Your ideal werewolf

This is the place for discussion and voting on various aspects of werewolf life, social ideas, physical appearance, etc. Also a place to vote on how a werewolf should look.
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Vagrant »

lycanthropeful wrote:(what everyone seems to call a "gestalt" form around here; I had never heard that term used previously)
I believe it's from Werewolf: The Apocalypse. The weres there had a number of forms (five, I believe), and each was very specific.

The gestalt form was a mix of Wolf and Human (as the English meaning of gestalt would suggest), and avoided both the Uncanny Valley (bolting an animal head onto a Human body) and old Horror movie (bolting monster parts onto a Human body) approaches. Notable features of the gestalt other than that is that they have a tail, and they tend to move via digitigrade locomotion. The only other thing that was notable about gestalts (and Werewolf tabletop RPG weres in general) was that they were over-muscled killing machines, so their forms were always quite bulky.

It's been a long time though, so I'm fuzzy on this, anyone may correct me if I'm wrong. It's been forever since I played Werewolf.

As for the gestalt form though, it's one of my favourites. It was a favourite even before Werewolf, but now I have a name for it. Personally, I too enjoy the really feral looking werewolves, but those who look like they have some connection to their lupine bretheren, too.
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by lycanthropeful »

Ah, then that's right, thanks for clearing that up, Vagrant. :wink:

The feral, "over-muscled killing machines" description is the best approach to lycanthropy I can think of, personally. Though I think being entirely feral can, well, cause a lot of trouble. It's my preference to allow the werewolf to "have a choice" - I mean, yeah, wolves are ferocious animals, but it's not like they're constantly wired and psycho. They can be calm, too. In this case, I mean that I prefer werewolves to have control over acting completely savage or not. It's just that a human with murderous desires as is would most likely lose all control and just start killing people once they transform, simply because they can under the possession of their new larger, more powerful form.
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Vagrant »

Oh, I wholeheartedly agree. In fact, I'm all for the Gentleman in the beast's body, even, as I enjoy the contrast.

Feral doesn't necessarily have to be synonymous with savage or mindless though, it's simply indicative of wildness, the untamed, and nature. And it was more the demeanour of the wild animal that I meant to imply, in movement, body language, and behaviourally.

So as you can see, we're of like mind on this topic, as I prefer my werewolves to be simply people with a wild edge, and wild as in nature, as opposed to erratic and irrational. I'm wholly convinced that every animal is possessed of their own form of rationality which defines their behaviour, as are we--Humans--likewise.

So by feral, I'd say that the demeanour and behaviour of the Wolf is coupled with that of the person. And that really does make for a great werewolf!

As for killing machines, well ... that's how Werewolf: TA describes 'em, but really, it's just potential, but it's also each werewolf's choice.
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Bloodyredbaron »

The werewolves that I'm writing about now are essentially monsters, in fact that's why I write about things like werewolves and vampires, because they aren't human, even if they once were. They aren't just normal people who can turn furry at will, being bitten changes you, doesn’t remove your free will but the very act of the first change, the sudden, uncontrollable and violent change from man to beast if a very traumatic change and changes the person physiologically if they aren’t ready for it. The question is, does being a monster make you evil or do you still have a choice?

I emphasize this in design, it would be easy to just stick a wolf’s head and stick it on a furry guy’s body and slap and tail and mess up their legs, finding all the points in between man and wolf is half the fun of designing a werewolf.
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Silverclaw »

Vagrant wrote:
lycanthropeful wrote:(what everyone seems to call a "gestalt" form around here; I had never heard that term used previously)
I believe it's from Werewolf: The Apocalypse. The weres there had a number of forms (five, I believe), and each was very specific.
Actually, ABrownrigg (the director here) came up with the idea of calling them Gestalts. It means 'form' in German I believe. He wanted a word to describe a form better combined than the two by themselves(human/wolf). :)

