Life and Death

strykeriuswolf · Post by **strykeriuswolf** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 7:16 pm

So how old does a Werewolf live, post what you think.

Anubis · Post by **Anubis** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 7:59 pm

Werewolves from there shape shifting abilities have the ability to regerate. The are also part human combined with that they live about 50 years longer than a average human. thats what i think.

((and look in the what a werewolf should be thread we already discussed this))

RedEye · Post by **RedEye** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:32 pm

There might be the odd Were that lives into their "Two Hundreds"...but they's be like Human Centenarians...exceptions, not the rule.

Vuldari · Post by **Vuldari** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 12:11 am

I agree. Accounting for a werewolves regenerative abilities (which exist in most popular incarnations), I think a Werewolf would be more likely to see thier 100+st birthday than a normal human before they die of natural causes.

...but 200+ would be a bit too much, IMHO.

Kirk Hammett · Post by **Kirk Hammett** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:59 am

Scientifically Id vote 100-150, or 200, but usually in my stories mine work differently biologically to the usual were. I guess my species aren't always called werewolves or whatever animal, they're too different so I guess my post has no relevence

but some of mine live for a very, very long time, which can be a curse.

Eh but the normal werefolk in my stories only live at most 200 whereas the other species is longer lived.

I confuse myself nevermind hey

Night Rain · Post by **Night Rain** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 5:20 am

I'd say either the same as a human, a bit shorter, or indefinite.

MoonKit · Post by **MoonKit** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 7:49 am

Longer then a human because I imagine they have better health (from all that running) if not from regenerating or healing.

But shorter than a human if they prey on humans or have serious territory fights because thats a tough lifestyle.

So I definatly think a long life span if they die of natural causes but only if they're not killed by something else.

Night Rain · Post by **Night Rain** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 6:30 pm

Wolves also have a shorter lifespan than humans.

Vuldari · Post by **Vuldari** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:36 pm

Night Rain wrote:Wolves also have a shorter lifespan than humans.

A very good point.

Machine-Whisperer · Post by **Machine-Whisperer** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 8:43 am

The age limit has to be reasonable, No animal can on average live longer than 150 years, even those galapagos tortouses only go for about 140 max.

Apokryltaros · Post by **Apokryltaros** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:17 am

Machine-Whisperer wrote:The age limit has to be reasonable, No animal can on average live longer than 150 years, even those galapagos tortouses only go for about 140 max.

Actually, about 200-220 years, or so. This one tortoise that Charles Darwin met/got to know passed away earlier this year.

White Paw · Post by **White Paw** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 12:36 pm

200-250 years

Set · Post by **Set** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 2:11 pm

Well, if they have the type of shifts that are extremely painful and have the potential to KILL said werewolves...I'd think they'd have shorter lifespans than humans.

FoxOfWar · Post by **FoxOfWar** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:16 am

I'd say the lifespan would be about equal to humans. Why?
There is the fact that wolves live considerably shorter than humans.
The shifting is very painful.

On the other paw:
Werewolves have very good regeneration.
And if one's hiding very well from public view and not having any clashes with humans, said regeneration could extend one's lifespan considerably.

So... my vote was the first option, 100-150 years.

Leviathan · Post by **Leviathan** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 12:45 pm

I think, they could be realy realy old! oO

JoshuaMadoc · Post by **JoshuaMadoc** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 12:22 am

I already made a 900 year old werewolfette.

vrikasatma · Post by **vrikasatma** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 1:09 am

Uniform Two Six · Post by **Uniform Two Six** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 1:20 am

I voted for the 400 year old werewolf, just because I like the idea of the regenerative capabilities giving near immunity to the things that cause aging. However, just to play devil's advocate...

Most creatures have regenerative abilities to some extent. If you cut your finger, the cut heals eventually and the skin grows back together. Not as fast as a werewolf, but it is regeneration. Now, vastly faster healing implies a vastly faster metabolism. Further, creatures which have faster metabolisms (again, correct me if I'm wrong Scott) tend to wear out faster and thus have shorter lifespans (keep in mind that the creature which lives over two hundred years is a turtle). What if a werewolf's regenerative powers directly leads to a vastly shorter lifespan than a human? What about a lifespan vastly shorter than a wolf?

