Teen Wolf's Inspiration For Its Scariest Villains Will Shock You

There are no actual accounts of "dread doctors" in history, but executive producer Jeff Davis told E! Online that these bad guys are a mixture of Nazi doctors charged with experimenting on humans during World War II, and the bubonic plague doctors who treated dying patients in 17th century Europe.

The plague doctors were medical professionals hired to care for — and dispose of — plague victims. Because modern medicine of the time didn’t understand how plague was spread, these doctors wore leather masks with thick goggles and (sometimes) a beak. Their masks serve as inspiration for the season five villains' masks and creepy heavy breathing.

In Nazi Germany, doctors conducted painful experiments on concentration camp victims that were thought to advance racial and genetic purity. Nazi uniforms were similar in cut and style to the Dread Doctors of this season of Teen Wolf. The most notorious of these doctors was Josef Mengele, sometimes called "the Angel of Death."

There’s been a lot of talk about DNA and genetics this season, namely in the form of chimeras. In traditional lore, a Chimera is an immortal figure from Greek mythology that has a lion’s head, a goat’s body, a snake’s tail, and breathes fire. The term has also been adopted by modern science to mean a single organism composed of genetically distinct cells. Popular vernacular has adopted the term to apply to anything that exists in the imagination and is not possible in reality.

The Greek myth of the Chimera is the story of the daughter of Typhon and Echidna, sibling to the Sphinx. In Greek lore, the Chimera was a dooming omen, often appearing before shipwrecks, violent storms, and volcanic eruptions. 

It is closely associated with evil and is considered purely demonic — a sign of Satan. In the Teen Wolf mythology, the Dread Doctors are authors of these beasts. This is probably a nod from the writers as to how big and awful they are.

In Teen Wolf mythology, the nemeton is the huge tree in the woods where all sorts of magic happens, and is the source of power for the majority of Beacon Hills' supernatural community.

In Celtic mythology, the nemeton is a general term used for any kind of sacred outdoor space. It’s said to have a vortex of energy and was considered a Druid temple, since the Celts worshipped outside. The Druids were a Celtic people of Gaul, Britain, and France, and very little is written about them in history. The Roman writer Pliny the Elder is often used as the authority on Druid history, and his account tells tales of human sacrifice and rituals.

Specifically, the Druids are known for the oak and mistletoe ritual in which an elder would climb an oak tree and snip the mistletoe from the top. Two white bulls were sacrificed, and their blood, combined with the mistletoe, made an elixir to treat poisonings and infertility.

The desert wolf, also known as "La Loba," is a Northern Mexican tale of a woman who rose from the depths of the underworld to roam the land collecting bones, stealing souls, and avenging those who’ve crossed her. La Loba, or the wolf woman, uses the bones she’s collected — usually wolf bones — and sings a beautiful lament to resurrect their souls and send them back to the underworld.

In Clarissa Pinkola Estes's book Women Who Run With Wolves, she writes that she "sings the creature into rebirth," and then the resurrected wolf is "transformed into a laughing woman."

All we know about La Loba in Teen Wolf-world is that she’s Malia’s mom and kind of a badass.

Earlier this season, Scott is transformed into a berserker, which establishes his power as a powerful warrior and leader. A berserker comes from Norse and Viking mythology and is the name for a fierce warrior who is said to enter into an uncontrollable, trance-like fury during battle. Berserkers wear the skin of their totem animal, usually bears or wolves, because soldiers believed they could channel the animal’s power. The Teen Wolf version imagines the berserker wearing the bones of its spirit animal, which might be even scarier.

Berserkers worshipped Odin, the chief god in Viking mythology, and it was widely believed that neither iron or fire could harm them because of Odin’s protection. This explains their invincibility in the show.

Kitsune is a common word in Japanese lore meaning "fox spirit." Foxes appear often in Asian mythology and are sometimes shapeshifters, tricksters, and protectors — warding off evil spirits from the ones it protects. A kitsune is said to have superior intelligence, necessary for its extremely long life.

Kira has long been established as a kitsune, but is transforming in recent episodes. Kitusune are often associated with a certain element and draw their power from that particular element. Conversely, they can also be destroyed by their opposing element.

A kitsune can live for 100 years, gaining tails as they age. You can tell how old and powerful a kitsune is by the number of tails they have. Since their power resides in the tails, cutting the tail will result in death. When a kitsune gains its ninth tail, it turns white or gold, and at 100 years, it can take human form. This human form is usually a young, beautiful woman who can’t realize her full powers all at once. Sounds like Kira, all right.

The legend of the nogitsune is an extension of the tales of the kitsune. In fact, there are good and evil kitsune, and the nogitsune are the dark versions. They draw power from strife, chaos, tragedy, and despair, and their tricks always result in misery.

When Stiles is possessed by an evil kitsune, he preys on the insecurities of the others, tricking them into doing harm to each other and themselves.

The oni are the boogeymen of Japanese legend. No two stories of oni are exactly the same, but the common theme is that they are always the villains of humanity. Stiles calls upon the oni when he's the nogitsune, aiming them at the destruction of the pack.

They are often depicted as ogres, demons, and ferocious bringers of disaster. Oni are born or summoned when evil people die and wind up in one of the Buddhist hells. They do the bidding of the lord of hell, meting out punishments to humans, like peeling off their skin and crushing their bones.

The banshee comes from Old Irish fables and is sometimes depicted as a fallen angel and other times as a fairy woman. The banshee began in association with certain Irish families and was said to wail to warn that a member of the family was going to die.

Some experts believe the myth was derived from the tradition of a woman "keener" who would sing at wakes to comfort the mourners. Banshees are thought to be the close cousins to mermaids and sirens, and can be found in Scottish, Welsh, Norse, and even American folktales.

Sometimes the banshee appears as a young beautiful woman, like Lydia, with a pleasant song, and other times she is seen as an old hag with a piercing screech (also like Lydia). She is always depicted as white-haired, pale-skinned, and dressed in all white.

The kanima, sometimes known as canaima, is a South American myth that involves a shapeshifter in the form of a were-jaguar. A kanima can possess the body of another person or animal and their stare is fabled to make the recipient go insane.

Kanima carry a magical bow that shoots arrows dipped in poison. This is probably the origin for the kanima's special paralyzing venom in the Teen Wolf lore of season two. The kanima is known as a demon spirit that brings on death and misfortune, usually of its own making.

A looser application of the myth can apply to any sort of calamity that befalls a traveler in the rainforest. Invoking the canaima legend is way for South American native tribes to describe any misfortune that befalls you in the jungle. It's the spirit of bad luck. For instance, if a tree falls and crushes your leg, it's said the canaima is after you.