Chimera

A **Chimera** is a human who has been scientifically given the powers of at least one supernatural species by the Dread Doctors, although they typically have the traits of two of these species. According to Alan Deaton, these hybrid creatures are not bound by the same rules as real supernatural creatures since they were created through science rather than magic or mysticism, thus making them essentially enhanced humans. For example, Chimeras can handle Mountain Ash like any other human, whereas a true supernatural would be unable to touch or manipulate it in any way. Despite this, they are still beholden to some metaphysical rules that are too rigid to be broken, such as being unable to steal a True Alpha Werewolf's powers, as proven when both Belasko and Theo Raeken attempted to steal Scott McCall's True Alpha status; since neither were Betas who were bitten and turned by Scott himself, they were both unsuccessful.

As previously stated, Chimeras were created by the Dread Doctors, who specifically chose human teenagers with genetic chimerism (i.e. humans with two sets of DNA, caused by such factors as organ/tissue transplants or fetal resorption syndrome) as their test subjects in pursuit of the ideal vessel for the resurrected spirit of the Beast of Gevaudan. However, all but one of these Chimeras were referred to by the Doctors as "failures," as they transformed in ways that made them unsuitable vessels for the Beast. The majority of these failures were characterized by bleeding from the eyes, nose, and mouth; they often first began to bleed black blood before then getting nosebleeds or vomiting the modified mercury that the Dread Doctors used to turn them in the first place. They then began to forget who they were and eventually devolved into mindless beasts who fought everyone around them, as seen with Tracy Stewart, who was already prone to this madness due to her preexisting condition of night terrors.

The only truly successful Chimera was Mason Hewitt, who was a genetic chimera as a result of absorbing his twin in the womb rather than receiving an organ or tissue transplant, and who ultimately became the host for the Beast of Gevaudan; while Theo Raeken was considered to be a somewhat successful Chimera due to the fact that, he did not reject the transformation like the ten other Chimeras who were considered to be "failures," he was also not truly a success by the Dread Doctors' standards, since he was not a suitable vessel for the Beast's spirit.

## Transformation

The exact transformation process the Dread Doctors used to turn humans with genetic chimerism into super-powered Chimeras remains unknown, but from what was revealed, it appears that they began this process by identifying teenagers with two sets of DNA, likely because teenagers were more likely to survive the transformation than adults were. As seen with Tracy Stewart, it appears that once the test subjects were chosen, the Dread Doctors would give the soon-to-be Chimeras infusions of a modified mercury solution over multiple nights before burying them in the ground as a sort of incubation period.

Once the Chimera was able to dig themselves out of their makeshift graves, they began to exhibit the supernatural traits and powers of the creatures that made up their new hybrid nature, which in some cases meant the species of both creatures combined to create unique powers (though it is unknown how or why each Chimera gained the supernatural characteristics that they developed—it could be that the Dread Doctors chose the species that made up their Chimera nature, though this seems unlikely, or it could be a case of "the shape you take reflects the person that you are" in which the newly turned Chimera's supernatural nature is determined by their personality and body chemistry, which is typical of true supernatural creatures).

After this point, the Dread Doctors gave them a final mercury infusion. From there, the Chimeras would continue to be tested and experimented on, which may or may not include physical transformations like new sets of teeth, talons, or wings. Throughout this weeks-long process, the Dread Doctors would continually modify the memories of the Chimeras so that they wouldn't know what was being done to them until the Doctors were ready for them to be aware of their true nature.

It would quickly become clear whether they were successes or failures depending on their behavior after they exhibited their new hybrid powers. Rejection of this transformation would cause the Chimeras to begin to forget who they were and what was happening to them, sometimes involving hallucinations, and then they would begin to bleed black blood and become unable to heal their wounds at an accelerated rate. Once the Chimera began to bleed modified mercury from their eyes, noses, mouths, or open wounds, the Dread Doctors would determine that they were failures and kill them, as they believe failures tainted the experiment pool.

Mason Hewitt did not seem to go through this rejection process whatsoever due to his status as a truly successful Chimera, nor did Theo Raeken, who became a genetic chimera through a heart transplant performed by the Dread Doctors themselves when he was nine years old, and survived his transformation without any negative side-effects. However, the rest of the Chimeras all began to exhibit signs of being a failure and were subsequently killed, though four of them were resurrected by Theo using a green serum of the Dread Doctors' design that allowed them to successfully complete their transformations without issue after they were revived.

