Do werewolves should have a hair?

[Lupin]

I agree with everyone else. In full wolf form, they should look like regular wolves, just how they look like regular humans in human form.

[Vilkacis]

In my opinion, a werewolf in full wolf form should look a lot like a wolf, but not so much so that someone who is very familiar with wolves or someone who knows what to look for wouldn't notice the difference. I don't think they should be exactly the same. (Or, in the case of a werewolf whose base form was a wolf, their human form shouldn't look exactly the same.)

Back to the mane issue at hand, I think something like Goldenwolf's Heart Song is a bit much, while her First Run is almost perfect (as far as the female goes). In other words, the long strands of hair don't suit my ideal vision of hybrid or wolf form, but I don't really mind them too much, either.

-- Vilkacis

[Scott Gardener]

I've followed Vuldari's theory of hair length, which does throw in the idea that werewolves could control their human hair length, reversing bad haircuts. One slight consequence I've considered: anything getting in the hair.

A perm or appliance of chemical hair treatments could get partially absorbed. The body, recognizing foreign toxins, might shed the hair instead. More painful a yank, things like gum stuck in hair could get painful.

One scary thought--silver-spiked spray paint. Get it on your fur, and you can't shift back until you shave off the contaminated hairs. Could be a nasty way of keeping someone from shifting to human form, in a silver-sensitive lycanthrope. (Mine aren't, but other toxins like cyanide would do--a popular treatment for lice, by the way.)

[Vuldari]

I've followed Vuldari's theory of hair length, which does throw in the idea that werewolves could control their human hair length...

Actually...I'm not a fan of giving too much controll to a Werewolfs shifting ability. I would support the ideas of a biologically set "default" hair length that hair would grow back to after a shift, or even the deluxe feature of having the hair grow back to the exact length it was before (simply because I don't know any other way to do it, and because Shedding and "wig-wolves" are unappealing to me. {"Manes" are okay}), but I don't think a werewolf should be able to change their hair length at will, like ...

"Hmm...I think I'll go with a Long cut today. *hair suddenly grows an extra two inches* ...no, on second thought, I think I'll just go with extra-short...less trouble. *hair retracts into head to a mere 3/4 inch in length* "

That's a little extreme, but I think you can see how that would be really weird.

[Ultraken]

How about this? If the human form has super-long hair, so does the gestalt form--and the wolf form. If you want to pass for wolf, cut your hair.

[white]

I think the wolf form would have normal wolf fur length, irrelevant to that of the human form's hair.

[Timber-WoIf]

hmm........ wolf fur should definatly be wolf fur.... but i dunno what to do with human hair after a shift... perhaps just default it to a medium length? i definatly don't want controlled hair length, but i wouldn't want people with crazy hippie hair when shifting to human eihter... and what to do about facial hair?

i guess you just have t cut and shave after each shift...

[white]

The human thing is a tough decision; logically all hair would grow out to natural length, but as has been said, this is a movie, not a documentary, and that simply wouldn't work. Although I can't come up with much of a rationale past that it uses the same material that was absorbed in the initial shift away from human, I'd say that when shifting back to human one's hairstyle should return as it was, minus anything too creative. Things like a mohawk would logically get redistributed.

[Lupin]

The human thing is a tough decision; logically all hair would grow out to natural length, but as has been said, this is a movie, not a documentary, and that simply wouldn't work.

The thing is though, human head hair doesn't really have a length. Usually it just continues to grow until it's cut.

[Ultraken]

That's why I creatively dodged the issue.

Anything shorter than 4-5" should match the hackles (which will likely be the same color anyway).

[Figarou]

The human thing is a tough decision; logically all hair would grow out to natural length, but as has been said, this is a movie, not a documentary, and that simply wouldn't work.

The thing is though, human head hair doesn't really have a length. Usually it just continues to grow until it's cut.

"Usually"

Yes, use that word sparingly. Because I've seen men start going bald at a young age. (male pattern baldness)

[PariahPoet]

Yuck! No long human hair on the top of its head, that makes it look like a furry. (I can't stand those toony anthros with human hair, they look so dorky!) now a slightly longer mane, I can deal with, but I think a natural wolf head looks better.

[Lupin]

"Usually"

Yes, use that word sparingly. Because I've seen men start going bald at a young age. (male pattern baldness)

Yeah, but that doesn't really have anything to do with what I was talking about: The natural length of human head hair.

