Due to wolves and coyotes belonging to the same animal group, alpha werewolves and coyotes are known to exist. Due to their wolf-half, a lowenmensch can also attain alpha status. An alpha is supernaturally more powerful than the rest of their kind and is typically the leader of a pack. Alphas are also the ones who can turn humans into new wereanimals with a bite or a scratch.

Supernatural Rules

An alpha wields an internal spark of power that supplements their abilities, their strength and speed, and bestows upon them their additional supernatural traits.

An alpha, with his fellow werewolves, has the ability to form the basis of a pack. Thereafter, the mystically symbiotic bond between the alpha and his new packmates is formed. The said followers will become betas to the alpha as well as others who later join the pack.

Because of the social nature of the shapeshifter, werewolf or otherwise, this symbiotic relationship increases the power of both the alpha and their betas. Inversely, losing pack members, because of either estrangement or death can decrease the alphas's power. An alpha whom lacks a pack is still an alpha and displays all the usual traits but is still a lone wolf and thus not as powerful.

An alpha can take the power of their betas by killing them, thus augmenting their own powers. This act of murdering their own for their powers seems to have a corrupting, drug-like influence.

An alpha's claws or fangs can disrupt the healing factor of another shapeshifter, leaving longer lasting wounds on the victim.

Ascension Rules

A werewolf or coyote, born or bitten, is able to rise to alpha rank. This can be accomplished by a number of methods:

• Conquest: A dominant werecreature asserts dominance, leadership over a number of subordinates, building a pack and gaining the alpha spark of power. Theo Raeken seemingly employed this upon the resurrected Chimeras in Season 5, but because of the chimeras not actually being supernatural, the ascension did not take.

• Inheritance: Upon the alpha's demise another member in the pack may receive the alpha spark and step up to lead. The rules that determines which pack member to receive the alpha spark are unspecified. After Talia Hale's death, her eldest daughter Laura became an alpha for the remainder of the Hales, after the Hale house fire decimated the most of the pack. Scott suspected this happened to him in Season 3 after Derek's supposed death.
• Theft: A beta or omega slays an alpha and steals the power from the deceased. Prior to season 1, Peter Hale murdered Laura Hale to take her alpha status. At the end of Season 1, Derek Hale kills Peter and he himself becomes an alpha.
• Twins: Whenever twin werewolves gain alpha rank in their merged form, they will both attain alpha status. Ethan and Aiden employed this when they killed the alpha of their previous pack whilst merged as Voltron Wolf.

• Pure character, virtue and sheer willpower: See True Alpha

Series

Peter Hale, a werewolf, was the first alpha werewolf to appear in the series. He was later killed by his nephew Derek Hale, resulting in the latter taking Peter's rank and becoming an alpha. Peter was later resurrected, though he no longer possessed alpha status, coming back to life as an omega. 

Derek later sacrificed his alpha spark to give Cora Hale the capacity to heal from lethal mistletoe poisoning.

In season 3, an elite pack of werewolves appear whom were all of alpha rank. Deucalion fulfilled the role of leader even though all five members held the status and powers of an alpha. In 3x12 - Lunar Ellipse, the twins lost their alpha status due to being killed in their merged form because that part of them was broken.

Scott became an alpha when he attains True Alpha status.

In Season 6, an alpha lowenmensch, Garrett Douglas "Der Soldat" appears who aimed to take control of the Wild Hunt and took the power of a Ghost Rider turning his Alpha red eye colour to teal.

Transformative Capabilities

Alphas have the ability to turn human beings into new werewolves, or other werecreatures with a bite or using their claws. The bite is the more effective method of accomplishing this. Less so is a scratch. For one factor, the claws have to go deep, i.e. clawing out someone's throat, but there's still no guarantee. Once the process starts, the human victim will normally transform into a new beta shapeshifter.

 

However, the process could change the recipient into some other shapeshifter.

 

When Jackson Whittemore was bitten by Derek Hale, he instead became a kanima. Likewise, when Peter Hale clawed out Kate Argent's throat in 1x12 - Code Breaker, she transformed then came back to life as a werejaguar.

 

The transformation requires no act of will by the alpha to take effect. In 2x12 - Master Plan, Gerard Argent impaled his arm on Derek's fangs, and though Derek was forced and unwilling, Gerard still counted as being bitten. Likewise, Peter's sole intention was to murder Kate when he clawed out her throat.

 

If however, the transformation process does not take, it will eventually kill the victim. Derek's first love, Paige failed to transform, simply because the bite was totally fatal to her instead.

 

If a banshee is bitten they will neither transform nor die because they are immune. However, a bite can be used to activate the banshee's innate abilities.

 

Furthermore, because the transformative process changes the body, the bite can be used to exorcise the recipient of a dark kitsune's possession.

 

The Bite

The bite, when used as a proper noun in the Teen Wolf universe, refers to a bite from an alpha shapeshifter. This action is the typical method to turn a human into a new werewolf.

