being who seeks out a master to control its actions.

Jackson Whittemore is the only known person in the series to be a true kanima, although, judging by photos of Eichen House patients who had trephination performed on them by Gabriel Valack, there has been at least one other kanima in Beacon Hills in recent history. Jackson ultimately became this creature after he was given the bite by then-Alpha werewolf Derek Hale, when when his inner emotional issues (stemming from the abandonment he felt as a result of his biological parents' death prior to his birth and subsequent adoption by the Whittemore family) forced his transformation to become corrupted.

Instead of a transformation like most werewolves, in which they begin displaying supernatural powers such as accelerated healing and enhanced physical attributes such as superhuman senses, strength, agility/reflexes, and speed, etc., one at a time before transforming for the first time at the peak of the full moon, a kanima's transformation is much slower and more subtle, to the point where they might not even realize they are supernatural at first; this was evidenced after Jackson received the bite and believed that he was somehow immune to it because he blacked out during the full moon and didn't start consciously displaying his powers until weeks later. This further lends support to the theory that a transformation into a kanima is in a way corrupted, and has led to this well-known idiom in the supernatural community-- "The shape you take reflects the person that you are."

According to Peter Hale, the kanima has a Beta and Alpha form, though Jackson only demonstrated a Beta form. Gerard Argent attempted to transition Jackson into an Alpha form, which would have made him even more powerful after a brief incubation period, during which time the kanima would wrap itself in a cocoon of its own venom. However, the process was interrupted before Jackson could complete his transition.

Should a kanima discover the cause of its existence, such as solving an identity crisis and remembering who they are, the werewolf gene will correct itself and cause it to become a true werewolf rather than the mutation that they were, however, as seen in Jackson's case, a werewolf who was once a kanima will retain some abilities and characteristics such as kanima venom and its reptilian eyes, which can be summoned in lieu of its werewolf eyes with extra concentration. It will also be able to summon a tail and overall will possess a heightened tolerance to certain wolfsbane species.