Shapeshifters appear later in the series; no main character is a shapeshifter until the ninth book, Witchlight. Before that, only allusions to shapeshifters are made, usually in the context of a Night Person explaining the Night World to a human and listing the Night World species. In Witchlight, the protagonist, Keller, is a shapeshifter. She has the ability to change into the form of a panther at will. Some history about shapeshifters is given in Witchlight. Shapeshifters had control of the world long before witches and vampires. Their leaders were known as "Dragons", beings that could change into the form of any animal as long as they have had physical contact to that animal (normally shapeshifters can change into only one pre-determined animal form). To kill a dragon you must remove its horns. The more horns it has, the more powerful it is. The witches rose to power and put the dragons to sleep, except for the youngest one, the dragon princess, who was only 4 at the time. The witches left her awake and raised her, carefully watching over her. All of the ruling house of shapeshifters are descended from her. The descendants of the ruling house have the ability to choose what animal they will become, but this choice is permanent. In the early books of the series, werewolves and shapeshifters are described as separate groups or races of the Night World. For example, in Daughters of Darkness, Night World is described as comprising vampires, "witches and werewolves and shapeshifters, too".[8] Though never explicitly stated, the later books tend to treat werewolves as a subset of shapeshifters. In Witchlight, when Keller tells the history of shapeshifters, she lists felines, bears, eagles, and wolves as groups or clans within the shapeshifter race.[9] The description of both werewolves and shapeshifters as second-class citizens also supports the notion that werewolves are a subset, or one family, of shapeshifters. However, in Witchlight there is no real mention of Keller feeding or abiding by the rules for werewolves described in Daughters of Darkness. The symbol for shapeshifters is a black lily. The type differs, for example tigers use tiger lilies.
Some history about shapeshifters is given in Witchlight. Shapeshifters had control of the world long before witches and vampires. Their leaders were known as "Dragons", beings that could change into the form of any animal as long as they have had physical contact to that animal (normally shapeshifters can change into only one pre-determined animal form). To kill a dragon you must remove its horns. The more horns it has, the more powerful it is. The witches rose to power and put the dragons to sleep, except for the youngest one, the dragon princess, who was only 4 at the time. The witches left her awake and raised her, carefully watching over her. All of the ruling house of shapeshifters are descended from her. The descendants of the ruling house have the ability to choose what animal they will become, but this choice is permanent.
In the early books of the series, werewolves and shapeshifters are described as separate groups or races of the Night World. For example, in Daughters of Darkness, Night World is described as comprising vampires, "witches and werewolves and shapeshifters, too".[8] Though never explicitly stated, the later books tend to treat werewolves as a subset of shapeshifters. In Witchlight, when Keller tells the history of shapeshifters, she lists felines, bears, eagles, and wolves as groups or clans within the shapeshifter race.[9] The description of both werewolves and shapeshifters as second-class citizens also supports the notion that werewolves are a subset, or one family, of shapeshifters. However, in Witchlight there is no real mention of Keller feeding or abiding by the rules for werewolves described in Daughters of Darkness.
The symbol for shapeshifters is a black lily. The type differs, for example tigers use tiger lilies.