From Wikipedia:
The Garou are beings of both physical strength and spiritual depth. Created by (and in most cases fighting on the side of) a force known as Gaia, Garou are shapeshifters capable of changing their physical form at will to appear as humans (a form they call homid), wolves (lupus), or several intermediary mixed forms. There are: glabro; physically strong and brutish humans, crinos; the traditional wolf-man, and hispo; wolves of unnatural size and strength. Unlike werewolves in most traditional folklore, Garou in Werewolf: The Apocalypse are neither mindless predators nor lunatics. Instead, they are depicted as defenders of Mother Earth and its Umbra (or spirit world).
We wanted to stay away from terms from a role-playing game. Copyrights and all that :P
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Vagrant »

Oh, that's right. Oops. I'm not sure why I got it into my head that TA called them gestalt and not crinos. It's probably because I've seen gestalt used so much (and not only here), and I assumed it came from a common source, considering where I first saw it. But I digress, a big assumption and a memory failure there on my part, I apologise.
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Silverclaw »

No problem :D
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Earth-friendly hybrids

Post by Scott Gardener »

Actually, it was Anthony's wife Meagan Brownrigg who came up with the term "Gestalt"; either way, if the word catches on for describing a mid-shifted werewolf, we can say it started here, right along side duckie tossing.

Werewolf: the Apocalypse had werewolves with five distinct forms. The "homid" form was human; the "glabros" form was almost human, with some bits of shifted features, akin to the old Lon Chaney Wolf Man; the "crinos" form was essentially what we call Gestalt; the "hispo" form was a large nearly wolf creature, akin perhaps to demon wolves and Heck hounds of legend, and "lupus" form was a plain wolf.

Back in 1987, when I started my own werewolf imaginings, I also went with a similar five phase body morphology, though rather than a large demon wolf, my fourth phase shifted werewolves were simply almost wolf but with some human features and the ability to hold onto objects. By the time Werewolf: the Apocalypse came out in 1993, though, I had given my werewolves a sort of "continuously variable transmission" in which one could be human, wolf, or any spot in a continuum in between, with the Gestalt form being a convenient middle.

Apparently Mark Rein:Hagen and I aren't the only ones who at one point or another think of a five-step shifting mechanism, as DeviantArt member and fellow Pack member Arania often presents her character drawings in sets of five, each representing a different form of a shift. There seems to be something easily palatable to our brains to have a five-form system. Still, I like the smoother shift of my continuously variable.
Taking a Gestalt approach, since it's the "in" thing...
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Vagrant »

I can see why you'd prefer that, Scott.

I'm a fairly strong proponent of morphological freedom, and thus I'm a large fan of shifters myself. And while not having set transformation points might take away from a were being considered a were, it still makes them more of a real shifter, a changer and shaper of their own form. That's a kind of were I'd like to see more commonly adopted in the media.

And if I may be so bold, it would also be entertaining to have a shifter who was capable of accessing any form with a compatible enough genetic structure, and therefore able to shift to most of Earth's creatures. And it would be fun if--while shifted--the feral aspects of the creature in question altered the mindset of the shifter.

Now that'd be an interesting character to work with, I'd imagine. Though they might end up going insane (or becoming one of the most brilliant and eccentric individuals Earth has ever known), it would be one heck of a ride.
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Bloodyredbaron »

Vagrant wrote:I can see why you'd prefer that, Scott.

I'm a fairly strong proponent of morphological freedom, and thus I'm a large fan of shifters myself. And while not having set transformation points might take away from a were being considered a were, it still makes them more of a real shifter, a changer and shaper of their own form. That's a kind of were I'd like to see more commonly adopted in the media.

And if I may be so bold, it would also be entertaining to have a shifter who was capable of accessing any form with a compatible enough genetic structure, and therefore able to shift to most of Earth's creatures. And it would be fun if--while shifted--the feral aspects of the creature in question altered the mindset of the shifter.

Now that'd be an interesting character to work with, I'd imagine. Though they might end up going insane (or becoming one of the most brilliant and eccentric individuals Earth has ever known), it would be one heck of a ride.
I think they did that already. It was called Animorphs.

