Human form

[Xodiac]

The reason I'm suggesting a shift be a conscious (or unconscious) decision is because it'd be a lot easier for the director to attribute the shift to a 'lycanthropy bactirium' reacting to electronic nerve impulses recieved by the brain, than to try and explain why the full moon or the three-per-month planner has anything to do with it. If you want to add some restrictions to the nerve-impulse theory, here you go: "shape-shifting hurts."

Given that the director has given some guidelines at last on where they're going with their werewolves, it is safe to say your idea is closer to the filmmakers' than a purely supernatural origin. At the time I wrote it, though, it was up in the air.

And while I'll admit your comparrison of a werewolf to a lame Marvel Comics hero was effective, it should be noted that the canned peas mascot has his powers explained from a scientific perspective. Lame, yes, but if you're going to lecture the use of magic, don't do so by comparring it to a character that was created via the alternative.

Scientific or supernatural, it doesn't matter. A character who changes into a monster when stressed out is a character who changes into a monster when stressed out. Comparing the two is an analogy, and NO analogy is perfect. If it was, it wouldn't be an analogy, it's be the same thing.

--------------------------

Backing off from this incipient flamewar, let's get back to the subject. What a human werewolf would be like.

It's probably safe to say some things would carry over from their werewolf life. Fleas and ticks and other parasites would be a problem, for one thing. Imagine having to walk into a pet store for enough flea bath to use on a person, and having to do it with fair regularity!

Territoriality would likely be an issue, but I doubt they'd have more than momentary urges to pee on the houseplants or in the corners of their work cubicle. But they would feel anxious and stressed if someone entered their space that they didn't expect or invite. Boss entering the cubicle without pausing at the entry would be a major irritant.

They would also be protective of their mate, if any. I seem to recal wolves being akin to humans, in that they try to stick with one mate for life but don't always succeed (and I don't mean because the mate died). I could be wrong in that, but I do definitely remember a nature documentary where the omega male actually seduced the alpha female, which made the alpha male very pissed indeed. So weres would probably tend to be very jealous lovers.

Chocolate may or may not be an issue. It's been announced that weres heal faster than normal even while human, though not as fast as at other times. Chocolate contains what is essentially poison for dogs, but I suspect a reasonable dose - a single chocolate bar, for instance, or a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles - could be dealt with by the virus. On the other hand, would a werewolf want to risk it? They might avoid it as one of those "just in case" type of things. Might make for an interesting scene where one werewolf tells another it's okay, though, and the second is very reluctant to disbelieve.

I see weres as running the gamut, physically. They might be strong, or weak, or nerdy, or fat... whatever. I think all of them would have higher endurance than you'd expect by looking at them. The fat were would still lag far behind the fit one, but he'd run faster and for longer than you'd expect a fat person to run. Looking at his time, you might think he's about human norm. The fit ones, of course, might have to restrain themselves from constantly winning marathons.

[Guest]

The human side of the werewolf aught to be scar tissue
There aught to be a price paid for the ability to leap tall
buildings in a single bound as a furry critter

[Treads Lightly]

It is interesting that there has not been much discussion on the primary sense used by humans, sight. It is the only sense that is actually better than a wolf?s. Wolves are very near sited, and if my memory serves me correctly they do see color, just not as many as humans. However, they definitely do not see in the infra red spectrum. They?re wolves, not predators?you know what I mean

As stated above, Theobromine can harm both canines and humans. The effects are directly related to the body weight of the individual. Very small dogs are more at risk. I agree that a werewolf that is equal or greater in bulk to a human would have little to fear from a chocolate bunny.

As far as when they transform, changing at will seems to be something reserved for the more practiced werewolf. All of the situations mentioned so far are all negative from the werewolf?s view, what about an extremely positive situations? Going with the idea of it being related to adrenaline: a swinging young wolf might clear out a rave party, but not because of his awesome moves; a young man is about to get intimate with his true love; or even something as simple as getting worked up in a bar about the local sports team.

I do agree with the idea that a partial change could trigger a panic attack that could bring on the rest of the change.

[Silverclaw]

I think that a werewolfs vision should be human like but with night vision. They should have partial colorvision at least. No seing heat kindof thing. Though werewolves would rely mostly on their noses and hearing.

Wouldnt fleas just come off with a good, long shower? Not sure.