On a side note: Scott Gardener and I got into a long winded discussion about three years ago on the Moonsong board about werewolves violating the law of conservation of mass (and a few other laws of physics). Scott's position was that werewolves shouldn't grow into the Werewolf: The Apocalypse nine foot hulking monstrosities because it wasn't believable. For the record, I bow to his wisdom (because he's a medical practicioner and I am not, as well as he's waaaay smarter than I am). That said, this is why I hate using scientific justifications for why werewolves can do stuff -- because it makes for underwhelming werewolves. In other words, reality isn't as fun as fantasy. Besides, we're talking about werewolves. Anything that doesn't make sense, I'm just going to chalk up to "It's magic". So, I say... they are immortal until someone or something kills them.

(EDIT) DRAT!!! Vrikasatma beat me to it!

lupine · Post by **lupine** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:41 am

I go with you Uniform Two Six. Not so sure on the Immortality thing but definitely long lived. Like you say, they're MAGIC.

Set · Post by **Set** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:56 pm

I can't see how regeneration equates to longer life. Faster healing, yes, longer lifespan, no. You are aware it only helps as long as things go off without a hitch. Eventually it's going to wear out, like all things do.

And you are aware that cancer is caused by a glitch in the cell copying process, as is mutation? With their cells dividing at such a rapid rate werewolves would be at higher risk for such things.

Then again, if you simply say MAGIC, none of that has to apply. I think not having some type of limit makes them horridly predictable and boring, however.

Uniform Two Six · Post by **Uniform Two Six** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 8:26 pm

Yeah, that's basically my point. If you need to limit things because you have a need for psuedo-scientific explainations for stuff, then:

Werewolves cannot gain any mass during the transformation. They stay the same size and weight, even in gestalt form.

Werewolves live an average lifespan of about five years because of their increased metabolism.

Their ability to regenerate and shapeshift indicate a certain instability with regard to cell growth, so they most likely will die of cancer well before reaching the "hypothetical" maximum lifespan of five years.

Given the kind of energy required for the vast alterations of their physiology as well as their regenerative abilities, werewolves are always operating at a nutritional deficit (as it's almost impossible to consume that much nutrients, even if you had an eating disorder... the digestive system wouldn't be able to do it). So they will always look emaciated and sickly.

They will also constantly be afflicted by minor ailments like the common cold due to a weakened immune system resulting from severe nutritional deficit.

They will also likely be plagued by cannine diseases in addition to human ones.

They would also run the risk of having mental disorders resulting from the shapeshifting process interfering with the very delicate operations of the brain. Severe seizures would also be a reasonable outcome. So werewolves are probably epileptic.

You also have to come up with some kind of explaination as to why the werewolf can initiate such tremendous physical alterations to themselves as well as explaining how they can do it as a voluntary reflex.

My point is that having limitations on werewolves is just fine. Coming up with these explainations as to what is "realistic" is what throws me for a loop a little bit. That's why I'm so intent on just chalking it up to "its magic". As for a lack of limitations making werewolves "boring", you're entirely right... under certain circumstances. It's somewhat clear from the board that the werewolf is many different things to different people, so there is probably no such thing as the "ideal" werewolf. My take is this: Werewolves should be different depending upon what kind of setting you are talking about. Would the over-the-top Garou from Werewolf: The Apocalypse work well in Scott Gardner's Lycanthrope? Probably not. Likewise, would Scott's characters work well in Underworld? Again, probably not. IMHO werewolves should be whatever you want them to be. In closing, my whole purpose for this rant is that coming up with reasons why specific limitations make sense is somewhat nonsensical. Just say "these are how my werewolves are, and that's that." Why do people need a reason?

forsaken_wolf · Post by **forsaken_wolf** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 11:24 pm

I just put 250 to 300 years old, cause its seems like a more decent age for a WW to live that long or something.... well for me anyways unlike stupid vampires that live for Infinite years and just kill well actually drink blood and have sex alot and then kill since I saw alot of old skool vampire movies awhile back.

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