Animorphs was awesome.
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Post by Midnight »

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Last edited by Midnight on Wed Jun 10, 2009 4:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Vagrant »

That's another one of the series I've always wanted to watch (if not read, due to my ocular disability) but never did, is Animorphs. I'll try and snag it, via means legit or less so. It sounds like something I'd genuinely enjoy, because it's not often that popular media gets open-minded, it's quite the rare thing. So I want to experience that first hand.

And in closing ... I refuse to make a bad pun regarding Werewolf locomotion, but it is tempting, so very tempting.
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by lycanthropeful »

Vagrant, you HAVE to find Animorphs books somewhere! I had a grand plot last summer to relive my childhood with a friend of mine and raid a local bookstore - using the money we had from work, we were going to buy the whole series and read them all over again. Haha.

Animorphs was the first thing I read or involved myself in that convinced me I was power-hungry and... let's just leave it at "weird." I've always liked the attitude K.A. Applegate had with the kids being shapeshifters. As was mentioned earlier, I really like werewolves who, as a human, display a lot of the same characteristics and behaviors of their lupine alter ego. Many times in the books, you'd be reading when, let's say, Cassie morphed a horse, or Rachel morphed a grizzly bear, and you could easily pick up on both their human thoughts ("thought-speak," it was called, written in italics between <brackets>) and detect their animal instincts seeping through. Sometimes it caused a lot of dismay and personal conflict, which I think made for interesting characters.
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Vagrant »

I usually stay away from books unless they're audio books due to having extremely poor sight. Quite often, trying to make my way through a book is a bit of a strain and can lead to particularly unpleasant headaches.

I'll nose around and see if the Animorphs ever had an audio-book series made of it. If not, I may just give reading the books a try since they seem to come highly recommended (and not just here, I've had a few friends and acquaintances mention Animorphs in the past), and I may just be able to get large print editions.

Suffice it to say anyway, I shall try! They sound exactly like the kind of thing I'd actually enjoy reading.
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Vuldari »

I love variant varieties of shapeshifters (I'm a bit of a Transformation Fanatic, on a Broad scale), but one thing I don't like is when they all get mashed together into one big jumbled mess of mixed ideas, and the original concepts they are based off of all but cease to exist. I like them all ... but I prefer a "Werewolf" to be a "WEREWOLF", (clearly distinguishable from other types of shapeshifters), and everything else to be ... well ... "Something Else".

Animorphs are Animorphs ... Animagi are Animagi ... A transformation into a Spirit/Power animal is just that (and not a "Were[whatever]") ... Demons are Demons (western or eastern definition of the word. Either is it's own distinct entity from a Werewolf, even if they change into wolves) ... and so on and so forth.

A "Werewolf" to me is best when it is clearly distinguishable from other types of shapeshifters, upon closer inspection, based on qualities and elements of how they work (physically and psychologically).



[ Shapeshifters Secret Meeting ]

{ *All present members have changed into Animal forms for introductions, except for group leader and member "Frank" who is introducing the new guy*
*New guy looks freaked out and his hand is shaking, but it doesn't appear to be from Fear*

[LEADER] - "Frank ... I don't think he's one of us"
[FRANK] - "Of course he is ... I saw him turn into a Wolf clear as day last night. He's a shapeshifter, same as the rest of us"
[NEW-GUY] - "I ... I don't feel so good" *Growls*
[LEADER] - "It was a Full Moon last night Frank ..."
[FRANK] - "That's how I'm so sure I didn't imagine it ... I saw him clearly in the Moonlight. There was no mistaking it"
*New Guy's shoes stretch and then are forced off his feet as claws rip through his socks and fur starts to grow all over his body. His jaw elongates as his teeth enlarge and his ears stretch. He bends over holding his gut in agony as his snarls sound less and less human*
[LEADER] - "I think he might be a Werewolf ..."
[FRANK] - "Duh ... I just said that. Last night I saw him turn into a ..."
[NEW-GUY] - " AWROOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " *Drops out of chair onto all fours and howls loudly with his eyes blazing yellow as his shirt begins to tear apart* :shift:
*Rest of Attending members scatter and then rejoin behind Leader, bearing their teeth in defensive poses*
[FRANK] - " ... OH $#%* !!!!! ... " }