Werewolf buying flea/tick shampoos:"Um...I have a lot of dogs....their always getting fleas.."

[Apokryltaros]

Fleas don't/won't come off in a long shower. Trust me, I know my insects.

[WolvenOne]

A werewolves eyesight probably wouldn't be overly important to a movie unless they're planning some shots taken from one of the werewolves perspectives.

However, it's my opinion that thier eye-sight would probably be different in thier wolf-man form then thier human ones.

Fleas, ticks, and stuff like that, may be a problem for a werewolf. I imagine that they'd keep grooming materials on hand for thier monthly romps, some werewolves might try using flea collars as well. ;)

[Treads Lightly]

Along the idea of fleas and ticks staying after the change, what happens to the food that a werewolf eats while in his or her wolf form? Wolves can eat up to twenty percent of their body weight in one setting, humans can?t. Then there is the issue of WHAT they eat. Could the human form get heartworms for example, or simply sick at waking up to a stomach full of raw meat?

[WolvenOne]

Well chances are that changing from one form to another burns an absurd amount of calories anyway, so there's a chance that werewolves would burn most of the food they ate off during the transformation back into human form.

Heck, having a full stomach might be a neccesity for transforming back to human without risking injuring yourself. After all, when there are no calories for the body to burn, it begins converting general mass into energy instead. At least that's my understanding of it.

As for internal parasites, with a werewolves absurd level of metabolism, (which is even greater during transformations, as I understand it,) they may simply flush internal parasites out of the body. I don't exactly know why that'd be the case though, I'm not an expert on parasites.

If thier bodies don't naturally flush them out, lets hope the werewolves know a good vetrenarian with an open mind. ;)

[Treads Lightly]

Interesting, the idea that werewolves would have to gain some mass to transform back could cause some interesting problems. For example a person who accidentally transformed at work, for example, would have great difficulty finding enough resources to facilitate his change back. To keep from being discovered, he might change back anyway, leaving him very weak. Perhaps even enough for his coworkers to call an ambulance to take him to the hospital. Which would lead to other interesting situations.

Since this thread is concerned with the human side of the werewolf, would the human actively think about his needs during the coming night? In other words say a wolf is driving to work and spots a fresh roadkill deer, would he stop and throw it in the trunk for later?

[Vuldari]

The human side of the werewolf aught to be scar tissue
There aught to be a price paid for the ability to leap tall
buildings in a single bound as a furry critter

That would make sense. All that stretching and whatnot...it would do a number on the body. Super healing or not. Strange scars and discoloration of the skin could be a very likely side effect of frequent shifting. Plus general aches and pains in the hours and days after a shift.

A werewolf in human form is still a werewolf, so their internal biaology,(and thus their natural abilities), would be different. Some physical enhancements perhaps, but maybe some handycaps as well.

[NightmareHero]

Hmm good ideas. I really don't know what to say, except I wouldn't want anything ridiculous or something that wasn't needed, or was impractical. Chocolate being a sort of ailment to werewolves in human form is one of those instances. We have to remember that they also have HUMAN genes. If they weren't allergic to chocolate before, then they shouldn't be after being bitten. Also, How would you use chocolate as a poison from some villian in the movie? I'm sure there are more effective methods.

As to what noticable differences, physical wise in appearance, none. I'm am in the majority I believe with hightened hearing and smell, but I don't think that would be a drawback to the extent that they wouldn't be able to control it, especially if they were experienced. Super strength, hmmm, do they, would they need it in human form? I can imagine a scene, where a female werewolf in human form would be running away from the villian werewolf, only this werewolf doesn't know all the tricks of the trade, She would be jumping and dodging around, letting him slash his way through the trees like a psycho, and he would eventually collapse from overheating in the mildy warm environment. In that case, super strength in human form would be an advantage to have better agility against a transformed werewolf, especially against an inexperienced one that wouldn't know about not exerting themselves too much in warm weather.

Whatever the case, whatever abilities are passed/remain from the wolf form in the human form, have to be NEEDED to move the story forward, otherwise they are a waste of time.

[WolvenOne]

Scar tissue, is generally area that has been damaged in a way that the human bodies own regeneration system couldn't heal it right, immedietly.

The bodies regeneration system does eventually fix scars up a little, and doctors are learning how to get the human body to send the "proper" healing signals to those damaged parts of the body to get them to heal properly.

