Bipedal or Quadrupedal or both

[Calypso Blue]

Nows the time to vote on it.

[Tigerwolf]

Clearly, bipedal fits better with the transformed werewolf, but it's also evident that the speed and strength of the quad stance is important in some cases (chases, leaps, etc). This would be even more true if the werewolf is digitigrade or partly so. For casual movement and walking, the bipedal stance allows for the more 'human' nature to be brought out (and even emphasized as plot elements dictate in individual scenes).

[Goldenwolf]

That was about the only thing I liked about the werewolf design in American Werewolf in Paris. They could shift between bipedal and quadrapedal stances depending on what was needed. That rocked I hope to see something like that again soon!

[Terastas]

Here's an idea: A werewolf is capable of becomming either a full human or a full quadrupedal wolf at will. However, a werewolf could also, if desired, only shift halfway into the large bipedal wolf form that we're all familiar with.

That's my take on it anyway.

[Xodiac]

The idea of being able to shift like that at will is nice from a fantasy perspective, as in, "I wish I could do that." But it's not really good story-wise. It simply makes them too powerful.

"How??" you ask. "They're just going from 2 to 4 legs!" But the answer is in what was left out of that statement: "at will". And it leaves out all this implies.

If werewolves can change AT WILL, then where is the curse? They are stronger and faster than humans. They can leap further, run longer and higher. They have keen senses. They regenerate, possibly even in human form, and possibly to an extreme degree. This makes them hard to kill, and even lays the groundwork for an argument for immortality. (What is aging but slow damage to the body?)

The ability to change shape at will in part implies the ability to do so for the whole. Kill someone and then blend into the crowd instead of having to hide from it. Get into a third story balcony by changing into a wolf and leaping, then changing to human to work the lockpick on the door. That sort of thing.

Writers, good writers, know that munchkins are fun to be but horribly boring to watch. There's just no challenge. If the werewolf is to be a character instead of just a killing machine that the other characters need to figure out a way to overcome despite its overwhelming built-in advantages, then I beg you not to make him too powerful. Shifting from two legs to four, if done at all, should be a simple change in stance, not a major shift in biology.

[Silverclaw]

I think that a werewolf should be both. They walk on two legs but run/fight on all fours. But it should not be another shift. They just advust their positions. In werewolf form, they can walk on two or fours eqaully well.

[Guest]

Both, but this also depends on the story. Will the werewolves be rational or able to think when transformed. If rational, they should have poseable hands, so when they stand up on two, they are able grab/touch, or use body language/gestures to others.

[Guest]

Another thing you have to think about is what type of legs they would have, would their upper leg bone break in two and collapse to form a dog leg, which was done in AWIP? Or would they have similar bone structure in their caves and thighs to that of a human?

[Apokryltaros]

The idea of being able to shift like that at will is nice from a fantasy perspective, as in, "I wish I could do that." But it's not really good story-wise. It simply makes them too powerful.

"How??" you ask. "They're just going from 2 to 4 legs!" But the answer is in what was left out of that statement: "at will". And it leaves out all this implies.

If werewolves can change AT WILL, then where is the curse? They are stronger and faster than humans. They can leap further, run longer and higher. They have keen senses. They regenerate, possibly even in human form, and possibly to an extreme degree. This makes them hard to kill, and even lays the groundwork for an argument for immortality. (What is aging but slow damage to the body?)

On the other hand, perhaps, to paraphrase what one John Mangrum wrote, some lycanthropes "spoke of how their inner beasts tried to master the man."

Writers, good writers, know that munchkins are fun to be but horribly boring to watch. There's just no challenge. If the werewolf is to be a character instead of just a killing machine that the other characters need to figure out a way to overcome despite its overwhelming built-in advantages, then I beg you not to make him too powerful. Shifting from two legs to four, if done at all, should be a simple change in stance, not a major shift in biology.

I wholeheartedly agree with you on these two points.

Another thing you have to think about is what type of legs they would have, would their upper leg bone break in two and collapse to form a dog leg, which was done in AWIP? Or would they have similar bone structure in their caves and thighs to that of a human?

