Hellhounds

"*Woden's Hunt, also known as the Wild Ride or Wild Hunt. A myth of devilish riders in the sky, accompanied by black dogs, spectral beasts whose eyes glowed with fire... A Bearer of Death and Guardian of the Supernatural, the Black Dog is also known by its more common name, the Hellhound.*"
—Lydia Martin about **The Hellhound** in *Status Asthmaticus*

**The Hellhound,** also known as the **Black Dog** or the **Bearer of Death**, is an amortal supernatural spirit with pyrokinetic and thermokinetic abilities who possesses the bodies of humans when they are reborn on Earth to complete their destined duties. It is said to be the guardian of the supernatural world, and it is their duty to make sure this world remains a secret to the human world no matter what. They are neither good nor evil, being utterly neutral and focused only on their "natural" duty. Jordan Parrish is the only known Hellhound vessel so far in the *Teen Wolf* series.

According to folklore and legend, the vessel of the Hellhound often has no idea who they are; for example, Parrish had no idea that he had been possessed by the Hellhound for over a year until he was finally informed of his supernatural identity byChris and Gerard Argent in *The Sword and the Spirit* Because the Hellhound is a creature of the night, the transformation into their Hellhound form usually happens after nightfall, during which point it completely takes over its human host, repressing the host's spirit until their job is done for the evening. The transformation has thus far been shown to be a sort of blackout, where the person has no memories of what they did while the Hellhound was in control, though over time, Parrish has begun to recall bits and pieces of what he witnessed.

The Hellhound's eyes glow reddish-orange like flames, and they are immune to fire, though exposure to it will often trigger a transformation as a survival mechanism. For example, Parrish was burned alive in a car, but moments later, he walked into a police station with no burns or permanent damage, save for the melted and burned remnants of his uniform. The Hellhound has also been shown to possess the ability to generate flames and heat around their body, which they can use as an offensive weapon in battle, such as when Parrish burned the chameleon-esque Chimera, Corey, after the latter grabbed him by the arm while Parrish was in Hellhound-mode.

## Characteristics

It is unknown how many Hellhounds exist in the *Teen Wolf* universe, but at present, the only one known is currently residing within Jordan Parrish. This Hellhound has gone by many names throughout its immensely long life, including Cerberus, Garmr, the Black Shuck, and the Black Dog, presumably gaining the names from various different cultures' version of the Hellhound legend in mythology. However, it appears that these are all simply different names for the same eternal Hellhound spirit. From the short amount of time the Hellhound has been seen in control of Parrish's body, he has given the impression of being aloof and focused solely on fulfilling his mission, barely seeming to notice anything else around him due to his view that it is small and unimportant. However, he is perfectly willing to eliminate any obstacle in his path if they seem to get in his way, such as the violence he has committed in his pursuit to take the bodies of the dead Chimeras to the Nemeton.

That said, he worked with Scott McCall, Stiles Stilinski, and Liam Dunbar, allowing them to follow him in his pursuit of the Banshee, Lydia Martin, at Eichen house; he even moved Stiles out of the way with only minimal force so he could shield them from the force of the Banshee's scream. This contrasts strongly with his reaction to the members of the Chimera Pack, who he forcefully attacked after Theo Raeken ordered them to take him down. The Hellhound even warned Scott and his pack about the Beast's trap, suggesting that he at the very least views them as innocent lives who are not worth killing.

Personality wise, the Hellhound is seemingly completely neutral and thus neither good nor evil. He views Parrish as nothing more than a vessel in his mission to defeat the Beast, but he was willing to listen to Lydia when she told him that he could only defeat his foe by accepting Parrish's spirit and allowing them to work together. While his duty is to cover up the supernatural, he hasn't attempted to kill witnesses of his behavior, nor those who know about the supernatural, suggesting that he has some sort of moral code regarding loss of life.

## Physical Appearance

Although they are said to be black dogs, Hellhounds thus far have shown only a human form. When they show their true nature, however, their eyes turn a bright shade of deep crimson orange or green akin to fire. Normally, when they shift, their bodies become set on fire.

## Powers and Abilities

Hellhounds possesses many supernatural abilities, as a result of their demonic origins. While insubstantial under normal circumstances, Hellhounds are able to assume a corporeal form.