## Physical Appearance

Most of the Chimeras have their own unique form that was given to them by the Dread Doctors, though it remains unknown how or why the Chimeras gained the traits of their specific species. For some of these Chimeras, their physical characteristics appeared to be permanent and could not be transformed back and forth like typical shapeshifters. For example, Belasko had glowing blue talons, along with the ridged brow, fangs, and glowing blue eyes of a Werewolf, though the colors of his eyes changed when he siphoned the powers of a supernatural creature, such as when they turned fiery reddish-orange when he tried to take the Hellhound Jordan Parrish's powers; these physical characteristics did not seem to be retractable. Likewise, Donovan Donati's Wendigo fangs also appeared to be permanent due to the Dread Doctors pulling out all of his human teeth, though he could make his eyes transform back and forth from their human brown to Wendigo white, and could create lamprey mouths over his body at will as well. Zach also had wings growing out of his back until the Dread Doctors cut them off, and the female Chimera who was killed by Kira Yukimura at the McCall House had long, black, needle-like claws that may or may not have been retractable.

Other Chimeras are more like true shapeshifters, in that they have a human form and a Chimera form that usually resembled one or both of the supernatural creatures whose powers they possessed. For example, Josh Diaz, a Chimera with unknown donor species, had glowing purple eyes, claws (which physically resembled those of typical werecreatures but which glowed with the same purple light as his eyes), and large sharp fanged teeth, all traits that had never been seen before in any other known creature in the series. Upon completion of Tracy Stewart's transformation, her eyes originally glowed bright yellow, like those of a typical Beta Werewolf, but they later changed to resemble the eyes of a Kanima; to match her Kanima nature, she also could develop reptilian scales over half of her body and had a tail that she could extend and retract from her spine before Kira Yukimura cut it off with her sword.

Similarly, both Theo Raeken and Hayden Romero could both shapeshift their features into those that resembled a Beta Werewolf, including glowing golden eyes, claws, and fangs; however, Theo also possessed the ability to fully shift into a wolf due to his Werecoyote side, while Hayden demonstrated she could transform her skin to resemble a Werejaguar when she was dying of a mercury overdose. Noah Patrick had the ability to extend and retract Berserker claws from his wrist and hand, and could transform his face to resemble a Berserker's as well, which caused his eye sockets to become sunken in and darkened.

Additionally, one specific Chimera, Corey, doesn't have shapeshifting abilities whatsoever; instead, he can camouflage himself by pressing himself against his surroundings like a chameleon and can thereby make himself invisible to the human eye. Mason Hewitt, as the vessel for the Beast of Gevaudan, possessed all the powers of the Beast, including the ability to shapeshift from his own human form into a large, black bestial Werewolf by summoning the shadows and darkness around him to envelop him. This lasted until the Beast remembered who he truly was, after which point Mason shapeshifted into the human form of Sebastien Valet while retaining his own memories inside Sebastien's mind. Now that the Beast has been vanquished and Mason has been returned to his true form, it is believed that he no longer has any physical traits or powers of a Chimera, since his powers were derived fully from Sebastien's spirit.

## Powers and Abilities

The powers of a Chimera vary depending on the individual, though many of them who are partially of the same species may share similar powers; what powers they gain upon their transformation depends on what species make up their Chimera nature and how those two species combine with each other. Additionally, the degree of their powers may not be on the same level as the true supernatural creatures from whom they were derived. Theo Raeken has mentioned that he considers the Chimeras to be "cheap knock-offs," since their powers are still inferior to those of true shapeshifters, although the strength level of a Chimera can even vary within their own species.

Theo seemed to demonstrate the strongest abilities of all the Chimeras, likely due to the fact that he survived his transformation without any negative side effects, and possibly also as a result of the fact that he was turned when he was nine years old; for example, Theo was strong enough to overturn a Jeep, though he was still not as strong as Malia Tate, a Werecoyote, and his healing ability was strong enough to allow him to survive a snapped neck (though it should be noted that he had absorbed the powers of two other Chimeras at this point, which may have heightened the strength of his supernatural powers). Deucalion also referred to Hayden Romero as the next strongest Chimera in the Chimera Pack after Theo, though whether this was a true belief of his or merely a lie to win Hayden over remains to be seen; Hayden, prior to her transformation into a true Werewolf, did indeed appear to have reasonably powerful speed, agility, and senses (for example, she was able to jump onto the roof of Eichen House from the parking lot in a single bound without a running start), but for reasons unknown, her healing ability was inferior to most of her Chimera peers.

With that in mind, the most common abilities among them were superhuman physical attributes, such as enhanced strength, speed, agility/reflexes, durability, senses, and an accelerated healing factor, all of which seem to be possessed by all Chimeras, regardless of their combination of species, though there was still a great deal of disparity in the strength level of these individual powers. The next most common power was shapeshifting, which all the Chimeras seemed to possess in some manner with the exception of Corey, though this shapeshifting power varies based on the species of the Chimera in question.

Aside from these powers, the rest of the powers they possessed appeared to be somewhat unique to the individual in question—as previously stated, these unique powers were based on the specific supernatural species that made up the Chimeras' nature and the manner in which they combined with each other.