With this in mind, I cannot really see a werewolf having any permenent scarring, though they may have some scars for a few months after thier first change, when thier body isn't yet, er, optimized for change.

Though, being sore for awhile after changing back to human, and being hungery as heck, is probably fine.

[WolvenOne]

Whoa, I must've been really tired when I made that last entry..... it really makes no sense.

Okay, in short, it seems like a real waste to have enhanced regeneration and to still have hideious scars all over the body.

Besides, such distinct scarring would make it fairly easy to identify a werewolf while in human form. Thus making it more likely for them to be discovered by Werewolf hunters or whatnot.

Again, hunger, and being sore for awhile after Transforming, is fine.

[Lasthowl]

Slightly sharpened canines. Occasionally vague points to the ears, but nothing that can't be explained away. Hair becomes thicker than before, both on the head and on the body. Hair and nails grow faster, though again nothing that can't be explained away. Tends to be a bit more unruly and hard to hold to a style.

Mannerisms change. Confidence is bolstered significantly, whether the infectee knows they're a werewolf yet or not. Walk takes on predatory qualities and those around the infectee notice her new traits in this respect. Many find this attractive, though some find it intimidating.

[Vuldari]

Okay, in short, it seems like a real waste to have enhanced regeneration and to still have hideious scars all over the body.

Not "hideous" scars, or permanent ones for that matter. More like slight discolored lines and small splotches in the skin, like you would have from a burn.
Just because they have regenerative properties that would heal "completely" does not mean it would heal "perfectly. Maybe 99% perfectly. ... something that would slowly fade away over the course of a few days.

Besides, such distinct scarring would make it fairly easy to identify a werewolf while in human form. Thus making it more likely for them to be discovered by Werewolf hunters or whatnot.

That woud be exactly the point. Someone might see the discolored marks on the Weres hand and ask, "hey...what happened? Did you get burned or something?"
Also, the natural regenerational properties of transformation would surely undo those scars when they become a wolf again...only to leave a totally different , (barely visable), pattern the next time, making the scars even more difficult to explain away.

[Lasthowl]

On scars, I think it's kind of neat to have at least the scars from the attack that infected them. A clawmark or a bitemark.

[NightmareHero]

Slightly sharpened canines. Occasionally vague points to the ears, but nothing that can't be explained away. Hair becomes thicker than before, both on the head and on the body. Hair and nails grow faster, though again nothing that can't be explained away. Tends to be a bit more unruly and hard to hold to a style.

Mannerisms change. Confidence is bolstered significantly, whether the infectee knows they're a werewolf yet or not. Walk takes on predatory qualities and those around the infectee notice her new traits in this respect. Many find this attractive, though some find it intimidating.

I can see that being done if they willed it, but I think some women and some men in the audience, if they want to admire or relate to the woman, would find the increase in hair a turnoff, especially if in areas where its not supposed to be in a human woman, assuming the intention is to make her more attractive to the opposite sex and intimidating to the same sex.

[Lasthowl]

especially if in areas where its not supposed to be in a human woman

Not seeing where I mentioned that, unless you had something in mind.

[WolvenOne]

mmm... any hair growth on females should be limited to the scalp kind... at least the hairgrowth that we can see anyway. I'm not an expert, but I'm under the impression that females have all sorts of ways to remove unwanted hair.

Anyhow, I'm going to say that the biggest drawbacks to human form would probalby be the little things.

Chocolate making them upset to thier stomach.

Thier more sensitive sense of smell reacting badly to badly filtered indoor air. (Indoor air in many ways is a heck of a lot dirtier to outdoor air and can even irritate those with even mildly better noses.)

Lets not forget the larger range of noises Werewolves would be able to hear. Heck, some Werewolves might simply switch to MP3's over CD's just to be able to hear things in a way that's more similer to how they heard things before.

Plus, even those with midly better hearing often complain about irritating high pitched noises that the rest of us wouldn't notice. You don't have to have super senses to notice these sorts of things.

Plus, of course, transforming probably burns a ton of calories, and may make your muscles sore. So the first 24 hours after a werewolf transforms back to human, may be somewhat uncomfortable.

[Silverclaw]

I really dont think that a werewolf in human form would look any different from a normal one. The only time they woul look a bit different is if they are struggling to stop themselves from transforming from things like high stress, anger, ect.

