Jackson Whittemore

Jackson Whittemore is a bitten Werelion, and a member of the Martin Pride.

His biological mother, Margaret Miller, concieved him during her ex-marital affair with John Lahey. Fearing she was going to expose the relationship, John sabotaged her car, leading a fatal accident which killed both Margaret and her husband Gordon. Jackson was born by caesarian section after his mother had been declared legally dead. Gordon Miller was listed on his birth certificate as his biological father.

After two months of hospital care, due to his premature birth, Jackson was given in the care of social services, and was adopted a few months later by David Whittemore and his wife.

His parents kept the truth about his adoption from him until he was a teenager, which placed a serious strain on his relationship with them. They told him the identity of his biological mother, and when looking into her, Jackson began to believe that John Lahey was responsible for her murder.

When Scott McCall was bitten, Jackson decided he also wished to become a Werewolf, due to the physical speed and strength it granted. He was eventually bitten by Derek Hale, once he became an Alpha, but due to Jackson's poor mental health, instead of a werewolf, he became a Kanima.

The night before the February full moon, he saw John Lahey berating Isaac Lahey, which reminded him of his suspicions. His anger triggered his first transformation, and the Kanima hunted John down and killed him.

The following night, he attempted to film his first full moon. However, he encountered Matt Daehler, who bonded with him as his Kanima-Master. Seeing the murder through their link, Daehler became convinced that Jackson had murdered John for him, and decided to use the Kanima as a tool to take down those he blamed for his near-fatal drowning accident five years earlier. He therefore editted the footage in Jackson's camera to remove the transformation, so that Jackson would not be aware of what Matt was making him do.

On Matt's orders, he killed twelve people, including three Police Officers, four Argent Hunters, and five of the people Matt blamed for his accident.

He was eventually killed by Matt at the instigation of Gerard Argent, who knew that the murder would transform Matt into a new kanima who he could control. However, unbeknownst to Gerard, a kanima can only be killed in one way, and if killed by any other method, they actually enter a coma-like state which ends with their transformation into a more powerful form, sometimes called an Alpha Kanima.

Lydia Martin was chosen to become the new Kanima Master, but unlike the beta form, an Alpha Kanima cannot return to human form, and so Jackson was stuck as the kanima, seemingly permanently.

Lydia and Peter Hale were eventually able to devise a way to cure him by invoking the goddess Kybele. After this, Jackson was able to become the what he would have become had his transformation not gone wrong - a werelion.

Mental characteristics

Sexuality

Bisexual

Education

Student at Beacon Hills High (A to A+)

Mental Trauma

Jackson was deeply shaken when he learned he was adopted, and it seriously impacted his sense of self and identity.

Although he has very limited conscious memory of the events which happened while he was a Kanima, he sometimes dreams about them, including his own death, and he has to live with the knowledge that he killed multiple innocent people.