Actual plausible alternate forms

[Tock]

This is a hard science approach, so I don't want any spiritual forms or astral projection.
So, I want some input on what an actual plausible form would be for something like a werewolf.
Let me explain a bit more. So the idea of a werewolf is to have some sort of alternate form that enhances physical capabilities. Depending on your type of preferred werewolf, the mental prowess might differ.
But that's the basic idea, to increase the physical threshold. Harder, better, faster, stronger, etc.
Now, I figure that something that actually looks like a wolf human hybrid is damn unlikely. So I was thinking that there is some sort of template, the basic one, and depending on time, willpower, and preference, that form will slowly twist into the form the bearer of the virus, symbiote, whatever, wants.
So, what do you think this "Template" would look like? What would be the Template's abilities?

Cheers

[Terastas]

What would be the Template's abilities?

Resistance would be the big one, and possibly the one from which all other abilities would stem from. Werewolves are generally attributed to be regenerators; of having increased healing capacity, and for them to be able to survive a process as brutal as shifting, they would have to be.

Being regenerators would increase their tolerance for pain, which would in turn increase their capacity to push themselves.

All things considered, normal human beings are capable of the things we usually attribute werewolves as being able to do. Here's just a few examples of such:
John Beatty
Niam vs. Valerios

The amount of pressure it would take to make a human being's limbs snap off is actually much higher than the amount of pressure it takes to make them feel like they are going to. As regenerators accustomed (maybe even numbed) to pain, werewolves would have a much greater threshold for pain and would be able to push themselves to do things that most people wouldn't know the human body is capable of.

As for what it would look like, well, my interpretation was indeed a hybrid of sorts. The dominant theory (among the werewolves in my writing) is that lycanthropy originally adapted as a symbiotic bacterium in European wolves (which have since been hunted to extinction), for whom regeneration was the only symptom (the werewolves do know that it takes mere minutes for the lycanthropic viroid to die outside of a nonliving host, so they think Darwin would approve of this theory). They presume shifts occur because lycanthropy became specialized to wolves, and that it is not sophisticated enough to recognize that its new host is a different species altogether. So, they theorize, under certain circumstances, the viroid may attempt to "repair" its host to what it has been programmed to interpret as a healthy host: a European wolf.

Mind you, that's just a theory, one even the werewolves in my writing will freely admit sounds like a load of crap. Still, I don't think they would have been given the title of werewolves if they didn't somehow resemble wolves (they could have been called giants or ogres if they were predominantly human in appearance). I don't think they'll be a "furry muscleman" like the ones Goldenwolf draws (your welcome Kitesu), but I still think they would look much more like a wolf than anything Hollywood has produced in recent years.

[Tock]

I've sort of refined the idea, making it less so to the normal person's wishes.
So, I was thinking, maybe after the first few transformations the wolf-like characteristics begin to set in?
I like your idea, it sounds plausible, even if it probably isn't - the best thing you need for a sci-fi setting

[Terastas]

I like your idea, it sounds plausible, even if it probably isn't - the best thing you need for a sci-fi setting

*shrugs* More like I took the lazy approach. I'm trying to avoid faux science (ala CSI: Miami) and technobabble as much as possible, so instead of presenting fixed ideas, I'm trying to stress the lack thereof and emphasize the uncertainty and anxiety that comes with living with/as something you can't explain.

Which would be my recommendation for anyone else trying to write about werewolves (or anything else fantastic, for that matter): Don't be afraid to have your characters say "I don't know" every now and then.

[Tock]

Haha, I always try to keep that in mind. I'll write up pages and pages of scientific back story and explanations just so I know how it all works, only to have my character have no clue what's happening.

[Wingman]

I have thought about "realistic" werewolves for a while, and the idea I agree with the most is a slow and gradual transformation that only rarely coincides with full moons. I also tried to rationalize my other favorite creatures vampires and zombies, to a certain degree, at the same time. I posted some stuff about it here Though I have no idea how current the stuff there is, and don't really feel like posting the stuff again without someone asking for it.

The idea is that over the course of 28 days or so, the werewolf becomes increasingly bestial, until they peak for three days, and then they go through the process in reverse. I think that coincides with the above link, but probably not. I was on a bit of a New World of Darkness bender at the time, which heavily flavored it. During the peak three days they would be at the height of their weirdness, and at the low point they would be little more than human. Certain things, such as a secret blend of herbs and spices, preserved virus samples, or sheer willpower and determination, can speed or slow this process. Basically, I wanted a slow transformation as that's a little more believable than a fast one, but I also wanted it to be influenced by stress and instinctive reactions. More than a little of Jeckyll and Hyde influence with the bottled samples of virus. Toss one back, and kickstart the transformation by a whole bunch.

The origin is, as Terestas said, wolves in Europe(The Beast of Gevaudan, etc) that were infected by "vampires" and survived long enough for the virus to mutate and adapt. As a result of this, they are essentially 90% the same, and have that whole blood feud we know and love.

Oh, wow, I love reading old stuff. These chapter-opening quotes are so dangerously cheesy they ought to be orange.

[Tock]

Haha, I remember reading that stuff back before I got an account.
I loved it!

[Wingman]

Ugh, and now I want to rewrite it all, since it would be so much better without trying to shoehorn it into nWoD mechanics. Nevertheless, I do still like some of it. Now if only I could remember which of the six different versions I saved the short stories in.