Wendigo (creature)

"Wendigo is a Cree Indian word. It means "evil that devours." They're hundreds of years old. Each was once a man, sometimes an Indian or other times a frontiersman or a miner or hunter.[...]During some harsh Winter, a person finds themself starving, cut off from supplies or help -- becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp. Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities -- speed, strength, immortality. If you eat enough of it, over years, you become this less-than-human thing. You're always hungry."

- Sam and Dean on the Wendigo

Wendigos are a type of cannibalistic supernatural monster whose name means "evil that devours."

Characteristics
"More than anything, a wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time. When it's awake, it keeps its victims alive. It stores them so it can feed whenever it wants."

- Dean, about the Wendigo

Wendigos were once human, but after being forced to eat human flesh to survive, they become supernatural monsters that retain little of the human features they once possessed. After their transformation, they begin to crave human flesh and feed solely on it.

Although their name is described as an 'evil spirit', it is technically a monster, which places it in the same classification as vampires and werewolves.

At the same time, Wendigos are embodiments of gluttony, greed, and excess; never satisfied after killing and consuming one person, they are constantly searching for new victims. It is also common that wendigos just capture humans to hoard their food, and then eat when hungry.

Wendigos are rarely seen out of Minnesota or the north of Michigan. They are hundreds of years old, and they also have hibernation behavior during the long, cold winters they must survive--meaning they must hoard food if it is scarce. In addition, they keep their victims in dark and isolated places, such as caves or abandoned mines.

Appearance


Wendigos are humanoid, standing at about fifteen feet tall. They appear emaciated with bones visible under their pallid skin, a symbol of their unquenchable hunger. Wendigos eyes are pushed back deep in their sockets, and have crooked, sharp, teeth. They are equipped with razor-like claws used to rip prey to shreds. They are sometimes said to have matted fur and have chunks of skin and flesh missing, due to consumption.

Powers and Abilities
Wendigos are excellent hunters, either during the day or at night, as Sam and Dean said themselves, "It's a damn-near-perfect hunter. It's smarter than you." and, "This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night." There are few possibilities to defeat a Wendigo during the day as they usually hunt at night, but it is almost impossible to defeat them at night, since it is their favorite period to hunt. Also despite being animal-like, Wendigos are intelligent, as intelligent as humans, thus making them even more dangerous.


 * Voice Mimicry - Wendigos can imitate the voices of humans to lure unsuspecting victims.
 * Immortality - Wendigos can live forever.
 * Super speed - Wendigos possess inhuman speed, enough to move from one place to another in seconds. Wendigos are arguably one of the fastest monsters.
 * Superhuman Strength - Wendigos are incredibly strong, even by monster terms, they can tear humans limb from limb, snap necks and carry two people at once and even drag them up a tree with ease. They are considered to be among the strongest of monsters.
 * Superhuman Agility - Wendigos can jump from tree to tree without being deterred by the foliage.
 * Invulnerability - Wendigos are invulnerable to (albeit irritated by) normal knives and guns.
 * Claws- Wendigo have giant claws, which they use to hunt or to attack.
 * Super senses- Wendigos possess enhanced senses, making them perfect hunters, they can see perfectly in darkness, and have similarly enhanced hearing.

Vulnerabilities
"Well, guns are useless -- and so are knives. Basically...we gotta torch this sucker."

- Dean on how to kill a Wendigo

Wendigo are difficult creatures to kill or even harm. There are few possibilities to defeat them during the day, but it is almost impossible to defeat them at night, since it is their favorite period to hunt. Despite the beast's immeasurable amount of power, there are ways to protect oneself from the Wendigo.


 * Fire - One of two only known ways to kill a Wendigo is to burn them to death. Wendigo are so sensitive to heat, they will even shun potential prey sitting before an open flame.
 * Anasazi symbols - Special Anasazi symbols, drawn in protective circles, will keep a Wendigo away, much as salt does with demons and ghosts.
 * The Colt - It can kill monsters.
 * The First Blade - It can kill anything.
 * Death's Scythe - It can kill anything.

