“ | He's all alone, close to no one. All he wants is for someone to love him. | ” |
This unnamed shapeshifter acted as a serial killer.
Background[]
Early Life[]
“ | Maybe this thing was born human, but was different. Hideous and hated. Until he learned to become someone else. | ” |
— Serial Killer Shapeshifter speaking about itself
in Skin |
Not much is known about the life of this shapeshifter, however, according to him, his status of monster made him different, hideous, and hated.
Season 1[]
This shapeshifter would impersonate the loved ones of various people and then kill their significant other while looking for someone to love it. After the shapeshifter took on the form of Zach Warren and killed his girlfriend, Sam learned of the incident from Zach's sister Rebecca and insisted he and Dean check it out as he believed that Zach was innocent.
After seeing a dog bark insistently, having been changed by the presence of the shapeshifter and its retinal flare on a security video, Sam and Dean realize they might be dealing with something supernatural and decide to investigate further. At the same time, the shapeshifter impersonates a man named Alex and attacks his wife, Lindsay, but is caught in the act as Alex comes home early. The shapeshifter knocks Alex out and flees, leaving it looking like it was Alex who attacked his wife. After hearing the man's story, Sam and Dean realize they are dealing with a shapeshifter, though they have never fought one of this type before.
Investigating the sewers, Sam and Dean find the shapeshifter's lair and are attacked by it, but it runs off when they shoot at it. When Sam and Dean try to chase it down, the shapeshifter ambushes Dean, locks him in its lair and then takes his form to ambush Sam, however, Sam sees through its disguise. When Sam hesitates to shoot it, the shapeshifter knocks him out with a crowbar and locks him in its lair before going after Rebecca.
Arriving at Rebecca's, it convinces her to let it in and tells her what's really doing the killings to get close to her. However, it starts to freak her out and when she tries to call the police, it attacks her and ties her up. However, before he can kill Rebecca, the police arrive due to Sam and Dean escaping and calling them and it is forced to run, injuring an officer on its way out and implicating Dean in its crimes. After escaping, the shapeshifter eventually returns and takes Rebecca captive, taking on her form and tying her up in its lair in the sewers where Dean finds and rescues her.
At the same time, the shapeshifter pretends to be Rebecca and ambushes Sam, knocking him out and tying him up before retaking Dean's form. The shapeshifter reveals that it plans to frame Dean for the murder of Sam so he will be hunted for the rest of his life, but Sam breaks free and fights it. Sam is no match for the shapeshifter and it starts to strangle him to death, but Dean arrives and shoots the shapeshifter twice in the heart with silver bullets, killing it. As the shapeshifter was caught in the act of trying to kill Rebecca in Dean's form, Dean is blamed and Zach and Alex are released. The shapeshifter is buried in Dean's form and under his name, allowing him to fake his death.
Legacy[]
His actions, while under Dean's appearance, leads Dean to be wanted in the states, even after its death once Dean's survival is exposed in The Usual Suspects.
Personality[]
“ | I gotta do what I gotta do. | ” |
— Serial Killer Shapeshifter
in Skin |
As a monster, this shapeshifter kill without remorse like his siblings. However, contrarily to most monsters, he doesn't do it to feed himself but kills because he enjoys it, making him a pure psychopath and not a beast like other monsters. Also like most serial killers, killing and torturing most probably brought him a gratification of some sort (likely sexual). His preference go to women, which he tortures with a knife. When impersonating Dean, he seems to share his feeling for Becky and said that it was "hard" to torture her but that he's "gotta do what [he's] gotta do".
Powers and Abilities[]
“ | Didn't just look like you, he was you. Or he was becoming you. (...) It's like he was downloading your thoughts and memories. | ” |
- Shapeshifting - As a shapeshifter, he could change his form into the forms of the living and the dead. He could also force a retinal flare-like effect onto his eyes.
- Telepathy - As long as the person he was impersonating was alive, he could access their thoughts and memories to help with his disguise.
- Super Strength - The shapeshifter was easily stronger than Sam when they fought each other.
- Super Speed - The shapeshifter was extremely fast, able to run faster than a gun could be aimed and escape multiple times.
- Super Agility - The shapeshifter was able to dodge a bullet and jump out of a house without hurting itself.
- Regeneration - Shapeshifters can heal non-fatal wounds and even replace body parts by changing form.
- Skilled martial artist/Hand-to-hand fighter - When fighting S.W.A.T. agents and Sam, he proved to be a good fighter.
Weaknesses[]
- Silver - Dean killed the shapeshifter with silver bullets.
- Retinal Flare - The shapeshifter could be identified by its retinal flare on cameras.
- Dogs - Part of the reason Sam and Dean realized they were dealing with a supernatural creature was a friendly dog became vicious after the shapeshifter killed one of its neighbors.
Appearances[]
- Season 1
- Skin
- The Benders (referenced only)
- Season 2
- The Usual Suspects (mentioned only)
- Houses of the Holy (referenced only)
- Season 4
- Monster Movie (referenced only)
Trivia[]
- This is the first shapeshifter that Sam and Dean have ever encountered in their lives given their comments while fighting it.
- This is the first shapeshifter ever killed by Dean Winchester.
- In The Benders, it was revealed that the Shapeshifter was killed on March 7, 2006.