Leikan

More commonly called skulltakers, Leikan are a magical apex predator indigenous to the Maple Forest that preys on other predators in the area. During their younger years they hunt small prey such as rabbits and small deer, harvesting the skull before eating anything else. Later on, the Leikan uses the skull to reshape their body into that of the prey's and walk into a predator's territory to attract it. When a bear or wolf or large cat stumbles onto a trivially easy meal and attempts to catch it, it turns back to it's larger natural form and overpowers the creature, feeding on a feast and adding yet another skull to its collection.
In its natural form the Leikan resembles a large spindly panther with an elongated face and very long and sharp claws. At the end of its tail lies something resembling a mouth, which it uses to sever skulls from the corpses of animals to digest and learn the bone structure to copy. Along the bottom of its midsection lies a pouch where young spend their first weeks of life. The colour of its fur varies between very dark blues and purples to the purest black.
Folklore speaks of a rare subtype of Leikan that prefers human prey, that gains the ability to take the form of anyone it devours. It would not be able to speak yet it would be perfectly able to recreate a loved one to attract even more to its traps. No evidence exists for such a creature, but it does not stop parents from using it as a tale to scare children away from wandering the forest, and hunters to stay very far from prey creatures where they shouldn't be, and only loose arrows at any game from long range in any case.
Leikan blood is very valuable to alchemists however, being used in concoctions that reshape facials and body structure.