Every fan of the supernatural series felt a familiar chill down their spine when hearing that voiceover in the trailer for Paramount’s Teen Wolf: The Movie. Promising chaos, strife and pain, it seems an old trickster has returned to Beacon Hills to stir up some familiar mischief. Arguably its most popular and ambitious season, Season 3 of Teen Wolf gave audiences a compelling storyline that expanded the show’s mythology into various folklore, including Celtic and Japanese. In the Season 3A episode entitled "Alpha Pact," Scott (Tyler Posey), Allison (Crystal Reed) and Stiles (Dylan O’Brien) must die in order to locate the Nemeton and save their parents from being sacrificed by Jennifer Blake (Haley Webb), also known as The Darach.
Before drowning themselves in iced tubs beside their tethers, Deacon (Seth Gilliam) warns the trio that embarking on this quest could open their minds up to dark new threats. These three young heroes are then faced with a hefty choice: either save their parents from danger or endanger themselves. The Nemeton was once a tall mystical tree worshipped by Druids that stood alone in a vast clearing. All that's left now is a short stump, but its roots remain an endless source of power that has supernaturally animated more than one of the Pack's enemies. Although the trio are successful in locating the tree and saving their parents, each of them are subjected to new terrors in the latter half of the season due to their decision. But these horrors end up being more than just residual effects. Leaving his mind ‘ajar’ allows something sinister to possess Stiles, inciting a degree of chaos that not only leaves Stiles’ life on the line but other beloved characters dead.
In traditional Japanese folklore, a nogitsune can be characterized as a type of kitsune: magical foxes capable of shapeshifting. These dark kitsunes feed and thrive off the pain they cause humans. The introduction of new girl in town Kira (Arden Cho), a young vixen, invites the exploration of a villain born from the dark power her mother summoned while held prisoner at an internment camp nearby called Oak Creek in 1943.
Camp Oak Creek
Noshiko Yukimura (Tamlyn Tomita), a 900-year-old kitsune, had fallen deeply in love with a young army medic named Corporal Rhys (Sky Maxon) while trapped at Oak Creek during the Second World War. A natural hero, Noshiko helped her people survive by stealing army supplies such as food and medicine with Rhys’ help. But an epidemic soon spreads through the camp and the shortage of medication exposes Noshiko’s thefts. This leads to a bloody riot between the army and the camp’s prisoners, one of whom is a werewolf named Satomi (Lily Mariye). Noshiko is shot several times and Rhys is severely burned, succumbing to his injuries. Possessing the ability to heal, Noshiko remains alive while being transported by the army to be disposed of with the other fatalities, including Rhys. With the army intending to burn the bodies and cover up any evidence of the riot, Noshiko seeks revenge by summoning a dark kitsune to possess her body and wreak havoc among the camp. Although instead of possessing her, the Nogitsune (Aaron Hendry) inhabits Rhys’ burned corpse. He proceeds to kill everyone at Oak Creek before she’s able to stab him with her katana, subduing him. As Noshiko looks down at the lifeless body of her former lover and the Nogitsune's former vessel, its spirit rises from Rhys' mouth in the form of a fly. She uses a jar to trap the fly and bury it under the Nemeton, its power keeping the Nogitsune’s spirit trapped beneath the great tree... until it's accidentally released.
The Oni
But before we meet this mummy-looking fellow who desperately needs a trip to the dentist, we meet the ancient warriors sworn to stop him: The Oni. These shadowy ninjas made of darkness operate under Noshiko's control, testing everyone to ensure they aren’t possessed by the trickster. In "Illuminated," all but one member of the Pack are cruelly tested by the Oni. Having suffered multiple nightmares and lapses in memory, we know there’s something off about Stiles this season. The Oni finally finds Stiles, intending to test him. Before they can, Stiles grabs the warrior's arm with supernatural strength. The expression on his face tells us this isn’t Stiles anymore. He proceeds to kill each of the Oni, leaving the Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital with Scott as if nothing happened. Although O’Brien isn’t returning for the film, it seems his demonic counterpart will be.
