Werewolf Cults

[Berserker]

The way I see it, if someone turns into a werewolf unexpectedly, assuming they don't go insane, they're probably going to attach some kind of religious, spiritual, or mythological significance to the event (given that science will most likely fail the layperson.)

I see new converts to werewolfery as ripe candidates for older, more powerful werewolves to recruit into an ideology. Or even try and start their own.

"I'm a werewolf too. You know why we're werewolves? This is why." That's all the convincing it would take. Brainwashing a werewolf would be so easy. Add instinctual pack behavior and voila, a cult is born.

Do you think werewolves would be more susceptible to cult-like behavior than regular people? Do you foresee werewolf cults being numerous? What happens when they start to become dangerous?

[Cyberwatt]

I think this is a fascinating idea, Berserker. And what's more it's a logical outworking of an experience that decidedly transcends one's view of the cosmos.

Daniel Bell defined culture as "the effort to provide a coherent set of answers to the existential struggles that confront all human beings in the passages of their lives." He continued to state that a genuine cultural revolution is one that makes a decisive break with the shared meanings of the past.

Hence is it not accurate to say that the contraction of true lycanthropy would generate a new culture which shared very little with its ancestors?

Cults are often characterized by two primary sociological characteristics. First, they deviate substantially from established doctrines. Secondly, the leadership of a cult is never, ever, to be questioned (hence the ofttimes necessity of brainwashing). Both of these aspects would be sufficiently catalyzed by an experience that popular culture, religion and scientism all categorically deny. Instant cult!

An elder werewolf would have very little trouble, IMHO, in organizing such a body. Firstly (assuming the lycanthropes came from humans and not wolves) mankind is incurably religious; it is an inevitable facet of our collective psyche. Secondly, revolutionary experiences inflame fear of the unknown, a psychic vacuum that, if we are not careful, can be filled with anything at all.

Thoughts?

- CW

[RedEye]

This is a point that we needed to have brought up. As Berserker points out, suddenly becoming a Werewolf would rather shake up your concepts of what is real and what is fantasy.
There are further ideas to explore here, such as competing cults who "Make" Werewolves to add to their numbers and their cultist groups.
Both Wolf and Human are social creatures, so one would expect a need for others like oneself to be with; especially after the shock of Crossing starts to sink in.
There is also the potential for abuse. A power-hungry Wulf might seek out new Crossers to form an "Army" with the intent of "Today Werewolves, Tomorrow all Mankind".
Good subject. I wonder what the inputs to this will be?

[Aki]

I'd say they could be much more susceptible to it than normal people, both in the direction of being recruited into one or starting one themselves. A newly turned were is going to want answers, and I imagine a number of them might take whatever answers they're given at face value since they just turned into a freakin' wolf, so it's a lot harder to be so sure on calling "Bullshit!" on anything they're saying.

Similarly, it can be easy for a elder were to do it himself - being in a position of power, and power tends to corrupt, and being so experienced, well, lends an air of credibility to their claims. Not that they need too much of that - as mentioned before, suddenly undergoing a shift that most would assume impossible tends to shake up people's worldviews and make them a bit more open minded.

[Terastas]

Oh yes, there would be plenty out there. It's a natural tendency for people to want to think their special -- that there's something about them that just naturally makes them better than half the people around them. Becoming a werewolf would not just empower someone, it would leave them to be counted among what may be one of the smallest minorities on the planet. There would definitely be a lot of temptation to use that as an excuse to elevate themselves.

I mean, heck, even among werewolf fans I see it all the time. Even this message board you see all the time people venting about how humanity sucks and/or is naturally evil and that they wish it could be wiped out or whatever. There are people out there who covet and venerate lycanthropy even though they can't even say for sure if it exists. If it turned out that werewolves were not self-idolaters and not intent on infecting, enslaving and/or annihilating the entirety of mankind, I don't think they would stand for it.

So yes, a werewolf could easily attract followers, and a werewolf could easily start his own. This, however, is what would keep them in line:

1) Exposure and the human race.
I've said it a hundred times before, but I'll say it again: No matter how weak humans are compared to a werewolf, they will still always outnumber werewolves a million to one. Adding religious, ethnic and/or political practices to their werewolf culture would increase their risk of exposure, and the more exposed they are, the more likely some Hellboy wannabe will hunt them down and put a bullet in his head or a chainsaw between their legs. Werewolf cults and supremacy gangs have appeared in movies before, and they usually don't work out in the end.

