Werewolves and Wereraccoons?

Qualin · Post by **Qualin** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 3:27 am

This is my first post here, please be easy on me!

I'd also like to apologize if I'm posting this in the wrong forum..

Anyway, the old werewolf legends are quite established in our society, as you
are all quite aware.. I started reading up about them back in 1986.. but
something else out there fascinated me.

You see, In Japan, there's legends involving something called "Tanuki" which
are, in essence, wereraccoons.. (They can be construed that way I guess) ..
This fascinates me.

My big question is.. In the typical werewolf movie, the typical werewolf is
depicted as an object of TOTAL HORROR.. You know, the kind of
uncontrollable beast that rips apart anything and everything it can get it's wolfy
paws on.. Even the old werewolf legends mention it. Know of any movies
where the werewolf is depicted as something other than a creature of horror?

(I seem to recall an old TV show called "Werewolf" where as the main
werewolf charactor became more familiar with his wolf side, he became
more "Intelligent" and could control his wolf side better while he was wolf.)

In Japan, Tanuki are known just to be mischevious, naughty and generally
havoc causing, with some petty theft involved so they can get their sake.

It would be against their nature to kill someone, but they could make their
life completely and totally miserable.

Generally, they end to be a more
"Intelligent" kind of beast, using skill and cunning to get what they want.

How would someone like a Tanuki (Or even just a wereraccoon in general) be
depicted in a movie? Would it end up being just a comedy instead?

I guess the big deal is.. If werewolves could exist in real life, why not other
kinds of werecreatures as well? I mean, it wouldn't be too far out for someone
in general suburbia to get bit by a raccoon..

Better yet, why couldn't other werecreatures show up in film, playing some kind
of a part? Know of any existing films that are like this? (Other than say,
Ponpoko.. where they are kind of like reverse weretanuki..)

Probably the most interesting thing I've seen was a drawn picture of some
wereraccoon violently ripping the lid off of a trashcan in the middle of a
suburban neighborhood in the middle of the night.. Is this all that comes to
mind here?

Just something to think about.

WolvenOne · Post by **WolvenOne** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 3:48 am

Well if it isn't the Coon-Fu Masteh himself. Hiya Qualin

Figarou · Post by **Figarou** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 3:52 am

WereRaccoons?

I need an aspirin.

WolvenOne · Post by **WolvenOne** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 4:01 am

My guess is that were-raccoon hunters would be people whom drive cars with Silver hubcaps. ;)

Figarou · Post by **Figarou** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 4:04 am

WolvenOne wrote:My guess is that were-raccoon hunters would be people whom drive cars with Silver hubcaps. ;)

Umm..make it extra strength aspirin.

Silverfang · Post by **Silverfang** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 5:52 am

Pass the tranqulisers please

madmann135 · Post by **madmann135** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 6:00 am

It would be nice if another were made a brief apearence in the movie, just a small extra role.

Terastas · Post by **Terastas** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 11:52 am

I think it's possible. Legends about people with animalistic features are all over the place.

For one example, someone mentioned the possibility of kitsunes being relatives of werewolves in another thread. It could be that werewolves and kitsunes are the exact same species, but were assigned different definitions by their human counterparts. The Europeans may have attributed their features to be similar to a wolf's and so termed them to be werewolves, whereas the East Asians would have thought they more closely resembled the features of a fox. The wereraccoons of legend could also have just been werewolves with features that the East Asians attributed instead to those of a raccoon.

Another possibility might be that lycanthropy has different variations and that the werewolf strand, for one reason or another, is just the most widespread. A raccoon variation could certainly be one of them.

And finally, you have the incredibly farfetched probability that the nature of a lycanthropic shift variates depending on the nature of the individual. In the book I'm writing (so I won't mind if nobody believes this - it'll keep the idea original) is that lycanthropic shifts are triggered by specific electronic impulses by the brain and can variate in nature depending on how the information is processed. Wolves are very much like humans in terms of personality and social structure, so most people become werewolves, while people marked with strong senses of idealism and individualism become werecats, overly paranoid individuals generally become wererats (like Lupin from Prisoner of Azkaban), and every now and then you'll get some crazy individual who's only notable feature is their pride in being a werearmadillo.