The Nogitsune’s purpose is to create chaos, pain and strife so that it can feed and sustain its power. In "Letharia Vulpina," it seems a clear-headed Stiles has returned from days missing in an effort to stop the trickster. This leads the pack on a frantic search to dismantle the treacherous traps Stiles has unknowingly set around Beacon Hills. Needless to say, things don’t go according to plan and Scott ends up taking away a lot of pain from victims along their mission. It isn’t until the pair stand in the aftermath of a massacre at the police station that the Nogitsune reveals Stiles never regained control — it’d been an elaborate trick in order for it to feed off all the pain Scott had collected. Stabbing Scott, the Nogitsune absorbs this pain and becomes even stronger. This places the Pack in an unprecedented situation when dealing with an antagonist. Not only do they have to find a way to kill an immortal spirit, but they also need to figure out how to have Stiles live through it.
Void Stiles
In the episode "Riddled," Stiles goes missing in the middle of the night and calls Scott in a panic. The group searches for him frantically while Stiles is tormented by visions of the Nogitsune, trapped in the basement of Eichen House with his leg stuck in a steel trap. The evil spirit presents Stiles with multiple riddles, but one in particular reveals how exactly the Nogitsune gained control of him: when is a door not a door? Its answer is representative of Stiles' mind. A door is not a door when it's ajar. Besides delivering a career changing performance, O'Brien's acting in this episode helps communicate the peril our favorite character is really in.
Eventually, the Nogitsune's possession contributes to enough deaths that it has enough power to create its own body in Stiles' image. Noshiko refers to this as a kitsune's "void" form. Kidnapping Lydia (Holland Roden), Void Stiles sets a trap for the Pack and the Oni at the abandoned grounds of Oak Creek. Using Lydia's banshee powers to alert him when they draw near, Void Stiles is ready with a fox tail upon the Oni's arrival. He breaks it, stealing control over them from Noshiko. He uses them to fight the Pack, the shadowy ninjas only wounded by silver. Before the pack can turn the tide of the battle, one of them stabs Allison through the chest with their katana. The pain and strife her death causes further feeds the dark kitsune.
The Divine Move
In the season finale, the Pack uses the remaining silver arrows Allison created to fight the Oni. Trapped inside the school with the Nogitsune, Scott, Kira, Stiles and Lydia are able to fight against his mind games. Taking multiple swords to the chest and back, Scott and Kira step through a corridor of deadly warriors and successfully break themselves free from the Nogitsune's mental compulsion. This infuriates Void Stiles, who claims to be invincible. He references the Japanese game GO and tells Stiles and Lydia they have no moves left. Stiles counters, saying one still remains: the divine move. Void Stiles erupts with wrath and rage, telling them he's a thousand years old and can't be killed. Using the knowledge given to them by the Shugendō scroll, Lydia reveals that although he can't be killed, he can be changed. The scroll contained instructions on how to exorcise a void kitsune while keeping its human host alive, explaining that the spirit itself cannot be killed or changed, but its physical body can be.
Before Void Stiles can strike, Scott surprises him with a bite on the arm. A bite from an alpha can create a werewolf, therefore changing the vessel's form. Using the katana passed down to her from her mother, Kira stabs Void Stiles immediately after Scott bites him and the pair successfully destroy the Nogitsune's vessel. Void Stiles crumbles like demolished stone, a single fly rising from the dust. Before it can fly off to possess someone new, Isaac (Daniel Sharman) captures it with the Triskelion urn. Chris Argent (J.R. Bourne), Allison's father, takes the urn in an effort to ensure the Nogitsune can never be free again. As for how it could have possibly escaped to terrorize Beacon Hills once more, audiences will have to wait until Teen Wolf: The Movie streams this fall on Paramount+.