2) Conflicting alphas and other therian-types.
Some people will want a cult that infects and recruits humans, others will want a cult that hunts and eats them. Other people will agree on the nature of their cult, but will all want to be the alpha because their take on werewolves was completely egocentric in the first place. Finally, some people romance werewolves for the same reasons some people romance vampires. If both werewolves and vampires were real, they'd have the same problem: youths with delusions of grandeur daydreaming about lording over the humans. If one formed a cult based on the supremacy of their race, just the very existence of the other race would be an affront to everything they stand for.

It's one of the major sources of conflict in the script I'm on. Even though the local werewolves and vampires are committed to working together, some youths with delusions of grandeur on both sides are more than happy to defect and start a blood feud.

3) "Human" werewolves and the need for anonymity.
As I've said many times, werewolves would have to depend on their anonymity -- the lack of any confirmation to even so much as the existence of lycanthropy -- to ensure their survival, therefore the exposure of one pack could trigger a ripple effect which will result in the exposure and possible annihilation of all the packs. If someone tried to form a pack with a cult format based on the supremacy of werewolves over humans, they'd have to content with all the other packs.

Typically, any radical religious movement begins by targeting "mainstream" members of the same faith and/or race, so a cult would likely declare war on "human sympathizers" anyway. Again, strength in numbers: if it was one radical pack against a bunch of allied packs, the allies would come out on top every time.

4) Lack of experience.
I don't think there'd be that many "veteran" cult leaders because, taking into account everything mentioned above, most cult werewolves probably wouldn't live long enough to become veterans. Any werewolf with half a brain should be able to figure out for themselves that, even if they do feel like they're better than the rest of the human race, it'd be downright foolish for them to act upon those sentiments in any way, shape or form. The majority of werewolf cults, I therefore imagine, would be formed by delusional rookie werewolves, ones that the rest of the pack shouldn't have much trouble outwitting, or dismembering.

So yes, there would be werewolf cults out there. They wouldn't last long, but new ones would pop up in their place soon enough.

[JoshuaMadoc]

You know, this can only amount to one thing: The anti-cultism test for Leader/Alpha-to-be's. If they pass with flying colors, they'll be congratulated with a destiny to lead humans and werewolves alike to the great beyond!

... and if they fail, to the loony house they go.

[IndianaJones]

Werewolf cults do exist back in ancient times. However, we do not know the cult's true intentions and thus regarded as religious evil satan-loving bastards. But it is false.

A cult is a bad group, no matter what kind interests they hold.

[RedEye]

Hmmm...

According to the dictionary, a "Cult" is: "A group of people united for a philosophical or religious purpose".

By definition, any religion is a cult. So is a political party.

Practically, a Cult is the other guy's religion.

The root word is the Latin "Cultos" or organized group.

[vrikasatma]

[Terastas]

[Morkulv]

I think its far too public for them to start a cult. I think a pack of werewolves are more likely to just stick with eachother. Recruting 'followers' in a cult only makes for more risk to get exposed.

[Wselfwulf]

Reminds me of Rogue Traders genestealer cults. Start a subserversive religion, indoctrinate the docile masses and then, when it's at it's peak...werewolf apocalypse!

[Rosiewolf]

It could be fairly possible for a newly turned werewolf to become brainwashed and to become part of a cult. Especially if the cult is aimed at a specific factor. Ever heard of the term "group polarization"? Basically, this is when a bunch of people (in this example, werewolves) gather into a group and make extreme decisions, because there aren't any people to oppose that decision.

So, the Alpha Werewolf could (Okay, I'm going to go with a cheezy example, just to tell you ahead of time) tell the "newbie" werewolves that they are much better than humans (from the ability to have another form and therefore making them stronger) and decide to try and "conquer" (dominate) the humans. Please tell me if that example works; if it doesn't, feel free to correct it.

[lycanthropeful]

..."girls that aren't enthralled by the concept of lycanthropy so much as the idea of having two immortals fighting over their fickle heart."

Haha, I beg to differ!

But in all honesty, I'm rather convinced that werewolves don't exist. I'm not really from the agnostic base of religion, either, I'm rather an atheist, so drawing on that as a parallel, my gut leads me to believe they can't rather than waffling in the realm of, "Well, they might exist, or they might not..."