The tanuki of legend seem to mirror the typical Euro-American viewpoint of raccoons; mischevous, but not necessarilly malevolent. So by that theory, a mischevous prankster could most often become a wereraccoon.

Apokryltaros · Post by **Apokryltaros** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 4:43 pm

May I make an interjection here?
I would wish to state that tanukis ARE NOT RACCOONS.
They are (in English) "raccoon dogs," Nyctereutes procyonoides, a kind of wild dog native to Jappan and northern Asia, and have been introduced into Europe and Great Britain to be bred for their fur.
They are DOGS, NOT RACCOONS.
The only raccoon native to the Old World is the red panda, Ailurus fulgens

More info about the tanuki
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/s ... oides.html

WolvenOne · Post by **WolvenOne** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 4:49 pm

They may not be related to raccoons, but they do look a lot like em. There's something to be said for being specific and factual, but if it looks like a coon, and walks smells like a coon, most people will assume it's a coon.

Apokryltaros · Post by **Apokryltaros** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 4:51 pm

WolvenOne wrote:They may not be related to raccoons, but they do look a lot like em. There's something to be said for being specific and factual, but if it looks like a coon, and walks smells like a coon, most people will assume it's a coon.

They don't smell like raccoons, they smell more like musky foxes.

Figarou · Post by **Figarou** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 4:53 pm

Coon?

http://www.breedlist.com/maine-coon-breeders.html

Apokryltaros · Post by **Apokryltaros** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 4:59 pm

That Maine Coon cats are descended from the love tryst of a raccoon and cat is an old wives' tale...
Besides, it would never happen...
My cat mounts just about anything, and no hybrids, yet.
Though it would be nice to have a cat-squirrel love-kitten...

Figarou · Post by **Figarou** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 5:04 pm

Apokryltaros wrote:That Maine Coon cats are descended from the love tryst of a raccoon and cat is an old wives' tale...
Besides, it would never happen...
My cat mounts just about anything, and no hybrids, yet.
Though it would be nice to have a cat-squirrel love-kitten...

yet?

Are you expecting something to happen?

Someone needs to take that trumpet away from your cat.

Apokryltaros · Post by **Apokryltaros** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 5:16 pm

Figarou wrote:
Apokryltaros wrote:That Maine Coon cats are descended from the love tryst of a raccoon and cat is an old wives' tale...
Besides, it would never happen...
My cat mounts just about anything, and no hybrids, yet.
Though it would be nice to have a cat-squirrel love-kitten...
yet?

Are you expecting something to happen?

Someone needs to take that trumpet away from your cat.

I would, but, he just looks too cute trying to play with it that way...

Figarou · Post by **Figarou** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 5:19 pm

Apokryltaros wrote: I would, but, he just looks too cute trying to play with it that way...

Terastas · Post by **Terastas** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 5:26 pm

Need I remind you that we're talking about the tanukis of LEGEND?

Regardless of wether raccoons are native to Asia or not, describing one as a wereraccoon is still a pretty decent way for their appearance to be summed up.

Figarou · Post by **Figarou** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 5:31 pm

I know that every culture has its "wereform"

I think Africa has werelions as thier preference.

And India has weretigers as thiers.

Apokryltaros · Post by **Apokryltaros** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 5:43 pm

Africa also has legends of wereleopards.
Legends of weretigers are also in China, as well.
As for tanukis, here is a more realistic picture of one...

Terastas · Post by **Terastas** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 9:09 pm

Umm... I know that's what the biological tanuki looks like, but the tanukis of legend could still be very well described as looking like wereraccoons.

The idea I'm trying to put forth is that, maybe all these other legends of shapeshifters across the world - kitsunes, rakshasa, wampus, etc. - may in fact all be relatives of werewolves.

Bladewing · Post by **Bladewing** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 10:56 pm

I haven't seen the show you're talking baout, but it makes good sense to me. I'd rather see a (somewhat) controlled werewolf than a violently thrashing one. I see enough of the crazy violence in my house.

Now, as far as other werecreatures go, I'm pretty much only heard of weredragons. But that'd be a rather hard topic to make a movie off of, since dragons don't exist in this time period (neither do werewolves, but wolves do). Also, the topic of weredragons hasnt been around that long.

Apokryltaros · Post by **Apokryltaros** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 11:55 pm

Um, as far as I can tell, "weredragons" are affectively a race of furry.