| “ | Sam: Rakshasa. It's a race of ancient Hindu creatures. They appear in human form, they feed on human flesh, they can make themselves invisible, and they cannot enter a home without first being invited. Dean: They dress up like clowns, and children invite them in. Why don't they just feed on the kids? Sam: Not enough meat on the bones, maybe? Apparently, Rakshasa live in squalor. They sleep on a bed of dead insects. And they have to feed a few times every 20 to 30 years -- slow metabolism, I guess. |
” |
The Rakshasa is a mischievous and homicidal imp supernatural creature.
Characteristics[]
| “ | Dean: Planes crash! Sam: Yeah, and apparently, clowns kill. |
” |
— Sam and Dean
in Everybody Loves a Clown | ||
Rakshasas are creatures from Hindu mythology, known for their traits of eating human flesh, sleeping on a bed of dead insects and shapeshifting to disguise themselves as humans. Fortunately for humanity, Rakshasas eat very sparingly every couple of three decades due to a very slow metabolism that affects their digestion. A rakshasa cannot enter a house without first being invited and to not draw unwanted attention to themselves, they adopt a life of poverty with some even living as vagabonds. The one in Supernatural appeared as a clown at the fair who would follow children home, get the child to let them into the house and then eat the parents.
Background[]
The Rakshasa is disguised as the blind knife thrower who works with the circus. It appears to children as a jester, and, when they invite it into their home, it kills their parents. Ellen tells them the creature can be killed with a knife of pure brass. As it pursues them, it becomes invisible, but Sam manages to kill the Rakshasa with a brass pipe from the organ in the fun house.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Shapeshifting - They can take human form to disguise themselves and can distort their faces to partially reveal their true form.
- Invisibility - They can easily become invisible.
- Invulnerability - They can only be killed by brass, allowing it to quickly and completely recover from being damaged from anything else.
- Super Strength - They are incredibly strong, able to easily overpower and maul humans.
- Super Senses - They possess incredible hearing, as one was able to over hear Dean's entire conversation, despite being outside the range of human hearing distance.
- Super Speed - They move really fast, appearing a mist-like blur.
Weaknesses[]
- Brass - A Rakshasa can be killed with a brass knife. Sam killed the rakshasa in the fun house by breaking off a brass organ pipe and stabbing it with it.
- Invitation - A Rakshasa cannot enter a home without being invited in. The Rakshasa in Everybody Loves a Clown combated this by dressing as a clown so that the children would invite it in.
Known Rakshasas[]
- Barry Papazian (deceased)
Appearances[]
- Season 2
- Season 3
- Jus In Bello (Barry Papazian, referenced only)
- Season 5
- The Real Ghostbusters (impersonation and mentioned)
Trivia[]
- Rakshasa's eyes are similar to those of Samhain.
- Before Barry Papazian was ousted as a Rakshasa, Mr. S. Cooper was suspected of being one, partially due to the fact that he worked with two circuses that the Rakshasa was believed to work in and that Cooper possessed a great resemblance to his father, who owned the previous circus. This implies that the creature has some level of Longevity.