Shapeshifters

Shifters are creatures that can shift between a human form and a single animal form. It is heavily debated whether the true form of a shifter is their animal form or human form, though a lot of shifters believe their true selves are the animal form which they can take and that something happened (evolutionary-wise) to make them a smarter, more evolved animal than other animals. It is also debated how so many different kinds of shifters came into being and who was the original. Many believe it was the wolf shifters who came first, but so far it is unproven how each strand broke away and became something unique.

It should be noted that shapeshifters' personalities and appearances are typically based off the animal form they take.

Shifters are very secretive and therefore not many Hunters (or humans) are aware they even exist. This has been assisted by the confusion between a wolf shifter and a werewolf. Also, it is not uncommon that a shifter will surround itself by animals that are not shifters. For example, shifter wolves may have regular wolves in their pack.

Though shifters are all under one category, shifters can only reproduce with other shifters that are the same as themselves. For example, wolf shifters can only reproduce with other wolf shifters. They cannot reproduce with, say, a fox shifter instead. Thus there is debate on whether to consider them in the same family or make each shifter a unique category.

The hierarchy and culture of a shifter depends on the type of shifter. For example, wolf shifters travel in packs whereas cat shifters tend to be solitary. Wolves are very communal and cats very independent. There is no one culture that can be used to generalize for all shifters.

A conflict is that wolf shifters are often mistaken for werewolves, but the two are very different. While both can shift into a wolf form, wolf shifters shift into regular-sized wolves and are not poisoned by the things a werewolf is. Wolf shifters consider it an insult to be likened to werewolves.

STRENGTHS
The strengths of a shapeshifter highly depends on what kind of shifter the shifter is. A shifter that shifts into a cheetah, for example, has enhanced speed. A dog shifter has an enhanced sense of smell and hearing. It all depends on the particular shifter and their form.

As a general rule, most shapeshifters have better senses than humans and have some kind of enhanced strength.

WEAKNESSES
The weaknesses of a shapeshifter are as follows:


 * Iridium
 * Decapitation
 * Piercing the heart or head with silver
 * Other natural means of death

COMMON TO CARRIZO SPRINGS
While they are not the only ones in CS, they are the ones more commonly seen living there.

Any creature listed HERE is native/common to Carrizo Springs.

THE REPRODUCTION QUESTION
Shapeshifters CAN reproduce with: shapeshifters of the same kind (wolfxwolf, catxcat, etc) and regular animals of their species.

Shapeshifters CANNOT reproduce with: werewolves, shapeshifters not of the same kind (wolfxcat, birdxdog, etc), witches, and humans.

Shifters can produce with shifters that are the same shifting species as they are. The resulting children will be shifters.

They may also reproduce with animals of the same species. The children may be shifters with higher awareness and intelligence, or they may just end up being your typical animal.