Guy who can turn into a Wolf, and "Werwolf" ... not the same thing. (IMHO)
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Vagrant »

I don't think anyone was meshing them together though, I think it was just the selfsame appreciation for a broad range of types of critter as you profess to have yourself, Vuldari.

What I was getting at in my previous post was that I thought a new-age Werewolf could be like a shapeshifter, without actually being one. By this I imply that the creature in question has morphological freedom between human and their designated animal, but they adopt more of that animal's traits, instincts, and ways of thinking the closer they get to the target form.

To me, that's not a shapeshifter either, as a shapeshifter is merely a creature which assumes shapes, but doesn't necessarily have any kind of connection with teh shape they assume. And in my opinion, that's what a werewolf is: A creature that does have a connection with the shape they assume.

In many views of a Werewolf, he or she can assume the form of a pure Wolf. That's been done a lot, and it wasn't really started recently, either. I remember one really old movie where all the Werewolves were portrayed purely as Wolves, with no human elements visible.

So if it was my post that stepped on your toes, hopefully this explanation of my inner-perceptions will have cleared it up.

The thing is, a Werewolf doesn't have to be anything, a Werewolf is merely opinion until one actually exists. No? So I always like exploring what a Werewolf could be, but I in no way invalidate any other kind of views that exist, and nor is that my desire. Until we're given a real Werewolf, they're still pure potential and everyone is entitled to their own ideals, which is exactly what this thread is about--personal ideals.
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Vuldari »

I wouldn't say that anyone in particular here is "Stepping on my Toes" ... and Ideas are Great ... I love ideas.

I was just pointing out and providing an example of specific ways in which MY ideas and opinions differ from those already shared, using points made in previous posts as Context for my own ideas and explanations.


For example Vagrant, in your last post, you felt the need to point out and clarify the differences between what you would call just a "Shapeshifter", and the creatures/characters you were describing, which don't just RESEMBLE the animals they change into (like molding a piece of clay, but still staying the same kind of clay), but actually inherit deeper attributes of the animals they transform into ... thus they don't just LOOK like a Tiger if they turn into one ... they ARE a Tiger.


That is what I was doing with my previous post as well ... clarifying the difference.


For me ... even having the persons transformation involve inheriting more than just the outward appearance of the animal (mentality, instincts, and other more difficult to define elements of actually BEING the creature in question), is still not quite the same as what I think of when imagining a Werewolf.

When compared side-by-side with MY idea of a Werewolf, a Wolf Shifter meeting the criteria you described would only ALMOST be a werewolf to me.

Without the chaotic, forced/involuntary transformations (and forced bouts of feral mentality along with it), and the fundamental sense that the Lycanthropy is foreign to the person who is host to it (even if born with it, it is a "Contracted" or "Infused" state of being, and not an hereditary one), it is not quite a "Werewolf" in my eyes.


Take, for example, the mini story in my last post. Lets just presume that 'FRANK' was one of the kinds of people you were describing. He turned into a Wolf too, and when he did, he also thought and felt like a Wolf. When he stumbled upon the "New Guy" and saw the way he seemed to be struggling with his transformation and 'Wolfish' thoughts, he presumed he was just the same as himself, only his abilities were just awakening and he had not yet come to understand them yet. So, he offers to help the poor man and brought him to his friends in hopes of helping him learn learn to control and accept his "Wolfy" side. However, what Frank failed to realize was that, the new guy didn't just not know HOW to control his transformations ... he COULDN'T. ... and the new guy (in this scenario anyway) didn't just feel and think a little bit more Wolfy when he changed ... he almost completely forgot that he was human at all. When the new guy fell out of his chair and howled, he was so buzzed and confused that he didn't fully remember where, who or what he was. All he knew for sure was that there was a whole pack of large, strong looking animals surrounding him whom his Wolf Instincts told him were either rival predators or prey, and all of the others could see in his eyes and the expression on his transformed face that he was prepared to do what any wild Wolf would do if backed into a corner by all of those animals ... fight back for dear life.