Season 1
While trying to find their father, John Winchester, Sam and Dean help a family whose brother has gone missing on a camping trip. He has been taken by a Wendigo, but they find him alive in an abandoned mine where the Wendigo stores its victims as living food sources. Dean kills the creature by shooting it with a flare gun.

Season 6
In The Third Man, Sam finds a mask of a Wendigo in the trunk of the Impala. Dean tells him that he helped Ben Braeden make it for Halloween, and Sam admits that it is a good likeness.

In The Man Who Would Be King, a Wendigo is mentioned being in New Mexico by the demon Ellsworth to be captured by and brought in so Crowley can question it.

In Two Minutes to Midnight, Sam comments on how they used to hunt similar things, like Wendigo's.

Season 7
In Slash Fiction, Sam has a flashback to when he and Dean hunted a wendigo at Blackwater when he realizes that the Leviathans hit Blackwater and other towns they hunted at in order.

In How To Win Friends And Influence Monsters, Bobby rules out a wendigo as the culprit of the New Jersey attacks because there are no scratch marks.

Season 8
In Southern Comfort, Garth receives a phone call from a hunter named LaMar who is hunting a Wendigo. Garth asks him if he has a flare gun or a flamethrower, which apparently he does not, because Garth advises him to start running.

In Freaks and Geeks, Victor Rogers mentions that his family was killed by a Wendigo on a camping trip.

In Clip Show, Tommy Collins, the boy Sam and Dean saved from a Wendigo in Colorado, thinks he hears a Wendigo outside the cabin he is in with his girlfriend. He grabs a blow torch to protect her before his head explodes.

Lore
The Wendigo (also known as Windigo, Weendigo, Windago, Waindigo, Windiga,Witiko, Wihtikow, and numerous other variants) is a mythical creature appearing in the mythology of the Algonquian people. It is a malevolent cannibalistic spirit into which humans could transform, or which could possess humans. Those who indulged in cannibalism were at particular risk, and the legend appears to have reinforced this practice as a taboo.

Wendigo psychosis is the name conventionally given to a culture-bound disorder which involves an intense craving for human flesh and the fear that the sufferer would turn into a cannibal. This once occurred frequently among Algonquian Native cultures, but has declined due to the Native American urbanization.

Difference between the Show and Real Lore
The Wendigo featured on Supernatural, is very similar to Wendigos of real folklore. The only major differences include:
 * Wendigo in lore do not have the power of voice mimicry
 * Wendigo in lore are very rarely fifteen foot high, and are instead usually anything from six feet to twelve feet high.
 * Wendigo typically live in freezing cold climates around Northern Canada, Michigan and Minnesota. The Wendigo shown on the show, however, somewhat ironically appeared nowhere near their designated territory, instead appearing in Colorado and Mexico, of all places.
 * Also, the possession of the Wendigo in lore involves a physical transformation as well. The corruption of the Wendigo in the show was more akin to a mental illness than a physical change. The Wendigo in lore, possesses a cannibalistic hunter/trapper, often in a nightmare. Then the Wendigo begins to burst through the hunter's flesh within a few days. The Wendigo will manifest as a decomposing, rotten humanoid with the decomposing head of a deer, a foul stench of death, and a bloody set of maws. The Wendigo is also said to possess incredible speed and dexterity at hunting.
 * In lore, silver can kill the Wendigo. A final major difference in the lore as opposed to the show is that the Wendigo prefers to hunt at night in lore, thus making night in the woods and mountains even more dangerous. Wendigo are very rarely said to hunt in the day, this being their preferred time to feed on their victims.

Appearances
Wendigo (Monster)
 * Season 1
 * Wendigo
 * Season 5
 * Two Minutes to Midnight (mentioned only)
 * Season 6
 * The Third Man  (mentioned only)
 * The Man Who Would Be King  (mentioned only)
 * Season 7
 * Slash Fiction (flashback)
 * How To Win Friends And Influence Monsters (mentioned only)
 * Supernatural: Fresh Meat
 * Season 8
 * Southern Comfort  (mentioned only)
 * Freaks and Geeks  (mentioned only)
 * Clip Show (flashback)