[Ultraken]

From http://www.follicle.com/hair-structure-life-cycle.html:

Anagen Phase - Growth Phase

Approximately 85% of all hairs are in the growing phase at any one time. The Anagen phase or growth phase can vary from two to six years. Hair grows approximately 10cm per year and any individual hair is unlikely to grow more than one meter long.

Catagen Phase - transitional phase

At the end of the Anagen phase the hairs enters into a Catagen phase which lasts about one or two weeks, during the Catagen phase the hair follicle shrinks to about 1/6 of the normal length. The lower part is destroyed and the dermal papilla breaks away to rest below.

Telogen Phase - resting phase

The resting phase follows the catagen phase and normally lasts about 5-6 weeks. During this time the hair does not grow but stays attached to the follicle while the dermal papilla stays in a resting phase below. Approximately 10-15 percent of all hairs are in this phase at an one time.

At the end of the Telogen phase the hair follicle re-enters the Anagen phase. The dermal papilla and the base of the follicle join together again and a new hair begins to form. If the old hair has not already been shed the new hair pushes the old one out and the growth cycle starts all over again.

So, the "natural" length of human hair is growth rate times length of growth phase. The hair tends to shed during or at the end of the resting phase. That length varies from person to person, but tends to be fairly long (at least shoulder length).

[Scott Gardener]

With practice, maybe some control over hair length. But, I also pictured it "having a mind of its own," especially in someone who has been bitten recently; someone might go from short to longer hair rather suddenly. I know, it can sound cheesy, but if done right, it can also be pretty dramatic.

As for hair follicle life cycles, having sudden growth on the order of several centimeters in a few seconds, or reabsorbing hair as quickly, for those of us who aren't shedders, the normal hair follicle physiology pretty much gets thrown out the window. The follicle probably would have to be re-engineered fairly substantially to do this.

[Figarou]

"Usually"

Yes, use that word sparingly. Because I've seen men start going bald at a young age. (male pattern baldness)

Yeah, but that doesn't really have anything to do with what I was talking about: The natural length of human head hair.

What IS our "natural" length for head hair? The hair on our head keeps growing and doesn't stop. Thats why we have to go to the barbershop all the time. Thank goodness the rest of my body is not like the head hair. If it was, I would have to trim the hair from my chest, arms, legs, and other places every few weeks.

[Shadow Wulf]

Lol poor fig, atleast you will have the lyconthrope disorder.

[Ultraken]

Actually, each hair does stop, but the follicles are all out of phase with each other. The length of the growth phase determines how long your hair can get. For example, my hair reached shoulder-length and wouldn't grow any longer than that. (I buzzed it off once it got annoying, so now I have super-short hair.)

[JoshuaMadoc]

Yuck! No long human hair on the top of its head, that makes it look like a furry. (I can't stand those toony anthros with human hair, they look so dorky!) now a slightly longer mane, I can deal with, but I think a natural wolf head looks better.

[Figarou]

Actually, each hair does stop, but the follicles are all out of phase with each other. The length of the growth phase determines how long your hair can get. For example, my hair reached shoulder-length and wouldn't grow any longer than that. (I buzzed it off once it got annoying, so now I have super-short hair.)

Really? I'm tempted on letting my hair grow. But alas. The company I work for won't let grow long hair. Oh well.

[Lupin]

Actually, each hair does stop, but the follicles are all out of phase with each other. The length of the growth phase determines how long your hair can get. For example, my hair reached shoulder-length and wouldn't grow any longer than that. (I buzzed it off once it got annoying, so now I have super-short hair.)

Of course, when it stops is different for everyone. Some people can grow waist-length hair, which is about 7 years' growth.

[Silverfang]

My hairs on now for about 2-3 years growth, and it's just around my shoulders, but hasn't gotten really any longer.

In anycase getting back on topic; I'd tend to be in favour of a mane in gesbult? (man my spelling sucks) but only something that's longer to a point, something that's not odivous at first glance, but is sutibley different to that of a normal wolf.

As for the full wolf form, well thats pretty much straight forward. full wollf means full wolf, aside from maybe slight differences in front leg shape and shoulders (maybe slightly bulker).

[Morkulv]

I'm not sure is there topic like this (at least couln't find one) but I'll put it here anyway.

So... what do you think about that do werewolf should have a hair? There is many artists those make a long hair to their werewolf characters and I think it looks cool

Opinions?

I'm gonna spank the creators of this film if I see any hair falling out during transformation.

[Morkulv]

[Morkulv]

Hmmm...the skin more elastic in the neck area. You know,,so the mother wolf can carry the cubs. How will something like that look on a werewolf in Gestalt form?

That dissappears on adult animals.

At least on mammals, yes.