The difference between Frank and the New Guy? ... With some Practice, Mental and Physical Conditioning, and help from his friends, Frank was easily able to gain almost total control over his transformation ability, and behavior in Wolf Form. The New Guy probably Never could ... any more than someone with epilepsy can will themselves not to have a seizure. The triggers are just not that easy to manage. The new guy could probably find a way to live with and compensate for his Lycanthropy ... but not the same way Frank could. Thus is part of the "Challenge" of being a WEREWOLF. [My interpretation of one anyway]
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Dreamer »

Bloodyredbaron wrote:The werewolves that I'm writing about now are essentially monsters, in fact that's why I write about things like werewolves and vampires, because they aren't human, even if they once were. They aren't just normal people who can turn furry at will, being bitten changes you, doesn’t remove your free will but the very act of the first change, the sudden, uncontrollable and violent change from man to beast if a very traumatic change and changes the person physiologically if they aren’t ready for it. The question is, does being a monster make you evil or do you still have a choice?

I emphasize this in design, it would be easy to just stick a wolf’s head and stick it on a furry guy’s body and slap and tail and mess up their legs, finding all the points in between man and wolf is half the fun of designing a werewolf.
What do you mean that they are esentially monsters, albeit you put in an addndum around the end that they aren't always evil. Explain further please.
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Moonraiser »

Me and Celestialwolf have alot of the same views on the werewolf. To make it easier on me and you I'll give you the link to his werewolf site. (If you already havn't been.) Here it is: http://werewolf.rcromar.com

Enjoy!

M
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Leonca~ »

[ Shapeshifters Secret Meeting ]

{ *All present members have changed into Animal forms for introductions, except for group leader and member "Frank" who is introducing the new guy*
*New guy looks freaked out and his hand is shaking, but it doesn't appear to be from Fear*

...
That would be hilarious made into a little cartoon or something. :lol:

I don’t want to write a whole lot about mine right now, so I’ll just cover some of the basics. I came up with most of this when I was quite a bit younger and hadn’t read many werewolf books or seen many movies, so most is either ideas I got from reading various myths and folktales, or just completely from my own imagination.

Origins: Magic based, though not considered to be a curse. The werewolves have a myth about their origins, though none know for certain that it is true- that the first werewolf was created by a shaman, who gave him the ability to then pass on what he was to other humans to create a new species. Sort of a transition from the “old times,” when magic was common and people lived closer to nature, to the “new times,” where people’s beliefs were changing and they began to think differently about nature. Similar events took place in other parts of the world at various times creating people who could change into other kinds of animals, but always canine or feline species (purely due to these being the animals I am most interested in and would have the most fun changing myself into :wink: ).

Forms: Usually only full human and full wolf. They can arrest the change at different stages to come up with the bipedal hybrid form that seems to be more popular in other people’s versions, but the anatomy isn’t the most efficient for moving around quickly in so few prefer to do that over changing all the way. Indistinguishable from a real wolf in that form except for the fact that their eyes can not be changed and remain human looking.

They have full control over themselves when they shift, but they can be dangerous when they get emotional. They are susceptible to all the same kinds of mental illnesses as humans, plus some that are unique to themselves, so this can create some very unstable individuals.

They can shift at any time they choose, day or night. I actually find this a much more frightening idea than the kind that is forced to shift and kill during the full moon. With full control over shifting they can come after you at any time they like. This makes the bad guys particularly terrifying, but it also makes the good guys more flexible since they are not forced to kill innocent people.

Lifespan is about the same as a human’s, maybe a bit longer due to usually being very healthy. Can be harmed by all the same things as normal humans or animals. Not allergic to silver.

