A beautiful werewolf?

[Goldenwolf]

Like all of us here, I am a huge werewolf fan. Werewolves are a part of who I am, and not a day goes by that I don't think about werewolves, or look at pictures or artwork of them, or read something about them, or even dream about them. I am a huge were nerd :9 I've seen every movie, watched (pretty much) every TV show, read anything I can get my paws on...and of course I draw them all the time as my living. What got me into drawing werewolves is the fact that every werewolf movie, TV show, artwork, etc. of werewolves I had ever seen left me feeling flat. Here was a creature that I loved the idea of, the tortured soul filled with rage and despair, cursed to live by the moon's waxing and waning that would change into a beast, an animal, able to roam the night and all would tremble in its wake. The thought made me shiver with delight. But...why did every were"wolf" I had ever seen look like something other than a wolf? The werewolves that Hollywood introduced to us looked like hairless apes, or rats, or they had these huge bunny ears, or teeth that would in no way fit in its mouth...and didn't wolves have a tail? Why did none of the werewolves at least have a partial tail? I know that Hollywood wanted to make the werewolf as scary and unappealing as possible, because, hey, it's a monster right? I got that. But at the same time I longed for something else, something that was bestial, primal, ferocious, and yet still beautiful. Like a wild tiger who can be terrifying, but has an amazing beauty to it that awes you even as you are wetting your pants. So I began drawing werewolves the way I wanted to see them, as beautiful beasts that actually resembled -wolves- yet were still beasts (and I'm not talking about my anthro wolf art here, but my werewolf art. There is a difference.)

So being a huge werewolf nerd I follow Werewolf-news.com pretty religiously. They are the unparalleled source (IMHO) for all things werewolf, and being that source they, of course, had a little blurb about the reinvention of Freeborn. What got me is the author's comment that "“The Pack” seems to be comprised largely of fans who like their werewolves to look mystical/majestic, rather than monstrous....". Okay, but my questions is...what's wrong with that? Really, haven't we all had quite enough of this?:


I mean look at all those hairless faces, monkey or rat noses, naked ears, or huge bunny ears, fangs that poke out of its face, glistening skin....disgusting!

Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of a lot of these movies, but haven't we had quite enough of the "monster" werewolf? And as for the werewolf that simply shape-shifts into a natural wolf, as in Blood and Chocolate, Twilight, Wolf Lake, etc. that is not what I want to see in a werewolf movie. Changing into a normal wolf is all well and good, but let's face it, it's boring. I've had enough of that particular Hollywood cop-out (thanks for ruining Blood and Chocolate, asshats).

Aren't we ready for the "beautiful werewolf"? A mixture between the bestial monster and the natural wolf?


Beautiful and savage with piercing eyes, wild fur, triangular ears, and refined muzzles. A beastly, glorious, wild creature!

Let's face it, there will never be a shortage of "monster" werewolf movies; I am sure they will be made until the end of time. But once, just once, can't we have a movie featuring beautiful werewolves? Supernatural creatures that intimidate and scare you, yet awe you with their uniqueness and majesty as well? Can't we have just ONE movie? Would it kill you, werewolf fans, to allow us "werewolf hippies" even that much?

This is not a Furry thing, nor is it about being a "Wolfaboo", this is about wanting something that returns us to the awe we should have for the world, for the magical, for the mysterious in life that leaves us tingling but a little bit terrified, for something that makes us long even harder for that which we cannot have, or be. I would like to watch a werewolf movie and have it leave me aching for more, to not want to leave that world, to revisit it time and again just so I can relive that magic. I want to be so moved that I lie awake at night yearning for that place, to be a part of that kind of world, to be so thrilled by it I cannot sleep. I am overly tired of horror werewolf movies that do nothing to frighten or intrigue me, and I've had quite enough of the overly sappy lameness of people who burst into being a wolf with a rainbow sparkle. Isn't it time for something else? Don't we deserve a beautiful werewolf?

[werewolf-woman]

i for one really like the monstrous werewolf. I can appreciate the artistry in the creature effects of movies Like the 2010 wolfman and American werewolf in London. I totally see the beauty in a feral, beast like werewolf. The new comic Ferals, has some fantastic art work and although the werewolf is horrific and the comic is incredibly gory, there is some level of beauty to this truly scarey work.
just like art is subjective so is what one may consider beautiful.