What's there to think about?
The people who did the special effects knew and know nothing about dog anatomy.
A true student of animal anatomy knows that the leg of a dog and a human are similiarly built, save that the foot of the dog is much stretched out longer compared to its leg, in contrast to a human foot compared to it's leg.

[Lasthowl]

I prefer bipedal. I tend to think of a full wolf form in one of two ways. Either it's the default form of an infectee until they learn enough to assume a bipedal form, or it's an advanced form only experienced werewolves can assume.

Either way, your basic infectee is not going to know he has more than one wereform unless she's taught.

[Sporty Fox]

I prefer the full quadra-ped wolf form myself.

[Vuldari]

I think, for the purposes of this movie, the Werewolvs should be almost exclusively bi-pedal. However...I also think that the transformed body shold have at least some limited capacity to move on all fours more natually than a human could, but still not gracefully.

[Silver]

First off I agree with Xodiac, Don’t make them too powerful. And I can see your point about changing/changing back being too easy could spoil things.

Re Powerful:
Silver is a potent weapon - and if you're a hunter, getting silver items, extracting the pure silver, although labor/time intensive, is quite possible. You can get it anywhere. Also, wolfbane is growable, and can be used in a variety of forms.

So no ww would be all powerful. Killing/harming one would take some work. But once properly prepared, it would be quite, quite possible to kill one.

Re TFing being too powerful if too easy:
I can carry my 77 pound dog at will. But that doesn't make it easy, nor does it mean I'll be doing it a lot. So I think an answer could be - sure they do it at will, but it should take some time(say five to fifteen minutes), and be a lot of work. After all, they ARE re-arranging their whole body structure.

Under those circumstances, a TF is something one would do, but like an intense workout, one would not do it often, and one could not do it quickly. It couldn't be done in a snap, to 'melt into the crowd', but if you had the time...... And the TF-jump to the balcony - TF-pick the lock: just would take too much time and energy. The ww would have to recover.

How does that sound?

And yes, dog/human legs are not all that far removed. I picture the ww bipedal stance, and movement, not being too far removed from a human who stands on their tip-toes. That's what dogs do on all fours.

So, my vote is for a TF to have the ability to go to bi-pedal, or qudra-pedal. But each shift is very difficult, and not one to switch into or out of with ease.

[Silver]

First off I agree with Xodiac, Don’t make them too powerful. And I can see your point about changing/changing back being too easy could spoil things.

Re Powerful:
Silver is a potent weapon - and if you're a hunter, getting silver items, extracting the pure silver, although labor/time intensive, is quite possible. You can get it anywhere. Also, wolfbane is growable, and can be used in a variety of forms.

So no ww would be all powerful. Killing/harming one would take some work. But once properly prepared, it would be quite, quite possible to kill one.

Re TFing being too powerful if too easy:
I can carry my 77 pound dog at will. But that doesn't make it easy, nor does it mean I'll be doing it a lot. So I think an answer could be - sure they do it at will, but it should take some time(say five to fifteen minutes), and be a lot of work. After all, they ARE re-arranging their whole body structure.

Under those circumstances, a TF is something one would do, but like an intense workout, one would not do it often, and one could not do it quickly. It couldn't be done in a snap, to 'melt into the crowd', but if you had the time...... And the TF-jump to the balcony - TF-pick the lock: just would take too much time and energy. The ww would have to recover.

How does that sound?

And yes, dog/human legs are not all that far removed. I picture the ww bipedal stance, and movement, not being too far removed from a human who stands on their tip-toes. That's what dogs do on all fours.

So, my vote is for a TF to have the ability to go to bi-pedal, or qudra-pedal. But each shift is very difficult, and not one to switch into or out of with ease.

[Silver]

First off I agree with Xodiac, Don’t make them too powerful. And I can see your point about changing/changing back being too easy could spoil things.