Just like religion, I think if anybody or something could one day step forward and PROVE the existence of God, or PROVE the non-existence of God, 100% irrefutably, it would be hard for people to deny whatever data is found. Think about how widely the topic is discussed as it is. Werewolves would probably be similar: a mass ideology produces cults with eager followers. Just look at how many people claim they are werewolves - they probably are delusional and have no proof, but the desire is so strong that the "brainwashing" follows suit.

I agree with some others here that it would probably be a "secret" cult - perhaps a werewolf cult would have to be very selective in order to keep "impure" or "dangerous" converts from threatening the cult itself.

[Terastas]

So, the Alpha Werewolf could (Okay, I'm going to go with a cheezy example, just to tell you ahead of time) tell the "newbie" werewolves that they are much better than humans (from the ability to have another form and therefore making them stronger) and decide to try and "conquer" (dominate) the humans. Please tell me if that example works; if it doesn't, feel free to correct it.

That is basically the standard formula for a cult. Whether through implied racial supremacy or the promise of exclusive salvation, the purpose of a cult is to keep its members together and in line with the promise that doing so makes them automatically better than everyone else.

In the case of werewolves, it would be the former, although I suppose someone with talent could weave in the latter as well, IE: insist that God will smite the human race but lycanthropes will be spared or some crap like that. One way or another, however, it would be implied that, regardless of what the cult intends to do with the human majority (kill, enslave, infect or distance away from), there would definitely be some implied hierarchy where the members of the cult would become the new ruling class. It would help if the cult leader was a bull**** artist, but assuming his flock will be eager to buy into any story for which the moral is their superiority, he wouldn't necessarily have to be.

Haha, I beg to differ!

I said 99% of Twilight fans are like that (or at least the ones that would ever be caught dead in the presence of a real werewolf and/or vampire), not all fans. Hell, you'd be surprised how many of them think Robert Pattinson is a real vampire himself. Just because you personally are not delusional doesn't mean nobody else that reads the books is.

[lycanthropeful]

Haha, I beg to differ!

I said 99% of Twilight fans are like that (or at least the ones that would ever be caught dead in the presence of a real werewolf and/or vampire), not all fans. Hell, you'd be surprised how many of them think Robert Pattinson is a real vampire himself. Just because you personally are not delusional doesn't mean nobody else that reads the books is.

Ah, I was totally joking around. Me personally, I'd rather be a werewolf than have vampires swooning over me... but then again, I've also never read Twilight, either.

[Rosiewolf]

Ah, I was totally joking around. Me personally, I'd rather be a werewolf than have vampires swooning over me... but then again, I've also never read Twilight, either.

Please don't read Twilight. It's some of the worst literature that I've ever read before. Well, if you do read it, then you can actually give a 100 more reasons why you hate it (if you end up hating it).

(Back on topic)

I see your point Terastas.

[Wselfwulf]

I said 99% of Twilight fans are like that

That's a pretty comprehensive survey you must have done. It's easy to generalize about a whole from a sample, especially when they are extremely dour, comical and irritating but I've seen the stangest people read that book. The most unlikely was probably a dirty construction site worker, mucky work-boots and all, sits down on the bus and starts reading it. Then again, he did look a bit metrosexual what with the blonde hair, heh.

It's a shame though, I see this Twilight thing, and surprisingly bad literature getting surprisingly popularized. It's like writers have abandoned modernism and postmodernism, and now just go for pulp .

[Terastas]

I said 99% of Twilight fans are like that

That's a pretty comprehensive survey you must have done. It's easy to generalize about a whole from a sample, especially when they are extremely dour, comical and irritating but I've seen the stangest people read that book. The most unlikely was probably a dirty construction site worker, mucky work-boots and all, sits down on the bus and starts reading it. Then again, he did look a bit metrosexual what with the blonde hair, heh.

I read a little bit of it myself. . . To see what all the hype was about. You can read a book and not be a fan of it; it's only the people that absolutely adore Twilight that I was referring to, not people who have ever read the book in general.

But that's beside the point except to say that people can be fickle and gullible, provided, of course, that it's what they want to hear. In the case of Twilight, it's not the vampires and werewolves so much as the unrealistic romance that the readers first found appealing. If you're attractive and can keep a straight face when you lie about how you love someone and can make them special, you could have swarms of followers lining up to get bitten just like Edward Cullen too.

Tweens: "You're a zombie Ferengi!"
Zombie Ferengi: "True. But I love you, and I can make you a zombie Ferengi too. Oh yeah, and in the film adaptation, I'm going to be portrayed by a dumb British kid with perpetual bedhead."
Tweens: "Take me now!"