Skinwalker: The Witch That Wears Fur
The Taboo Unspoken
The Skinwalker (yee naaldlooshii) is the apex predator of Navajo folklore. It is not a cryptid or a monster species. It is a human. It is a medicine man or witch who has "broken bad," choosing to use their power for evil. To gain the power to shapeshift, they must commit the ultimate taboo: murdering a close family member (usually a sibling). This act kills their humanity and births the monster.
The Wrong Animal
Skinwalkers wear the skins of animals—coyotes, wolves, bears, crows—to transform into them. But the transformation is imperfect.
- The Eyes: A real animal's eyes reflect green. A Skinwalker's eyes reflect red (or human-like).
- The Movement: They move too fast, often keeping pace with cars on the highway (60+ mph).
- The Wrongness: A Skinwalker often looks like a stiff, taxidermied version of the animal, or moves with jerky, human motions.
The Tactics of Terror
They feed on fear. They do not just kill. They harass.
- Roof Walking: They stomp on roofs at night to terrify families.
- Corpse Dust: They blow ground-up bone dust into the faces of victims to cause wasting diseases.
- Mimicry: They can imitate the voices of loved ones or crying babies to lure people out of their hogans.
The Weakness
Skinwalkers are nearly invincible to bullets. However, they have one fatal weakness: Their Name. If you can identify the human identity of the Skinwalker and say their full name to their face, the evil recoils upon them. They will die within three days for their crimes.
The Final Warning
The reservation roads are long and empty, perfect for things that want to race. If a coyote keeps pace with your car at 70 mph, and its eyes reflect red in your headlights, do not slow down to look. It is memorizing your face. Drive until you see the sunrise, and don't speak its name.