[Serrina]

I'd have to agree more with Goldenwolf; the way Hollywood has always represented werewolves is almost... mocking in a way. Like 'Werewolves are only a monster to be feared, there is nothing good, nothing beautiful about a werewolf or being one.'
Yes, werewolves are supposed to be a combination of 'man' and 'wolf', but not be so grotesquely hideous.
In the movie Van Helsing, they did portray the werewolf physique more beautifully


The only thing that really irked me about the werewolves in Van Helsing was that they changed back to human when clouds covered the moon. Urgh.

[Meeper]

That was a little long winded, but I think I got it, and I generally agree.

*Applauds*

Murderous monster werewolves was what got me drawing them myself, but after the first one I was increasingly intrigued by creating a fine mesh between human and beast, with the look of a mature animal phenotype all it's own, yet not wholly different from either, it's the easiest thing to just make something incredibly muscular, incredibly scary, or incredible huge, it's quite another to make it look like just another animal that happens to be somewhere between two others, and that is all those things you describe.

The Meeper.

[werewolf-woman]

Serrina, i don't think the way Hollywood approaches werewolves is in satirical fashion or with mockery. i think many creature effects are done as a labor of love. The 2010 wolfman was Rick Bakers homage to the original and he most defiantly has a lot of respect for werewolves. Many werewolf movies are made by people who love the genre and that shows through in the creature effects. I think a true mockery of werewolves is films like twilight, that use terrible CGI to make over sized coyotes, they also completely sidestep the transformations. It would be easier for film makers to abandon the use of creature effects for CGI but for the film makers who love werewolves and want to pay homage to the genre use practical effects. Respect and care is shown by the labor and artistry of the effects designers.
Just because a werewolf is monstrous doesn't make it a mockery.

[Trinity]

What is considered "monstrous" needs to be taken with a bit of salt. It changes between cultures. Some cultures fear the color white as it is symbolic of death. while others revere it as a sign of purity. Some revere wolves, others fear them. Seriously, werewolves just are monsters. If the werewolf as an /idea/ isn't monstrous /as/ a monster out of nightmares..... then why do people still fear? Why does it still get out heart pumping? Why does it trigger that fight/ flight reflex?

Naw, everyone has a different ideal when it comes to werewolves.

In some Classic depictions a werewolf was only a partly transformed hybrid, that was only partly furred (think Minotaur-esque). Others the transformation was an "et al" into a large wolf. It changes from myth to myth, culture to culture, and from century to century.

What does a hybrid form look like? Artists of all stripes have worked it out from the more realistic and plausible to the utterly comical and into the utterly grotesque. Their reasons for their choices are varied, from artistic vision to what they've been paid to represent.
http://fav.me/d7p6bp

Personally I like the fierce,feral, partly inhuman, predator the surpasses humans. It scares the crud out of me that there could be something out there that can hunt humans and /get away with it/. (See the Novel "Wolfen" ** not the movie adaptation). The ugly werewolf is scary in that "it looks sick, instinctive need to stay away / not touch / not be touched by it / eeeeeeew" factor. But the "naturalistic" more wolf-like werewolf has the benefit of "hiding in plain sight".

Which is more terror inducing? Sickness, or a predator that could get close to you due to not being noticed more readily?? It depends on the person.

Personally I say go with the "pretty" / "naturalistic" werewolf. There are not enough films out there that depict such cridders as the /fierce/ predators they really are.

[Trinity]

Also note: The reason werewolves have changed has been in part due to a better understanding of wolf anatomy compared to human anatomy, as well as medical sciences advances in general but especially involving certain diseases that have effected a "wolf like appearance". Add to that advances in Psychology, and why certain behaviors are triggered in the human brain. Add to that general wolf behavior has become more thoroughly studied as well, were before they were stereotyped/simplified.

So as our understanding of the world changes, so too do our myths.

[Leonca~]

I enjoy seeing what different movies do to create their own werewolf look, but I would like to see more design variety. I think one of my biggest pet peeves is fur. It usually looks long and stringy, and is one uniform color. If they borrowed more of the look of real wolves they could bulk it up to look more intimidating with a thicker coat. They could also differentiate between characters visually by giving them more color/pattern variation. One of my favorite aspects of character design is thinking of a way you could see a hint of the human in the wolf form, which includes using ethnicity (to chose subspecies inspiration) and hair color for the look of the wolf coat.

Another pet peeve is monster werewolves that look slimy. I don’t mind them looking grotesque, but that has just never made sense to me.