 

The bite has transformed several people. Scott McCall was bitten by Peter Hale in 1x01 - Wolf Moon. Jackson Whittemore was bitten by Derek Hale in the aftermath of Season 1. During Season 2, Isaac Lahey, Erica Reyes and Vernon Boyd all received the bite from Derek. In 4x03 - Muted, Liam Dunbar was bitten by Scott himself. Hayden Romero was bitten also by Scott in 5x20 - Apotheosis.

 

Peter Hale bit Lydia Martin, a latent banshee, in 1x11 - Formality. She neither turned or died, because as a banshee, Lydia isn't affected by supernatural forces, she is immune and she can instead access supernatural powers. Peter's true intention was to implant memories of himself in Lydia's subconscious so the devious werewolf could use Lydia as a backup plan to bring himself back to life in the event that he could be killed.

 

In Gerard Argent's case, because his system was filled with mountain ash, a barrier against supernatural creatures, he did not turn, rejecting the bite completely and he was incapacitated until provided with a cure.

 

In The Divine Move, Scott bites "Void Stiles", the Nogitsune's carbon copy of Stiles, which depleted his power and vanquished the void kitsune.

Roar

The alpha's roar is their primary feature. By roaring, an alpha asserts their dominance, rank and power over fellow shapeshifters or pack mates. The roar can also be used for a number of different effects against other creatures.

 

Using their roar, an alpha can empower and stimulate their betas so they can accomplish high level tasks, heightening their strength, power and fortitude in dangerous situations such as being able to fight back against enemies. The alpha will also roar in to restrain potentially aggressive shapeshifters, or those who are rulled by their bloodlust by forcing them into submission or weakening them.

 

In 1x07 - Night School, Peter Hale was able to force Scott McCall - his werewolf progeny - to shift into his werewolf shape by roaring. He was then able to place Scott under a form of mind control. Deucalion also roared to force Scott to shapeshift in 3x12 - Lunar Ellipse. In 2x02 - Shape-Shifted, Derek Hale roared at his newly-turned beta Isaac Lahey who was under the sway of the full moon and Isaac became rational again.

 

After Scott became a True Alpha and gains a pack comprised of members of several different species (werewolf, coyote, human, banshee, kitsune), his roar has specifically been shown to work in the manner of a clarion call as well as for the usual effects.

 

Scott was able to force Malia Tate to shift from her full coyote form to her human guise with his roar in 3x14 - More Bad than Good. Simultaneously, his voice affected and stimulated Isaac allowing the latter to break free of a bear trap. His roar was also clearly heard by his packmates Stiles Stilinski and Lydia Martin despite both of them being miles away from Scott's location at the time and them simply being a human and banshee respectively. For weeks afterwards, Malia was unable to trrigger her shifting afterward until Scott stepped up to mentor her.

 

In 3x22 - De-Void, Scott roared while inside Stiles' subconscious. Stiles responded to Scott's voice and was then able to break free of the Nogitsune's possession.

 

In 5x15 - Amplification, Scott let out a roar while he and his beta Liam Dunbar were being electrocuted by Eichen House security guards. His roar boosted both their preternatural strength and endurance, and both werewolves overcame the electricity and single-handedly knocked the guards unconscious. His roar also affected his pack members: Malia responded with her werecoyote eyes glowing brighter and he was clearly heard by Stiles and Kira Yukimura.

Healing Power

Alphas, due to their spark of power, have the capability to grant healing power to another individual, human shapeshifts or animal.

 

In 2x09 - Party Guessed, Derek was put into physical contact with the corpse of Peter Hale as well as the light of the full moon in a ritual conducted by a possessed Lydia Martin. Peter's corpse began to reanimate, gripping Derek's arm drawing his blood. Derek's eyes flashed red, his alpha spark being activated and the power being transferred to Peter's corpse. In minutes, Peter was completely revived. In the aftermath, Derek was left weak for several hours.

 

In 3x11 - Alpha Pact, Derek uses his pain siphoning on a sick and dying Cora Hale with maximum impact. The process relieves Cora of her pain, part of Derek's alpha spark was transferred to Cora, augmenting her healing factor and she eventually heals completely of her sickness. On the negative side, Derek was rendered unconscious from the strain and his alpha status was lost.

 

Visionary Ability

Power Theft

If an alpha kills a member of their own pack, the power of the deceased will be added to that of the alpha's. They will "become stronger, faster, more powerful".

 

Three alphas, Deucalion, Kali and Ennis, each of whom were the leaders of their own respective packs, all carried out and indulged in this new trait without remorse. They murdered every member of their own individual packs, subsuming all their collective powers. Afterwards, the three formed the basis of the dastardly and dreaded Alpha Pack. From Deucalion's words, the effect of having killed one's own pack members to take their power seems to have a corrupting drug-like influence.

 

"I want you to kill one of the them. Do that and I won't have to ask you to kill the others. You'll do it on your own." - Deucalion to Derek

 

In 3x07 - Currents, Kali and the twins use Derek's body as a weapon to kill his beta Vernon Boyd. As Boyd dies, Derek's eyes glow a much brighter Alpha red as he unwillingly absorbs Boyd's power.