Re Powerful:
Silver is a potent weapon - and if you're a hunter, getting silver items, extracting the pure silver, although labor/time intensive, is quite possible. You can get it anywhere. Also, wolfbane is growable, and can be used in a variety of forms.

So no ww would be all powerful. Killing/harming one would take some work. But once properly prepared, it would be quite, quite possible to kill one.

Re TFing being too powerful if too easy:
I can carry my 77 pound dog at will. But that doesn't make it easy, nor does it mean I'll be doing it a lot. So I think an answer could be - sure they do it at will, but it should take some time(say five to fifteen minutes), and be a lot of work. After all, they ARE re-arranging their whole body structure.

Under those circumstances, a TF is something one would do, but like an intense workout, one would not do it often, and one could not do it quickly. It couldn't be done in a snap, to 'melt into the crowd', but if you had the time...... And the TF-jump to the balcony - TF-pick the lock: just would take too much time and energy. The ww would have to recover.

How does that sound?

And yes, dog/human legs are not all that far removed. I picture the ww bipedal stance, and movement, not being too far removed from a human who stands on their tip-toes. That's what dogs do on all fours.

So, my vote is for a TF to have the ability to go to bi-pedal, or qudra-pedal. But each shift is very difficult, and not one to switch into or out of with ease.

[CrewWolf]

I'm kind of stuck on both . I agree that giving them the ability to shift to both probably is a bit too much, but I'm having difficulty choosing between biped or quadraped. Biped makes the werewolf appear to have more humanity both mentally and physically, while the quadraped stance gives it a more of a primal beast look. I think even in other movies where they want to portray a person as some kind of a raving unreasonable monster the person would usually appear hunched. So I think it really depends on the image you want to give the werewolf.

[Coyote]

I think that being able to go both quadruped and biped doesn't require shifting into more than two shapes. The werewolf shape could simply be one that is capable of standing on two legs or running on four.

I suppose it would depend a little on whether most of the werewolf effects are going to be people in suits or CGI. : )

Coyote

[SGrayWolf]

I feel that both quadruped and biped should be "accessible" for the werewolf as well. Requiring to TF to utilize both of these isn't necessary though IMHO as others have stated and I agree that they should be able to run on all fours and just "stand up" to return to the bipedal stance.

So one TF and both can be used.

Does anyone feel that a certain amount of instinctual knowledge/skill of the wolf/werewolf transfers over to the former-human when they TF? This makes sense to me so the former-human wouldn't be "unskilled" or clumsy after the TF (regarding his new form, etc).

[Vuldari]

I think, for the purposes of this movie, the Werewolvs should be almost exclusively bi-pedal. However...I also think that the transformed body shold have at least some limited capacity to move on all fours more natually than a human could, but still not gracefully.

Forgive me for quoting myself, but I just wanted to re-state my opinion.

I do not believe that a 2nd shift would be required to walk on both 2 and 4 legs.
All that would be needed is adjustments to the joints, hips, shoulders etc. to allow for a wider range of movement, combined with the new(first shift) body shape, to make quadrapedal movement possible.
...just not as fluid or graceful as a regular, 100% ferral wolf.

[ShadowFang]

I think, for the purposes of this movie, the Werewolvs should be almost exclusively bi-pedal. However...I also think that the transformed body shold have at least some limited capacity to move on all fours more natually than a human could, but still not gracefully.

Forgive me for quoting myself, but I just wanted to re-state my opinion.

I do not believe that a 2nd shift would be required to walk on both 2 and 4 legs.
All that would be needed is adjustments to the joints, hips, shoulders etc. to allow for a wider range of movement, combined with the new(first shift) body shape, to make quadrapedal movement possible.
...just not as fluid or graceful as a regular, 100% ferral wolf.

I second that notion.

[Bete]

Looks like I am in the majority on this one (yea!), I said "Both" as a werewolf, being part man and part wolf, the film could artisticly convey that (plus if you read anything on the old true story of the famous French werewolf (loup garou) "The Beast of Le Gevaudan" there were reports that this werewolf was able to move "both" ways.