| “ | Sam: It's a creature, corporeal in form. A slave to your commands. Dean: Kinda like a genie. Sam: I guess. Here we go. Someone chants a curse, lays a wet one on you, then the victim is seduced and killed by the Qareen, but instead of taking the form of Barbara Eden, they present themselves as your deepest, darkest desire. |
” |
— Sam and Dean on Qareen
| ||
Qareens are a type of creature, similar to a genie, that can be controlled to do the bidding of a master, who is in possession of their heart. Qareens are shapeshifters and will take on the form of a person's deepest, darkest desire to seduce and then kill the victim. The only way to kill a Qareen is by stabbing its heart.
Based from notes in Sonja's spellbook, their existence was known since ancient Aramaean and Arabian era. And the lore book itself, was written in old Aramaic text.
Characteristics[]
Its true appearance was unknown. According to Sonja's spellbook, it is humanoid, but with darker and demonic appearance. The only known body part that was shown was their heart, which was colored in dark and was roughly similar in shape to human hearts. It appears they are able to live without a heart, but only if the heart is safely removed without injuring it, so it can be separated so they can be enslaved. If a witch owns it and by using a proper spell, they can control the respective Qareen. When the heart is killed, the Qareen will dispatch.
Powers and Abilities[]
Qareens are fairly powerful creatures.
- Shapeshifting - The Qareen was able to shift into the form of its target's deepest darkest desire. They can mimic the person's appearance down to their clothing.
- Telepathy - The Qareen could read a person's mind and learn who their deepest, darkest, desire is (even if they don't consciously know or admit it) so they can take their form.
- Empathy - A Qareen stated that it could read Dean's heart and detected his love for Amara but could also tell that it was cloaked in shame.
- Super Strength - The Qareen have an immense level of strength. As well as throwing around full-grown humans, one was able to punch through a person's chest and rip out their hearts effortlessly. It could also punch through wood and even a thick metal cover with no apparent effort.
- Super Stamina - They appear to have enhanced stamina, as Sonja's Qareen would keep following its intended target until said target was eliminated.
- Invulnerability - The Qareen can only be killed by a stab to its heart. Silver bullets to one's chest caused it no real harm, but it could be briefly stunned. Being hit in the head with a vase and later a chair stunned it momentarily but it quickly recovered.
Weaknesses[]
The heart of a Qareen.
- Magic - The witch Sonja was able to enslave one through magic.
- Destruction of its heart - The only known way to kill a Qareen is to destroy its heart.
- Retinal flare - Like shapeshifters, they can be identified by a retinal flare that shows when they are filmed.
Known Qareen[]
- Sonja's Qareen (deceased)
Appearances[]
Lore[]
In Islamic lore, a qareen or qarin (Arabic: قرين qarīn) is a kind of Djinn. Qarins are unique to each individual. Qarin literally means 'constant companion'. A qareen pushes a person to do evil things and to disobey Allah, with the exception of prophet Muhammad. Conflicting opinions exist on the faith of the Qarin. One opinion is that the qarin, being a jinni-type creature, if not guided by his human companion on the right path, becomes a shaytan by the command of God. The companion will be what its guide is or more than what the guide is. However the second opinion is that the Qareen is evil and having one's Qareen become a Muslim was something that was unique to prophet Muhammad. In real lore however, because of his genie-like nature, a qarin is unkillable. The lore about the Qarin appears since in pre-Islamic literature as well. One of the seven mu'allaqat—Arabic poems recognized as masterpieces during the pre-Islamic period—uses the word as a metaphor. To describe his tribe's excellence in battle, poet Amr bin Kulthum says that "every tribe has taken fear of us as a qarin [or "constant companion"]," meaning that their fear of Amr's tribe is always present. This goes further to show the origin of the word Qareen, as described in the Arabic dictionary as a 'Companion'.
The Supernatural version of Qareen actually has more in common with the Javanese spiritual creature Khodam (taken from arabic, means "servant") than the Aramaic Qareen creature they are named for. In actual lore, Qareen itself cannot be controlled, even by use of magic. However, in Javanese lore, the Khodams are able to be controlled through magic. The concept about controlling Qareen to did their master bidding likely taken from this.