[Scott Gardener]

I think a beautiful werewolf can be scary. It could be a lot scarier than a slime-covered monster. A werewolf would be a lot scarier if, seeing it on screen, one does not have to overcome the suspension-of-disbelief issue. Real, living organisms tend to be beautiful. Horror monsters aim to be disturbing through asymmetry, visible signs of pain and suffering, and design elements that get in the way of normal biology. I think it would scare the pants off someone to see a werewolf that looks like it really exists and is perfectly comfortable continuing to exist. It could cut into other human anxieties, charging head-long into the human fixation with its "dominion," for instance.

[Trinity]

Go form a calm, wolf-face expression to a fierce snarl in a split second, and I bet few people would have clean pants. ;) I've seen folks run from a friendly dog, let alone a massive canine that growls a little. A six foot tall (or so) wolf-like creature that suddenly turns it's hungry gaze on you.. OMG. FEAR!

[Meeper]

Go form a calm, wolf-face expression to a fierce snarl in a split second, and I bet few people would have clean pants. ;) I've seen folks run from a friendly dog, let alone a massive canine that growls a little. A six foot tall (or so) wolf-like creature that suddenly turns it's hungry gaze on you.. OMG. FEAR!

That's it, exactly, the idea of being torn to shreds and eaten is petty reliably upsetting as it is, the fact it'll involve flashing those long pointy whites inevitable, that's all it needs to make it a horror, everybody has an angry blood lust face, and they're all as scary, proof of the pudding? Even AWWIL had the wolf's face relax momentarily, to great effect, at the end.

The Meeper.

[LupusDream]

the werewolves with more skin on there faces look more human like, but everything else does not look good on them. i love the ones that are more wolf then they are human not only do they capture the wolf in them but the beauty and the horror of a werewolf. But then again people believe what they want to believe. people may look at the horrible version of the werewolves and think that they look awesome while some of us including my selfe think that the werewolves that look more wolf then human are awesome and beautiful.

[werewolf-woman]

I enjoy seeing what different movies do to create their own werewolf look, but I would like to see more design variety. I think one of my biggest pet peeves is fur. It usually looks long and stringy, and is one uniform color. If they borrowed more of the look of real wolves they could bulk it up to look more intimidating with a thicker coat. They could also differentiate between characters visually by giving them more color/pattern variation. One of my favorite aspects of character design is thinking of a way you could see a hint of the human in the wolf form, which includes using ethnicity (to chose subspecies inspiration) and hair color for the look of the wolf coat.

Another pet peeve is monster werewolves that look slimy. I don’t mind them looking grotesque, but that has just never made sense to me.

I agree poor hair quality and placement can really detract from the look of a suit. On the werewolf news website they have images of the creature designs for the Howling Reborn movie, the suit pre-hair looks pretty cool. The poor placement of hair made the werewolves look like they were wearing furry cowboy chaps. The hair just ruined an other wise solid werewolf costume design. I also hated the rat tails they had in the movie.

I think the slimy werewolf drooling is ok but when it's all over the face and matted to the hair it looks a bit odd.

[LunarCarnivore]

Hey, huge fan Goldenwolf, but i think the problem with making werewolves is the same thing that has already happened to vampires:

Throughout the generations, Vampires went from being bloated corpses that stole lives under the cover of night, to being sparkly teenagers who use copious amounts of hairgel. There were many stops in between. The last modern rendition of a Vampire you WOULD NOT want to be was Buffy, as those vamps were actually demons possessing the undead bodies of the people who were turned.

A monster should not be something you WANT to be. Werewolves are originally monsters, cursed beings whose only release is death. More and more though, they've become superheroes instead. everything from enhanced strength and senses when in human form, to the ability to shift at will, makes being one desirable. Making them beautiful just adds to that. So ever so slowly, we lose another tragic monster. I don't want to see werewolves completely declawed and defanged like vampires have been.

Now, having said that I will say that if I could be a werewolf, i would be. In the short fiction I've written, my werewolves are good guys (mostly) they look like anthro wolves, etc. For whatever reason, even though I believe in the value of monstrous werewolves, I still indulge the part of me that wants to be one, wants the idealized version. I guess that makes me a hypocrite. Oh well.

I do think making werewolves with plantigrade feet is almost unnacceptable, (they did it in UK Being human, and i forgive them, because everything else is amazing beyond words) so i do have standards lol.