* **Belasko** had the common abilities of an Omega-level Werewolf in terms of physical attributes, but he could also absorb the powers of other supernatural creatures through his talons.
* **Tracy Stewart** possessed the fangs and claws of a Werewolf and the eyes, scales, and paralytic venom of a Kanima, along with the physical attributes of both. She also possessed incredible superhuman durability on a level far surpassing the rest of her peers, which made it so that not even a surgical steel scalpel could cut through her skin, although she was still vulnerable to the claws of Chimeras and true shapeshifters as well as weapons imbued with mystical energy, such as Kira Yukimura's katana. Unlike the majority of her part-Werewolf peers, Tracy did not develop the power to take the pain of living beings.
* **Donovan Donati** possessed the eyes, fangs, and cannibalistic hunger of a Wendigo and the ability to create lamprey mouths wherever he wanted on his body.
* **Lucas** had the claws and physical attributes of a Werewolf and the ability to produce scorpion stingers (complete with scorpion venom that caused agonizing pain in those exposed to it) on the back of his arms and spine.
* **Josh Diaz** had the glowing purple eyes, glowing purple claws, and fangs of unknown creatures, as well as electromagnetokinesis, or the ability to siphon, create, and manipulate electricity, magnetism, and electromagnetic fields. This power also gave him the ability to sense electrical and electromagnetic forces around him, as he needed a source of this energy to fuel his powers, and he experienced a euphoric "high"-like sensation when he absorbed electricity.
* **Hayden Romero** possessed the glowing gold eyes, claws, and fangs of a Werewolf as well as the unique skin patterning and the ability to sense Berserkers that is common among Werejaguars. However, the Werejaguar aspects of Hayden's powers were presumably lost upon her transformation into a real Werewolf after being given the Bite by Scott McCall. Like Werewolves, Hayden was also able to absorb the pain of living beings as a Chimera.
* **Theo Raeken** has the glowing gold eyes, claws, and fangs of a Werewolf, along with the ability to full-shift into a large black wolf due to his Werecoyote nature and the power to take the pain of living beings due to both species. After killing and absorbing the powers of Tracy Stewart and Josh Diaz, Theo gained the ability to excrete Kanima venom as well as the ability to absorb and manipulate electromagnetic energy, though these powers were lost after his imprisonment underground for nearly four months.
* **Corey Bryant** possesses the power of Adaptive Camouflage, allowing him to blend in with his surroundings through tactile contact in a manner similar to a chameleon. He was also able to camouflage at least one other person by touching them as well, and his power appears to have advanced to where he can now blend in with the air around him to become invisible, rather than blending himself into a tangible object such as a wall. He also possesses superhuman physical attributes such as super strength, speed, agility, reflexes, and a powerful an accelerated healing factor that allowed him to survive and recover from being completely engulfed in a Hellhound's hellfire, albeit with some help from Malia Tate's pain absorption ability.
* **Zach** possessed wings on his back, though once he began displaying symptoms of being a "failure," the Dread Doctors cut them off.
* **The unnamed female Chimera** who was found dead at the McCall House possessed long, black, needle-like claws on all of her fingers. It is unknown what other powers she possessed or from which species she inherited her powers. She was killed by Kira Yukimura while in a Kitsune-spirit-induced fugue state.
* **Beth** possessed superhuman physical attributes such as super strength, speed, agility, reflexes, and durability. It is unknown what other powers she possessed or from which species she inherited her powers, as she was killed by the Dread Doctors for being a "failure" before it could be revealed.

## Weaknesses

Unlike true supernatural creatures, Chimeras have shown no specific weakness to substances such as Wolfsbane or Mountain Ash, which are common vulnerabilities among supernatural creatures and shapeshifters. However, this does not make them unkillable or invulnerable, as they are still susceptible to death like any other living creature (though their accelerated healing ability does make it slightly more difficult to kill them than it would be for a human), as has been proven on multiple occasions.

For example, Josh Diaz was killed by Theo Raeken on two occasions; once after having his throat clawed out, and again after being impaled with Theo's claws and having both his pain and his powers siphoned out of him. Corey was nearly killed by Cerberus after being engulfed by the Hellhound's flames, and while Malia Tate's ability to take away pain helped his healing ability kick in enough to prevent him from dying, the burns still took several days to heal. Lucas, who showed showed extraordinary strength in battle, was killed after being shot in the heart with a retractable crossbow bolt, and Donovan Donati was killed similarly after being impaled in the chest by a large metal brace. Chimeras also seem to be susceptible to overdoses from the same modified mercury that transformed them in the first place, as evidenced by both Tracy Stewart and Hayden Romero being killed by the Dread Doctors in this manner.

It also appears that Corey's power of supernatural camouflage wasn't effective against the Dread Doctors, who seemed to be able to see through his camouflage in order to kill him, possibly due to their own electromagnetokinetic powers; additionally, while his camouflage ability does allow him to mask his physical presence, it will not mask his scent or his heartbeat, allowing true shapeshifters and Chimeras with heightened senses of smell and hearing to track him even if he isn't visible.