Weyekin

Weyekin is the Nez Perce word for a spiritual being.

Description

In traditional Nez Perce beliefs, everything natural in the physical world - animals, trees, rocks, etc. - possesses a spirit consciousness. These weyekins are seen not as deities, but rather mediators between the physical and the spiritual worlds. In Nez Perce traditions, young people around the age of 12 to 15 will go on spirit journeys in the wilderness to receive personal weyekin guides.

In the fiction of Killer Instinct (2013), the characters Thunder and Eagle both have weyekin guides. It is implied that weyekins are somehow linked to the Guardians from the Astral Plane, being similar spiritual entities with animal motifs. Thunder and Eagle are given supernatural powers by their connections to their weyekins - Thunder is able to summon lightning and crows, while Eagle's weyekin inhabits a mechanical eagle body and directly assists him in battle.

Gallery

Thunder surrounded by crows, a sign of his weyekin

Eagle's Weyekin in a mechanical body made by Glacius

Eagle's Weyekin in the form of the legendary Thunderbird

Trivia

• Both Thunder and Eagle's weyekins are avian in form; Thunder's is a crow, while Eagle's is an eagle.