[LunarCarnivore]

Ok, my above post is a little bit schizo, I guess I like all werewolves. I judge on an individual basis, like "Oh many that is one ugly beast. But he is pretty badass!" or "Why did they make the werewolf so ugly if he's supposed to be a good guy?" it depends. The werewolf with the most wolf-like face is Bad Moon I think, which is great. http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/Actor ... -25712.gif

yeah. I'm pretty loopy on painkillers right now, hurt myself at work... so I apologize for being all over the place.

[Trinity]

^.^

I think that a part of my issues is that we so often judge by what's on the outside. That we make outwardly monstrous things so that we can physically /see/ the monster. Movie monsters in particular are often shown very fugly just to get across to the viewer just how much of a monster they are.... Yet, there are many stories that often show that what we view as ugly on the outside might just be sweet, gentle, and wonderful on the inside.

I don't want to see werewolves become giant "puppy dogs" either. Goodness forbid they start to sparkle or shine when touched by Silver.

I also think that progressive generations of "outcasts", especially the young teens, are identifying with the "outcast syndrome". Yes, like the X=Men, werewolf and other monsters are superheros in a way. They are outside of the "norm", and are vilified - just as many young teens feel like they too are outcast and vilified. Yet they have the power, strength, even if it comes at a cost, to survive and overcome (even if this means killing people).

What's that say of our society? Pretty scary huh? ;)

But enough waxing philosophical. Seriously.

What I like about this movie (yes I've read the script - but I'll try not to leave any spoilers) is how AB is trying to show that it's not /being/ a werewolf that creates the biggest impact. It's the /person/ you are that changes if the werewolf is a true monster inside and out or not. That such a thing could exist, still adds to that horror factor. Give a bully the ability to be more of a jerk, with claws and teeth, for example. That the "pretty" werewolf is still a vicious brute because the one wielding it's power is a a-hole, makes for a more frightening thing.

[Serrina]

This whole topic of a 'beautiful' werewolf was not started in the fact that it should be more 'modernized' or 'Twilight-sparkly'.
The 'beautiful' werewolf that Goldenwolf is trying to get across is the fact that they actually look more wolf than fugly, monster, rawr-ness.

Just like Trinity said, movies have over-compensated the look of a werewolf so that the viewer knows it's a bad creature, that it's a monster.
But like what was said before, a wolf can look all cute and fluffy but once it takes a menacing stance with barred teeth and a snarl, it can make you piss your pants. Like a tiger, they look all majestic and wonderful but are still powerful hunters and killers.

It's not so much as 'beautiful' as what Goldenwolf is trying to convey, it's more of a 'natural' sense that she's trying to get across.
Any animal can become vicious and attack in the blink of an eye, looks can be deceiving.

[Goldenwolf]

Hey, huge fan Goldenwolf, but i think the problem with making werewolves is the same thing that has already happened to vampires:

Throughout the generations, Vampires went from being bloated corpses that stole lives under the cover of night, to being sparkly teenagers who use copious amounts of hairgel. There were many stops in between. The last modern rendition of a Vampire you WOULD NOT want to be was Buffy, as those vamps were actually demons possessing the undead bodies of the people who were turned.

A monster should not be something you WANT to be. Werewolves are originally monsters, cursed beings whose only release is death. More and more though, they've become superheroes instead. everything from enhanced strength and senses when in human form, to the ability to shift at will, makes being one desirable. Making them beautiful just adds to that. So ever so slowly, we lose another tragic monster. I don't want to see werewolves completely declawed and defanged like vampires have been.

Now, having said that I will say that if I could be a werewolf, i would be. In the short fiction I've written, my werewolves are good guys (mostly) they look like anthro wolves, etc. For whatever reason, even though I believe in the value of monstrous werewolves, I still indulge the part of me that wants to be one, wants the idealized version. I guess that makes me a hypocrite. Oh well.

I do think making werewolves with plantigrade feet is almost unnacceptable, (they did it in UK Being human, and i forgive them, because everything else is amazing beyond words) so i do have standards lol.

*nods* I hear that, I really do, but what I am saying is that so far all we have seen is either the monstrous werewolf, or the person that just changes into a regular wolf. Wolves can be creepy as hell when they are half in shadow, fangs bared and eyes reflecting the ambient light. I am not asking for a sparkle-fluff anthro wolf with feathers in its mane and a big crystal around its neck. I am just asking for something a little more...natural. Just -once-. Like I said, there will be monster werewolf movies made until the end of fecking time. We will have more than our fill of glistening, hairless faces, naked ears, and ape muzzles. But can we have at least -one- movie where the werewolf looks fully like a were-WOLF-?

