Wendigo (creature)

Wendigo
Powers and Abilities	Enhanced strength and speed. It can imitate human voices to lure in its victims, which it traps and keeps alive for long periods so that it can feed from them.
Vulnerabilities	Fire; can be kept at bay with a protective circle of Anasazi symbols and injured by Silver-tipped Bows and Arrows.
Appearance	Humanoid; tall and pale with elongated limbs.
Episode(s)	1.02 Wendigo 6.03 The Third Man (mentioned)

Pad of Definitions A creature that was once human but was transformed into an immortal evil spirit when it took up the practice of cannibalism. Wendigos are cursed to wander the land, eternally seeking to fulfil their voracious appetite for human flesh. Various Native American tribes tell slightly different stories about this creature and refer to it by different names – Wendigo, Witigo, Witiko and Wee-Tee-Go – but each version roughly translates to mean the evil spirit that devours mankind . Around 1860, a German explorer translated Wendigo as cannibal. Wendigos are believed to live in the northern woods of Minnesota and in the north central regions of Canada . Kenora, Ontario, Canada, has been given the title of Wendigo Capital of the World by many. Sightings of the creature in this area have continued well into the new millennium. Wendigos are generally rumored to be gigantic spirits, over fifteen feet tall, lanky and with glowing eyes, long yellowed fangs, terrible claws and overly long tongues. Sometimes they are said to have a sallow, yellowish skin; other times they are described as being matted with hair. The Wendigo's full powers have never been recorded. The creature excels at stealth and is a near-perfect hunter, knowing and using every inch of its territory – caves, hills, trees and bushes. Some stories posit that Wendigos can control the weather through the use of dark magic. – Pad of Definitions (1.02 Wendigo), Official Website

Characteristics

Powers and Abilities

• Superhuman Strength
• Superhuman Speed
• Imitate human voices
• Immortality
• Claws

Weaknesses

• Burning it to death
• Can be kept at bay with a protective circle of Anasazi.
• Can be injured by silver-tipped bows and arrows.

Appearances

The Wendigo takes a break during filming.

1.02 Wendigo

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 a cavern where the Wendigo stores its victims as living food sources. Dean kills the creature by shooting it with a flare gun.

6.03 The Third Man

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

6.20 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.

8.06 Southern Comfort

When Garth receives a call from a hunter named LaMar who is hunting a Wendigo, He ask if he has a flaregun or flamethrower which the hunter does not have and advises him that he better start running.

8.18 Freaks and Geeks

Victor Rogers family was killed by a wendigo while they were camping.

Wendigos in Lore

• Windigo is actually a mental illness that some First Nation's suffer from. It is a culturally bound illness (meaning that it doesn't occur outside of First Nations groups) where the person suffering from the illness believes that they could be possessed by an evil spirit that would turn them into homicidal cannibals.

• Windigo is actually a derivative of the Ojibwe (Native American) folk legend of the "Wiindigo" (pronounced WEEN-di-goh), a creature much like that shown in Supernatural. However, in Ojibwe folklore the Wiindigo is described as more werewolf-like than human-like and does not possess the ability to mimic human voices. Many traditional Ojibwe people still believe this creature to exist in the woods of Northern Minnesota as referenced by Dean in this episode.

• The Wendigo features prominently in the Stephen King novel Pet Semetary.