I think their senses would be improved but not as good as when their in werewolf form. About half as good if anything.

And I dont think chocalate would be much of an issue at all. It may be unhealthy if they ate a few easter baskets worth, but it would not be a good idea if a human did that as well. Perahps born werewolves have a higher rate of being lactose intolernt when they grow up.

[LoupGarou]

Yes hightened sense would be great,something like in Wolf.

[Silver]

IMHO
This depends on what you think: If a ww can only be a TOTAL wolf in wolf form, then he’d be a TOTAL human in human form. If his were-form can slide around a little, say be bipedal, then I would think that his human form would have some ww.

But I would have it show up in heightened metabolism, - so eat more — and a tendency to be more carnivorous (make that 8 double meat double cheese and hold the lettuce!) If they had heightened hearing and smell, they’d have to have weaker eyesight, maybe color blindness, because that goes with the package.

I think where a ww lives depends on the individual. I’m a city girl. I love the country and go spend many weekends there. But I love to have the choices a city gives, so that’s my home. If I were a werewolf, I’d try to live near a large park or golf course, and spend even more time in the woods — I’d learn all the unpeopled places near where I’d live. But I’d still be me with my desire for at least three good Tex-Mex restaurants, and take out Chinese food in my neighborhood. I would guess most wws would choose where they live the same way.

Territorial? Why not? I know people like that now and I pretty much doubt they’re wws. Maybe they’re allergic to silver.

The MAIN disadvantage to being a ww is the secrecy. It can become one of the controlling factors of your life. That may not sound like a price to pay but it can be.

[Figarou]

IMHO
This depends on what you think: If a ww can only be a TOTAL wolf in wolf form, then he’d be a TOTAL human in human form. If his were-form can slide around a little, say be bipedal, then I would think that his human form would have some ww.

But I would have it show up in heightened metabolism, - so eat more — and a tendency to be more carnivorous (make that 8 double meat double cheese and hold the lettuce!) If they had heightened hearing and smell, they’d have to have weaker eyesight, maybe color blindness, because that goes with the package.

I think where a ww lives depends on the individual. I’m a city girl. I love the country and go spend many weekends there. But I love to have the choices a city gives, so that’s my home. If I were a werewolf, I’d try to live near a large park or golf course, and spend even more time in the woods — I’d learn all the unpeopled places near where I’d live. But I’d still be me with my desire for at least three good Tex-Mex restaurants, and take out Chinese food in my neighborhood. I would guess most wws would choose where they live the same way.

Territorial? Why not? I know people like that now and I pretty much doubt they’re wws. Maybe they’re allergic to silver.

The MAIN disadvantage to being a ww is the secrecy. It can become one of the controlling factors of your life. That may not sound like a price to pay but it can be.

Heightened sences in human form is not a good idea. Silver is right. The human may need to eat more often because of the high metabolism.

If I was a werewolf, I won't live near a golf course. There is a good chance of getting hit by a golf ball if I was scoping around one. A park? Well, it'll be nice and quiet at night. Until a cop car goes by with that blasted siren going off.




Territorial? Sure, why not. Let me just start marking.......a little there.....Oops, missed a spot......some here....a little more there. Ok, this whole area is mine!!




Hmm....secrecy...thats a toughy. Will I tell my friends I'm a werewolf. What will they think? Who knows. If I had total control, I wouldn't worry about it. If I didn't, then I need to do something about it. Leave before someone gets hurt.

[Baphnedia]

Hmm. On forms, who said that there must only be two forms?

I'd say that if the ww is capable of controling the change (perhaps that control is a learned skill), I would generally say that they could also control how far they change, whenever they decide to change, and that any form between human, wolf, and half-and-half (the bipedal furry form that is most often depicted), within reason, could be attained.

If one of the wolves is learning the skill, he may stop himself partially into a change triggered by a sudden outburst of anger.

Also: News just in! The arch-nemesis of the were-wolves are the vile and territorial were-humans (that start out as a species of wolf, and lycanthropy works in the opposite direction). They don't care who they have to mark territory on to get the job done, but get the job done they will.

Ok ok. I'm going back to bed. Ever notice how the Howl icon works well for yawning too?

[SGrayWolf]

How about your family? Keeping that secret from them is not going to be fun either.

*shudders*