* **Harbinger of Death:** Hellhounds are unconsciously drawn to dead supernaturals, most recently the dead chimeras created by the Dread Doctors, in order to protect the secrecy of the supernatural world. As a result, Jordan often goes into "Hellhound fugue states" where he enters a trance and retrieves the bodies of supernaturals before bringing them to the Nemeton and setting them ablaze as part of a yet-undefined ritual. During these trances, Jordan's Hellhound spirit is in control and is single-minded in its mission to protect the supernatural secret; he has even been shown to be violent, though he will remain calm so long as no one gets in his way. It appears that Jordan's Hellhound spirit has a somewhat conscious mind, however, because he stopped and waited for Liam Dunbar to finish saying goodbye to his girlfriend Hayden Romero before taking her body to the Nemeton.
* **Amortality**: According to the Hellhound, they are beyond life and death and are one of the few (if not the only) infinite beings in the *Teen Wolf* universe. He implied that his spirit is extremely old, and judging by the comment he made about being known as Cerberus, a Hellhound figure from Ancient Greek mythology, he has possibly existed for millennia. While the human vessels of the Hellhound may perish in time, the Hellhound spirit itself exists forever by being reborn into new human bodies when he has a supernatural duty to fulfill on Earth.
* **Possession**: The Hellhound can take a human vessel by imbuing it with its spirit and power. By doing so, the human gains all of the powers and the abilities of the Hellhound, a process the Hellhound has performed countless times throughout its long life.
* **Super Strength:** The Hellhound is incredibly strong. This was demonstrated when Parrish knocked Theo out with one punch and flipped over Stiles' Jeep with ease while Stiles was still inside of it. It even had enough strength to possibly rival The Beast by blocking its strong strikes, though he had to this with two hands due to the immense size difference between them. Hellhounds are stronger than and are able to overpower and kill humans, even demons, and possibly angels. They can easily knock down and overpower humans with little difficulty.
* **Super Speed, Agility, and Reflexes:** Like most supernatural creatures, the Hellhound is very fast, easily faster than any normal human. The Hellhound appears to be one of *Teen Wolf's* most swift creatures, as it was running so fast that it easily kept up with the pace of The Beast of Gevaudan, and was able to completely clear up the blood and body left after Donovan Donati's death within moments so that it appeared as though no one had ever been there.
* **Super Senses:** The Hellhound's heightened senses allow them to sense, smell or hear things that normal humans cannot.
* **Shapeshifting:** The Hellhound has the ability to transform the bodies of their human hosts into Hellhound form, which involves glowing reddish-orange eyes, retractable claws and fangs that are deadly sharp, and skin that has the appearance of black volcanic rock with veins of molten lava running through it. The Hellhound can also create flames that cover their entire body.
* **Accelerated Healing:** The Hellhound has been shown to heal from mild to moderate wounds extremely quickly. Parrish has had his abdomen clawed open and his chest impaled with a pipe, both of which healed completely within an hour. It appears that the Hellhound's healing ability is related to its fire, as the wounds are shown to literally smoke until the tissue is regenerated. This healing happens much quicker when the Hellhound is in control; when their human vessel is in control, their healing is remarkably decreased in speed.
* **Pyrokinesis/Thermokinesis**: The Hellhound possesses the ability to produce extremely hot flames from within their body, which they can use for many different effects. The Hellhound, while in Parrish's body, has been seen using the flames his body creates to set fire to the bodies of the dead Chimeras whom he was protecting, to enhance his fighting by using flaming fists to hit opponents, and using it as a defensive mechanism, such as when Corey grabbed him and was subsequently set ablaze. The Hellhound can also use the heat generated by their flames to increase the temperature of a room and melt the bars of metal doors so they can escape and pursue their goal.
* **Fire Immunity**: Due to their pyrokinetic and thermokinetic abilities, the Hellhound is completely immune to the effects of heat and fire. Jordan Parrish was once doused in gasoline and set on fire, and the only negative side effect that occurred was that his clothing melted; otherwise, he suffered no burns or injuries of any kind. Fire is even able to bring the Hellhound into control.
* **Supernatural Immunity**: Like Banshees, the Hellhound is immune to several types of supernatural phenomenon. Electricity, including that produced by Kitsune and Chimeras with electrokinetic abilities (like Josh Diaz), have no effect on the Hellhound, nor will Kanima venom paralyze them like it does other humans and supernatural creatures. They also are immune to Mountain Ash, due in part because their pyrokinesis literally burns the mystical barrier out of it.
* **Invisibility:** Hellhounds are invisible to humans, except under special circumstances. However, many supernatural creatures, such as demons and angels, can see them. They can also be seen by the humans they are assigned to hunt and through an object scorched with Holy Fire.
* **Invulnerability:** Hellhounds cannot be killed by conventional means or weapons.
* **Super stamina:** Once a hellhound has the scent of its prey, it will never stop hunting him or her, unless it is killed.
* **Superhuman Endurance:** Hellhounds are incapable of being harmed or slain by most forms of conventional injury, including firearms or blades. Furthermore, these beasts cannot feel the pain that would result from such attacks.
* **Hellfire Breathing:** They are able to breathe hellfire in either form, burning his victims’ souls.
* **Fangs and Claws:** Hellhounds are able to deliver a powerful bite and inflict scorching gashes with their black claws.
* **Probability Manipulation:** Hellhounds are harbingers of death, and those who are unfortunate enough to encounter them are fated to die or meet with great misfortune within a year’s time. Looking into the Black Dog’s fiery eyes means certain death within a year, and attacking the Hellhound will bring about fatal consequences.
* **Fear Inducement:** These demonic spirit dongs are able to induce feelings of overwhelming terror in a victim through their malicious glare alone, oftentimes causing total bodily paralysis (although this effect is only temporary).
* **Affliction:** If attacked, Hellhounds are able to inflict savage, excruciatingly painful wounds, which are slow to heal (if the wounds heal at all).
* **Precognition:** They seem to be able to predict the deaths of people, often appearing before someone dies and howling when someone is knocking at death’s door.
* **Intangibility:** Hellhounds are seemingly impervious to physical attacks. Bullets, blades, and fists pass through the spirit’s ethereal body completely.
* **Superhuman Intelligence:** Despite their ferocious animal nature, Hellhounds are exceptionally intelligent, able to anticipate the actions of eyewitnesses and counter them (in one instance, an attacker who tried to kick the Hellhound found his foot in the spirit’s mouth).
* **Teleportation:** They are able to dematerialize and disappear at will, as well as render themselves completely invisible. Travelers can still feel the Hellhound’s sinister presence, even if he has disappeared.
* **Tracking:** They can locate or find anyone they are after.
* **Hallucinations:** When close to their prey, hellhounds cause their victims to experience hallucinations, so as to frighten them out of hiding and leave them defenseless.