No one remembers how to create werewolves using the old magic, so the only ways to become one now are through having at least one werewolf parent, or through being bitten by one. Not all people who are bitten will be changed however. The werewolf that bites a human has to plan ahead to do so by first creating and drinking a potion that will permit him or her to change the next person that is bitten. This is a time consuming process and prevents the werewolf from changing a massive amount of people in a short time. The bite is supposed to be viewed as a kind of gift, given only to the people who would enjoy being a werewolf and use their new abilities wisely. The formula for the potion is instinctual to all werewolves, so they do not have to be taught by others how to make and use it.

:D
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by bhpx »

Mine is
Human form:
face more angular
Canines longer and sharper
ears more pointed

Wolf:
a larger, stronger than normal wolf
fur is colour of persons hair and eye colour stays the same

Transforms depending on emotions

When transformed they have a strong urge to kill and the curse can send the sufferer mad being taken over by the constant hunger
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by Bloodyredbaron »

Dreamer wrote:
Bloodyredbaron wrote:The werewolves that I'm writing about now are essentially monsters, in fact that's why I write about things like werewolves and vampires, because they aren't human, even if they once were. They aren't just normal people who can turn furry at will, being bitten changes you, doesn’t remove your free will but the very act of the first change, the sudden, uncontrollable and violent change from man to beast if a very traumatic change and changes the person physiologically if they aren’t ready for it. The question is, does being a monster make you evil or do you still have a choice?

I emphasize this in design, it would be easy to just stick a wolf’s head and stick it on a furry guy’s body and slap and tail and mess up their legs, finding all the points in between man and wolf is half the fun of designing a werewolf.
What do you mean that they are esentially monsters, albeit you put in an addndum around the end that they aren't always evil. Explain further please.
A common theme in my writing is that monster=/=evil. Werewolves, vampires, ghouls, and daikaiju are supernatural beings with destructive tendencies inherit to their nature. I tend to classify a monster as a being that feeds from or is a predator of humans as part of it’s base instincts or nature. (Or, by choice)

Much of the point I try to emphasize in my character development is how these former humans deal with becoming this monster, rejecting it outright would mean rejecting yourself and your nature, which is not psychologically healthy. Embracing it completely and utterly, and letting it consume you will lead to normal people and maybe your fellow monsters getting hurt. The trick is acknowledging your supernatural heritage and accepting it without letting it destroying what remains of your humanity. That’s the journey most of my vampire and werewolf characters take, becoming a monster, and then accepting that fact, and then finally choosing how that affects you and what you become.

This is why “werewolves are just people too!!!!111” doesn’t appeal to me. My ideal werewolf is a monster, but it has the choice to be an evil monster.

I also try to work in at least one Lizzy Caplan reference into my books. Just one.
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Re:

Post by Terastas »

Figarou wrote:Can you explain where the energy is coming from for a dead werewolf in gestalt form to change back to a human?
This comes up every now and then, and the only explanation I could think of would be if, instead of energy being needed to shift from wolf to human, energy is instead needed to sustain the wolf form, so when a werewolf dies or passes out and their energy levels drop, the body "deflates" back into human form.

I have this mentioned in my writing, but it's never explicitly confirmed; after two characters have killed a rogue werewolf and one of them starts worrying what they'll do with the body, the other one calms him down and assures him they can just leave it for the police to find once it deflates as described. . . But it doesn't.

The rogue werewolf in question was also a frequent drug user, which might have explained why he didn't deflate automatically, but again, even the werewolves themselves don't have all the answers, so they really don't know why some deflate and others don't.

Anyway, my werewolves have changed a lot thanks to the Pack. I have more than one work of fiction in the works, but they both rely more or less on the same werewolf model, so here goes:

Genre
Realism, if anything. Neither the werewolves in The Noctem or Night Life (that's right, no more Happy Hamster Land working title) are actually sure themselves of the nature of lycanthropy, but they both assume it can be described scientifically.

