Skinwalker

Within the body of Master Xu, where a radiant soul core should have been... instead, there was nothing but vile, impenetrable darkness. A darkness so vast and deep that Sunny couldn't even conceive its magnitude. ^[1]

- Chapter 1208, "Newcomer"

Description.

The Skinwalker is actually multiple bodies of Awakened people, who have been corrupted by the creature. It has been described that each of the Skinwalker's vessel have soul cores with darkness that is vast, and deep. It is a being which makes humans and Nightmare Creatures its vessels.

The Skinwalker can also mimic human conduct, speak the human language, and also know of the different relationships that the vessel had with other people. ^[1]

Appearance.

Only after meeting an actual Great Nightmare Creature did he realize how harrowing these beings truly were. The thing pretending to be Ascended Xu... was not even the real body of the abomination. Most likely, it was simply one of its manifestations. ^[2]

- Chapter 1212, "Pursuer"

Skinwalker does not have a fixed appearance, as Skinwalker is actually multiple different bodies. It has been speculated that the Skinwalker doesn't have a main body. ^[3]

The different known appearances that the Skinwalker has, comes from its named vessels. These known vessels are :

1. Ascended Xu ^[1]

2. Awakened Ardon ^[4]

3. Ascended Skif ^[4]

4. Ascended Sean ^[4]

Apperance of vessels.

Ascended Xu : As a vessel, Xu was described as a muscular, tall, and handsome man with short black hair and eyes that were like two pools of darkness. He was wearing a torn dark-red bodysuit showing the bruises covering his body. He had no armor and weapon, and he had a strange smile on his ruptured lips. ^[1]

Ascended Ardon : Appearance unknown.
Ascended Skif : Appearance unknown.
Ascended Sean : Appearance unknown.

Xu was found dead^[5] before he was taken over by Skinwalker, while Ardon, Skif, and Sean, were on their way to Ravenheart before being taken over by Skinwalker.^[4]

Abilities.

The Great Terror, Skinwalker.

Of all the horrors brought to Earth by the Nightmare Spell, this one was perhaps the most dreadful – not because it was the most powerful, but simply because it could mimic human behavior almost flawlessly and blend in with mundane people without raising any suspicion.

And even worse than that, the Skinwalker had shown a frightening ability to learn and adapt with terrible speed.^[6]

- Chapter 2552, "King of Nothing"

Skinwalker can take over bodies to make them it's vessels. It can also speak and behave like a normal human. ^[1]

The Skinwalker also gains access to the memories of the bodies it takes over, allowing it to learn about humans and their world. ^[7]

Slowly over the passage of time, the Skinwalker learned and adapted to the ways of the world, and blended in perfectly with the mundane humans.

As a Terror, Skinwalker could spread like a plague, becoming a nightmare haunting humanity. ^[8]

Later, Skinwalker took over the Eastern Quadrant completely, occupying the entire land and being the only creature to walk it.

Behavior.

Its first appearance had gone unnoticed, and by the time the powers watching over humanity learned of its existence, it was already too late. The Skinwalker had infected many cities in the Eastern Quadrant, embedding its vessels among the mundane population, the Awakened warrior, the government forces, and even the private armies of the local Legacy clans. ^[6]

- Chapter 2552, "King of Nothing"

Skinwalker is a Great abomination that chooses to spread like a silent plague. It takes its own time to learn from each vessel, and improve its ability to blend in with humanity silently. ^[6]

There were few vessels at first, hiding , and slowly it spread like a plague which eventually took over the Eastern Quadrant.^[6]

Habitat.

Today, Skinwalker was like a nightmare that haunted all of humanity. Its vessels were somewhere out there, in the shadows, hiding in the vast reaches of the Dream Realm or in the poisonous wilds of the waking world. Worst of all, the creature had learned and adapted, its act of becoming almost indistinguishable from normal humans. ^[8]

- Chapter 1631, "Hidden Menace"

Skinwalker had millions of vessels, but no main body, so the habitat of the Skinwalker was all across the world. ^[9]

Skinwalker lived in the Dream realm, and also in the War Realm.

But it was first seen in the Hell of Ariel, and now most of it's vessels were located in the Eastern Quadrant, continuing to spread across the world. ^[6]

Notable Encounters.

"Still... it seemed that I've been discovered. How vexing. I thought I performed the role of this human well. I even came while the Star is gone, and the Shadow it casts is gone with her."^[10]

- Skinwalker, Chapter 2433, "Swindling a Horror"

The Skinwalker is actually one of the gate guardians of the Category Four Gates that opened in the waking world. However, instead of passing through the gate it decided to stay back and hunt the humans who escaped to the Dream Realm ^[11]

Skinwalker was then encountered by many people, sometimes it was disguised as a human, and other times it was found out and was fighting Awakened warriors. Its next notable encounter was when the Government forces led by Wake of Ruin, attempted to destroy it and failed. ^[8]

Skinwalker then started to infiltrate the Eastern Quadrant, which caused many Citadels and cities to perish. This brought forth new security measures to stop Skinwalker from infiltrating other places.^[8]

Later, Skinwalker with its Vessels, was encountered on the way back to Ravenheart by Sunny and Rain, who were coming back from their adventure. This caused a massive battle to take place between the Great Terror and the Lord of Shadows, which obliterated and flattened the land around them. ^[12]

The next encounter with Skinwalker was when Aiko and Ling found out it had taken over the Dream Realm caravan along with its Master, and that it had bypassed the barrier meant to prevent it from entering. After that, Effie from a faraway distance, threw a spear, and pulverized the Skinwalker vessel that Aiko and Ling encountered. ^[13][10][14]

The final encounter with Skinwalker was when it was on the verge of consuming Australia with corruption. The entire Eastern Quadrant had been devoured by a single, abomination, the Great Terror, Skinwalker. ^[15][6]

At last, the abomination died during the crisis in the Eastern Quadrant, at the hands of Mordret. Skinwalker was undergoing a change, evolving into a greater catastrophe, and then Mordret who prepared for a long time, challenged the abomination to a soul duel. Mordret was getting corrupted continuously and at the end of the battle, he gave up restraint and shattered himself into a million pieces while mutilating his soul and also rebuilding his cores, he took over the multiple vessels of the Skinwalker, and finally destroyed it, claiming millions of its vessels and becoming Supreme in the process. ^[6]

This freed the entirety of the Eastern Quadrant, and every place that the Skinwalker infiltrated, bringing about sudden peace. ^[16]

A fan-made art about the aftermath of the Skinwalker vs Sunny fight.

Art by DaikiDevil.

Trivia.

"What would they have done if I was truly a vessel of Skinwalker? A cohort of Awakened and a single Master... no matter how powerful she is, a Great Nightmare Creature can wipe them out in seconds. They would have stood no chance." ^[8]

- Chapter 1631, "Hidden Menace"