## Weaknesses

The Hellhound is implied to be reborn on Earth in the body of a human when it has a duty to fulfill, such as the Hellhound's current mission is to defeat The Beast of Gevaudan and possibly protect the Nemeton. When the Hellhound is possessing a human, they are only partially active, as they spend most of the daytime hours in human form where their control is suppressed, and therefore their vessel is usually ignorant to their true nature. Additionally, they are more vulnerable during the daylight hours, as it usually isn't until after nightfall that they take their Hellhound form. Fire is currently the only known thing that can reliably force the transformation from Human to Hellhound so as to counter this weakness. Additionally, because of their dual nature, their actions while in Hellhound form can be unpredictable. The dual nature is implied to be the reason why the Hellhound is losing his battle against the Beast, as it is fighting against Parrish's spirit for control.

## Trivia

* Most vessels of the Hellhound are unaware of their true nature.
* Banshees, particularly Lydia Martin, have a unique connection with the Hellhound due to the fact that they're both harbingers of death.
* So far, the Hellhound has been shown to be nearly unstoppable; though they are vulnerable in their human form, any life-threatening injury will cause them to revert to Hellhound form, at least until they are fully healed.
* The Hellhound seems destined to face the resurrected The Beast of Gevaudan. Parrish is the only being known to survive an encounter with it thus far, though Parrish admitted he knew he was losing in their last fights.
* It has been suggested that Parrish will need to evolve to be able to beat the Beast as the Hellhound, possibly implying that there may be a way for Parrish and the Hellhound to coexist in one body rather than fighting back and forth for control.
* The internal battle between the Hellhound and Jordan Parrish shares many similarities to the battle between the Beast and the teenage Chimera who is acting as its host, as well as Kira Yukimura and the battle she's facing with her inner Kitsune spirit.
* It is unknown where the Hellhound resides when it isn't possessing a human vessel on Earth.