Signs of Lycanthropy in Human Form
Nothing outwardly defining. The closest things to telltale signs would be crooked teeth, male-pattern baldness or other "typical" imperfections, as the constant shifting between forms makes correcting these difficult, if not impossible.

Mass Gain from shifting
None. Werewolves appear taller and larger, but weigh the same as they did in human form (minus that which they "sweated off" while shifting).

Height
Usually no more than three to four inches than in their human form, and some of that is attributed to the fact that they habitually stand digitigrade. Exceptions are rare.

Muscles
More well defined, but not explicitly gained. A werewolf's increased strength is better attributed to its tolerance for pain; his ability to push himself to levels a normal human could reach but not endure.

Head
Very canine in appearance, with the exception of still having their ears on the sides of their head (as opposed to the top of their head like a natural wolf, like the werewolves in Hyper Police, only not nearly as toony). The only differences beyond this are generally subtle and vary from one individual to another.

Fur
Generally the same color as that of the individual's human form, albeit this means only the color of the werewolf's head and maybe the face. Anywhere the werewolf's human form is lacking in hair may offer some surprises (back, hands and feet, for example, may offer some surprises).

Hair Retention
Werewolves keep their "headfur," though this is only evident in werewolves with particularly long hair. Bald spots may or may not grow in, but more often do than don't.

Level of Fur Coverage
The palms of their hands, soles of their feet, inside the ears, and the nose. Every other part of their body grows fur.

Claws
Not that much larger than human form, but stronger and capable of tearing.

Sounds
Werewolves can easily imitate the full wolf's vocal arrangement, albeit they do not always know the significance of such (coyote howling is not uncommon). Human sounds can also be made, but their actual language capacity is limited to simple "baby-talk" words like 'yeah' or 'uh-uh.' Werewolves generally find it easier to learn sign language than to learn to speak with a different set of mouth parts.

Male/Female differences
Pretty much the same differences that set apart human males and females.

Speed and Strength
The average werewolf can rival the Olympic athletes in any field, but do not actually surpass human expectations. Their increased speed, strength and endurance once again stems from their regeneration / threshold for pain; their ability to push themselves harder than a normal human ever could.

Silver
Werewolves encourage the silver myth because it makes it easier to identify werewolf hunters, but it's never actually been proven that silver is harmful to werewolves (or at least not any more harmful than it would be to anything else).

The Moon
Werewolves attribute the first-time shift at the full moon as being a result of psychological influence, though the relationship is not explicitly understood. Werewolves living in the Noctem where the moon can never be seen are immune to its influence, so its generally assumed that it has something to do with its shape or brightness (described by some as resembling the "light at the end of the tunnel").

Children
Lycanthropy remains active when passed onto another by infection, but becomes dormant at the cellular level (AKA: the egg and sperm) and can take several years to re-mature. Depending on how it mutates while maturing, a werewolf 'cub' may develop a mature form as early as six years, or in extremely rare cases, never at all.

Forms
Gestalt and full wolf. The gestalt "hybrid" is the form which naturally results from a shift, though werewolves may push further into a full wolf form and back.

Illness
Lycanthropy acts both as a cleansing agent and a regenerative. Werewolves are apparently more susceptible to fever and cold-like symptoms such as runny nose, vomiting and diarrhea on account of their immune systems expelling more toxins than normal, but beyond such, werewolves are generally disease-free. The only exception is hereditary cancer, which lycanthropy can sometimes speed up.

Injury and Age affecting shifting
Shifting is a painful process, and if they shift before acquiring their full regenerative capacity, it can be fatal. Old, sick or handicapped humans are not infected because the combined "detoxification" and first shift does an absolute number on the individual. Once they have adjusted to the presence of lycanthropy in their systems and undergone the first shift, however, anything that doesn't kill them can eventually be recovered from.

