Character Review MTV's Teen Wolf

Derek Hale

Werewolf 

Derek Hale: deadpan, annoyed, violent, smart, loving, strong, brave, loyal, resilient.

Derek Hale, portrayed by Tyler Hoechlin, is one of six original characters on MTV’s Teen Wolf. He is a born werewolf and becomes the ‘father’ to a group of teenagers who won’t listen to anything he says, especially Scott McCall in seasons one and two. Derek can be labeled as the most tragic character on the series; it starts out when his first love, Paige, is bitten by a werewolf and her body rejects the bite. She pleads with Derek to end her suffering, which changes his eyes from yellow to blue (blue meaning that the werewolf has taken the life of an innocent person). In his time of recovery over Paige he is seduced by an older woman, Kate Argent, who ends up using him to gain access to his family’s house and sets the house on fire around the Hales leaving only Derek, his sister Laura, and his uncle Peter alive. Coming in to season one we find out that Peter escaped the fire and was recovering from severe burns; at the end of the season we come to learn that Peter killed Laura to become an alpha, and Derek kills Peter in the finale to get revenge  and become the alpha. Derek does not remain the last Hale for long; season two Peter uses Lydia Martin to bring himself back to life and in season three it is revealed that Derek’s sister Cora survived the fire. 

The most appealing quality to Derek’s character is that he continuously makes mistakes, he fixes those mistakes, and he keeps going despite whatever life throws at him. Derek may have been absent through season five and most of season six due to Hoechlin leaving Teen Wolf, but when we finally meet Derek again we see that he is still fighting to protect himself, Scott, humans, and other supernatural creatures. His relationships with Scott and Stiles start off with mutual hate on all three sides. Derek reluctantly tries to get Scott to join his pack and fight with him against the alpha given that they were both omegas at the time. For two seasons Scott, Stiles, and Derek are either working together or fighting each other until season three when the McCall-Hale pack begins to form.

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One of Derek’s mistakes is becoming an alpha and turning three teenagers: Isaac Lahey, Erica Reyes, and Vernon Boyd; he also bites Jackson Whittemore but the bite turns Jackson into a kanima instead of a werewolf. Derek and the three betas become a dysfunctional family of sorts and when Erica and Boyd are killed in season three it’s not just the fans that feel the loss. Derek takes it as a personal failure that he did not protect them and sends Isaac away to join Scott’s pack. In the end Derek ends up sacrificing his alpha status to safe Cora’s life. Throughout the series Derek would go from being completely alone to co-parenting, of sorts, with Scott to the McCall-Hale pack (most fans call it the McCall pack but let’s be honest it would not exist without Derek and the Hales are the protectors of Beacon Hills. By the end of Teen Wolf the McCall-Hale pack, including those who have died, would be made up of Derek, Scott, Stiles, Lydia and her mom, Isaac, Erica, Boyd, Cora, Peter, Allison Argent, Chris Argent, Melissa McCall, Sheriff Stilinski,  Ethan and Aiden, Kira Yukimura and her parents, Malia Tate, Liam Dunbar, Brett Talbot (by association), Theo Raeken, Mason Hewitt, Hayden Romero, Corey Bryant, Jordan Parrish, Rafael McCall, Alan Deaton, and Braeden (and honorary member Danny Mahealani who never officially joined but knew about the pack). Derek’s entire personality changes as he acquires more people who care about him; he’ll still threaten to rip Stiles’ throat out with his teeth, but he’ll also throw himself in front of a bullet for Stiles.

Derek’s biggest relationship changes do not just include Scott and Stiles. He had to overcome his differences with Chris and Allison Argent, the two Argents who never actually killed any of Derek’s family or pack. Chris and Allison did once attack Derek, and Derek bit Victoria Argent (wife and mother) leading her to kill herself to avoid turning into the thing she hated and hunted. Season three is when the relationship shifts. Chris is the first to trust Derek after Derek saves his life and they form a strong friendship that lasted throughout the rest of the series. Allison is never quite sure if she can trust Derek, but she trusts Scott’s judgment and that is what causes the two of them to become pack mates who fight with and for each other. 

All of this is what is so amazing about Derek’s character and why fans love him; he is living proof of how getting up every time life beats you down will make you a strong person. Yeah pain makes you stronger, but allowing yourself to trust and love again is what truly helps you survive life.