[Grayheart]

I have to agree that a werewolf which doesn't even look like what its name implies (a MAN-WOLF) misses the mark completely - well, at least to me. I can understand folks that want to have their werewolves nasty - but like Goldenwolf and many others already said: Nothing is more scary than the sight of a creature that is a perfect blend between a wolf and a human - I mean, hey, take the intellectually driven viciousness of a human being with opposable thumbs and add to this the claws, fangs and senses of a wolf - what's more terrifying than that? The more believable a monster is the more scarier it can be.

I'd always loved the concept of a werewolf and most depictions made me uneasy, because they didn't look right to me - the only werewolf depiction I found appealing before I came across Goldenwolf's art was the artwork included in Stephen King's 'The Werewolf of Tarker Mills'. There was finally a werewolf that actually looked right to me - and that was nonetheless monstrous. Then I found Goldenwolf's 'Shift Happens' picture (which is still my absolute favorite) and this was all I ever wanted to see of a werewolf - it was monstrous, yet beautiful and looked as it could actually exist in a world where the normal laws of nature are at work. So I can fully emphatize with Goldenwolf's feelings about wanting to have at least one werewolf that actually holds true to the phrase 'beauty of the beast' - and I think if the werewolves of Freeborn take her artwork as reference there will be this one movie at least.

((OOT: On a side note: Beside the fact that the author of werewolf-news deemed it important to say what members of The Pack liked their werewolves to look like (which is a gross oversimplification) I found it rather more disturbing that the author deemed it also important to say that he got yelled at by members of The Pack because of his liking of monstrous werewolves (which really happened as far as I know, but that's also a gross oversimplification of the matter, because this member didn't speak for The Pack as a whole).))

[Uniform Two Six]

I'm going to be an enormous jerk and point out that the werewolf in the upper right of the montage of 'preferred' werewolves that Goldenwolfen put up, looks suspiciously like a screen-capture from Van Helsing (like, a movie with werewolves in it -- just saying).
Heh, heh, heh...


Off topic: I totally agree about "Shift Happens". That's still my favorite Goldenwolfen piece.

Even further off topic: Hey, now that I'm looking at it, the wolf-head just to the left of the Van Helsing one doesn't look right... It's almost as if she cropped it or something...

[Serrina]

I'm going to be an enormous jerk and point out that the werewolf in the upper right of the montage of 'preferred' werewolves that Goldenwolfen put up, looks suspiciously like a screen-capture from Van Helsing (like, a movie with werewolves in it -- just saying).
Heh, heh, heh...


Off topic: I totally agree about "Shift Happens". That's still my favorite Goldenwolfen piece.

Even further off topic: Hey, now that I'm looking at it, the wolf-head just to the left of the Van Helsing one doesn't look right... It's almost as if she cropped it or something...

Now that you point it out, the 'Van Helsing' werewolf picture is actually the Van Helsing werewolf.
Probably for the reason I commented two posts after Goldenwolf's initial one: the Van Helsing werewolves are actually the the first movie werewolves that look real, 'beautiful', and/or natural.

[LunarCarnivore]

Hey, huge fan Goldenwolf, but i think the problem with making werewolves is the same thing that has already happened to vampires:

Throughout the generations, Vampires went from being bloated corpses that stole lives under the cover of night, to being sparkly teenagers who use copious amounts of hairgel. There were many stops in between. The last modern rendition of a Vampire you WOULD NOT want to be was Buffy, as those vamps were actually demons possessing the undead bodies of the people who were turned.

A monster should not be something you WANT to be. Werewolves are originally monsters, cursed beings whose only release is death. More and more though, they've become superheroes instead. everything from enhanced strength and senses when in human form, to the ability to shift at will, makes being one desirable. Making them beautiful just adds to that. So ever so slowly, we lose another tragic monster. I don't want to see werewolves completely declawed and defanged like vampires have been.

Now, having said that I will say that if I could be a werewolf, i would be. In the short fiction I've written, my werewolves are good guys (mostly) they look like anthro wolves, etc. For whatever reason, even though I believe in the value of monstrous werewolves, I still indulge the part of me that wants to be one, wants the idealized version. I guess that makes me a hypocrite. Oh well.