Control
Whenever werewolves go crazy, it's usually for one of three reasons. The first is, simply put, the physical and mental strain of the first shift. If they survive that, the second is if they are confused or overwhelmed by the explosion of information from their newly acquired senses. These are common problems which werewolves are frankly not expected to be able to overcome on the first try, but which a werewolf will eventually adjust to sooner than later.

The third is what werewolves in modern-day times call "Hollywood Syndrome." This is when someone had previously had a misconception of werewolves which they adamantly believed, to the point that, when they became a werewolf themselves, they developed a psychological complex which encourages that misconception. Bloodlust or a phobia of silver, for example, are common symptoms of Hollywood Syndrome.

Life Span
Nobody knows. It's been a very long time since a werewolf has ever died of natural causes.

Regeneration and Healing
That which is beyond a werewolf's ability to recover from naturally can be gradually corrected and restored through routine shifting. Limbs can be regrown, for example, albeit with their shifts carefully supervised and over a period of several years.

Relationship between The Three Forms
The gestalt is the halfway form. It's the natural form taken on by an involuntary and/or natural shift, although the werewolf may push themselves further into the full wolf form and back again. The gestalt form is almost always temporary and the werewolf will resume one form or the other once their adrenaline levels drop, but either the human or wolf form can serve as the primary form.

Senses
What you'd expect. Better hearing, much better sense of smell, negligible change to their sight. Their sense of touch is also dulled, not so much because they feel less, but because they become more and more tolerant of pain with every shift until they are almost completely numb to it.

Feet
They have planitgrade feet, but habitually stand digitgrade (IE: tip-toe).

Tail?
Why yes, I'd love some t. . . Oh, sorry, I mean Yes. :sweatdrop:

Dead Werewolves
Reverting to their natural form is usually done by relaxing themselves and letting their adrenaline drop. That means that, as I said with Fig right at the top, if a werewolf dies, passes out, or anything happens to them that would cause their adrenaline levels to plummet, they (normally) will gradually revert (gradually as in it takes a while; they don't just magically turn back into a human). They can revert into human or wolf form, usually that which they had shifted from. The speculation is that the "natural" gestalt form is not an even 50/50 of human and wolf, but is actually more like 51/49 in dominance of the original form, IE: only werewolves who ever push themselves to shift and push too hard ever assume the "wrong" form when they revert.

Mentality
The way a werewolf experiences the world changes (and can, as detailed above, result in insanity), but otherwise werewolves are perfectly aware and are, for better or worse, the same person they were before.

Society
Nothing instinctive. Some werewolves mimic pack structure and behavior because they identify with real world wolves, but the nature of the werewolf is entirely human.
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Re: Re:

Post by Bloodyredbaron »

Terastas wrote:
Control
Whenever werewolves go crazy, it's usually for one of three reasons. The first is, simply put, the physical and mental strain of the first shift. If they survive that, the second is if they are confused or overwhelmed by the explosion of information from their newly acquired senses. These are common problems which werewolves are frankly not expected to be able to overcome on the first try, but which a werewolf will eventually adjust to sooner than later.

The third is what werewolves in modern-day times call "Hollywood Syndrome." This is when someone had previously had a misconception of werewolves which they adamantly believed, to the point that, when they became a werewolf themselves, they developed a psychological complex which encourages that misconception. Bloodlust or a phobia of silver, for example, are common symptoms of Hollywood Syndrome.

This can also be used for a handy explanation of why the moon might trigger the first shift in a modern day werewolf.

I'm going to have to eventually put up one of my werewolf concepts...not now though...sleepy....
"I hope some animal never bores a hole in my head and lays its eggs in my brain, because later you might think you're having a good idea but it's just eggs hatching."
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Re: Your ideal werewolf

Post by IndianaJones »

My personal ideal werewolf will be similar and slightly different.

Right now, I don't feel like posting it up . I am either too lazy, annoyed, or frustrated (At the same bloody time)!

Also, my Wireless Internet connection is wacky, its so unstable. Very annoying to fix and might get a new wireless device. Due to moving! Must be an interference.....that is causing the problem.
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