I do think making werewolves with plantigrade feet is almost unnacceptable, (they did it in UK Being human, and i forgive them, because everything else is amazing beyond words) so i do have standards lol.

*nods* I hear that, I really do, but what I am saying is that so far all we have seen is either the monstrous werewolf, or the person that just changes into a regular wolf. Wolves can be creepy as hell when they are half in shadow, fangs bared and eyes reflecting the ambient light. I am not asking for a sparkle-fluff anthro wolf with feathers in its mane and a big crystal around its neck. I am just asking for something a little more...natural. Just -once-. Like I said, there will be monster werewolf movies made until the end of fecking time. We will have more than our fill of glistening, hairless faces, naked ears, and ape muzzles. But can we have at least -one- movie where the werewolf looks fully like a were-WOLF-?

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you almost completely. It's high time for werewolves that look like wolves. I just don't like when some people (not you, your argument was fair and rational) completely bash the monster wolf. One thing that occurred to me with the underworld lycans specifically, is how versatile that look is. It's got elements common to all large mammalian predators, yet is just human/monstrous enough to avoid specificity. In some shots it's wolf-like, in others bear-like, and catlike alot of the time. so it's reasonable to assume, if werewolves looked like that, that one species could be responsible for all the werewolf/werecat/werebear etc myths world-wide. That makes a little more sense to me than many species evolving the ability to shapeshift parallel to each other. maybe this is a topic for another thread? For some reason, I have also fallen in love with the werewolves of MTV's Teen Wolf, even though they are so minimalist. The alpha is cool as all hell though. I think thats him on the bottom right of your fugly werewolf collage (yes i'm in my 20's, and a man, but i like buffy and the vampire diaries too. A weak spot for supernatural teen drama i guess.) Did you know that show features your artwork prominently in the background of many shots Goldenwolf? Good taste Man do I ramble.

[LunarCarnivore]

((OOT: On a side note: Beside the fact that the author of werewolf-news deemed it important to say what members of The Pack liked their werewolves to look like (which is a gross oversimplification) I found it rather more disturbing that the author deemed it also important to say that he got yelled at by members of The Pack because of his liking of monstrous werewolves (which really happened as far as I know, but that's also a gross oversimplification of the matter, because this member didn't speak for The Pack as a whole).))

While it was oversimplified, you can't blame the guy for being a little snarky, whoever that pack member was (i have no idea) was just rude. All in all though, despite one of ours lashing out at him, he still plugged freeborn on his site, so I think he definately comes off as objective, fair, and a great werewolf fan. I don't know how i got along before his site lol. Plus, vancouver pride!

[Trinity]

One thing that occurred to me with the underworld lycans specifically, is how versatile that look is. It's got elements common to all large mammalian predators, yet is just human/monstrous enough to avoid specificity. In some shots it's wolf-like, in others bear-like, and catlike alot of the time. so it's reasonable to assume, if werewolves looked like that, that one species could be responsible for all the werewolf/werecat/werebear etc myths world-wide.

Ya know, I never thought of it like that before. But you got a good point!

[JoshuaMadoc]

I'd like to go on a semi-relevant tangential rant about this topic. Beware the off-topic.

People refusing to acknowledge the existence of "beautiful werewolves" for whatever reason, i.e. "wah wah me no want cute puppy wolf men" is one thing. To that I say, "Have you idiots seen African Painted Dogs? When they're not out hunting, they make the most puppy-like shenanigans ever in every turn of the moment, and yes, you can say they're adorable for that. But you know something? Lions have a 30% success rate with their hunts, whereas Painted Dogs have a 80%-90% success rate."

It's another thing for me to feel like the only one who's getting sick people not wanting werewolves to stop perpetually snarling and generally looking angry. Not just because that nonsense hurts their facial muscles, but there's something to be said about werewolves who look stone-cold (or even eerily) calm even when they're making the grisliest of kills. It's just like what I'd like to call the "Grue principle": Monsters who roar, make silly thumping sounds with their feet, and smash people to ground meat pieces like enraged giant babies on a carnivorous high are scary enough, but what about the same kind of monsters who are practically noiseless, and can come at you at any time? Surely the thought of a bark-less, howl-less, and roar-less werewolf would make people s*** their pants when you know they can hide, ambush and eviscerate without making so much as a phoned-in chop-lick, even if they're 10 feet tall.

But alas, I just can't win the ear of the more belligerent werefans with this.