How tall should they be?

netherwurm · Post by **netherwurm** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 3:39 pm

I agree with what most of you are saying. Theres no need to make them any taller than 7 feet. Unless there taller than that as humans. That said i think there should be werewolves of vareing hights in the film. After all thats how it is in human society. Of corse that's just an opinion, you dont have to use it if you dont want to.

Did i spell vareing right?

Figarou · Post by **Figarou** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 3:54 pm

varying

Wyla · Post by **Wyla** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 5:43 pm

I'd say probably around the 7ft area, possibly slightly taller for the males. Anything larger that 9ft would feel like it's pushing the reality boundries for me. Aside from the whole 'it's a werewolf' deal that is.

Scott Gardener · Post by **Scott Gardener** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 6:28 pm

I vote for six feet myself, because I'm a huge fan of the laws of physics. I know that werewolves are by design fantastic, but if conservation of mass is applied, I find myself believing that they're really possible, with enough genetic whoplah and bioengineering technobabble. Tripling body weight kills that suspension of disbelief for me and throws me back into the realm of pure fantasy.

(Yes, I suppose an astrally phased mass reservoir could do it, but then you're getting out of Cozalien technology into the realm of David Alistaire's time travel experiments.)

Apokryltaros · Post by **Apokryltaros** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 6:29 pm

Vuldari · Post by **Vuldari** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 8:47 pm

Apokryltaros wrote:On the one hand, how exactly is a person changing into a wolf-like creature realistic?
On the other hand, if the mass stays exactly the same, how do you explain the brain not being damaged from the head/cranium changing shape?
I mean, whenever I hear about people saying a werewolf in their hybrid form having the exact same mass as their human form, I imagine a dog-headed chimpanzee.
What I'm trying to say is to stop and think about what you're advocating for...
The way I see it, the people who advocate for werewolves obeying the law of conservation of mass fall into two camps.
One camp being the people who picture werewolves as being very hairy people who wear wolf's heads...
And how would a person in a wolf-head mask be awe-inspiring, let alone threatening?
And the other camp being those who envision werewolves as being spindly predators (one person's creation looked all for the world like a wolf-baboon hybrid). I just don't like the idea of mammalian predators being spindly.

And I can't wrap my head around the possibility that either idea can produce an aesthetically pleasing werewolf.

Obviously, one must break some rules to make something That "can not exist", exist. However, the more rules you break, the harder it is to accept.

Saying that a human body, (and every part within it ,including the Brain), can rapidly change shape on command and function in a new form is breaking basic laws of biology. Since most people have a very poor understanding of exactly how their own bodys work it is easier to convince them that it can do something they have never seen it do before.

However, adding to that a mysterious, unexplained increase in size and weight breaks a completely seperate law...a law of physics. "Matter and energy can not be creatd or destroyed. It can only be moved or changed into something else."

Suspension of disbelief only can be stretched so far. The more you try to pass off, the more important it is that you have some way of explaining it.

(...BTW. Why do you assume that the Brain would not change shape along with the cranium and every other muscle and bone in the body?)

Break law of Biology...forgivable.

Break laws of Biology AND Physics at the same time...
"Waaaaiiittt a second...that's not right.

..."

Apokryltaros · Post by **Apokryltaros** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 10:19 pm

Then why not have them all look like the bastard children of Lon Chaney Jr?
That way, we maintain the beloved, holy law of conservation of mass.

Vuldari · Post by **Vuldari** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 10:39 pm

Apokryltaros wrote:Then why not have them all look like the bastard children of Lon Chaney Jr?
That way, we maintain the beloved, holy law of conservation of mass.

Clearly, you are very insistant on the idea that people get BIGGER when they transform into a Werewolf. The large, strong and "anti-Anorexic" as possible body type is the defining image of a werewolf in your mind, and anything that varys too far from that vision is blasphemy of the name "WereWolf".
...I can respect that.

Personally, the idea of a Pack of happy werewolves who have an ancient code of peaceful conduct taught to all new "pups", and can shift to any stage between Man and Wolf that they see fit...on a whim...not only painlessly but Pleasurably...
...It drives me CRAZY. "That's Not a WereWolf!..." I say to myself. "How could anyone consider that to be a WereWolf?!..."

I don't like my personal vision to be messed with, and it does not seem that you do either.

However, I don't want to see anorexic werewolves either. I just don't see why they would have to grow to be 7 feet tall to obtain a desirable wolf shape.
A wolves body shape is actually more Compact and lean than a Human one.
They could look admerably strong and intimidating without being BIG.

Apokryltaros · Post by **Apokryltaros** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 10:44 pm

Forgive me, I can be hypersensitive at times, especially when my own personal visions are tampered with (regardless of whether being intential or not). AND I WILL KILL YOU ALL FOR THAT
Sorry, not enough caffiene today.
But, to get back to the topic on hand, about the height, you're forgetting about the feet lengthening.
Certainly that would add to the height, independent (mostly) from mass-increasing.

Vuldari · Post by **Vuldari** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 10:55 pm

I have addressed this issue before.

Vuldari wrote:
Apokryltaros wrote:...B) What about the lengthing of the werewolf's feet as he shifts from human to wolfman form?
The change of the foot goes hand in hand with a shift in standing posture as well. With Digitgrade feet, a werewolf can not stand with it's legs straight like a human can without falling over backwards, so I think it would gain very little in standing height from that, if any at all.

I have not forgotten the lengthening of the foot. I remembered that a werewolf also bends its knees, negating the extra standing height.

...of course, if you are measuring to the tips of its ears, that is another matter entirely.

Bete · Post by **Bete** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 12:36 pm

Very, very interesting, I just voted "8 feet" (because I wanted to see an artistic expression of power conveyed in your film, via the concept of an 8 foot size werewolf being taller than any human (except for maybe one or two giant people on earth, if they are that tall). I picked "8 feet" as that is taller than basketball players and I thought "9 feet" was probably too tall.

WolfVanZandt · Post by **WolfVanZandt** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 6:22 pm

If I were doing the deed, I wouldn't make the Werewolf a lot bigger than the human but, when you raise the human up on an extrended hind paw (if you do it that way) you're going to automatically add 6 or so inches.

Scott Gardener · Post by **Scott Gardener** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 9:35 pm

At first, I'm inclined to agree about the mass issue. The amount of energy it takes to generate mass is not only tremendous (E=mc^2, etc.) but also besides the point. Right now, nothing in the biological realm can produce nuclear fusion reactions, let alone crank out the kind of power neccessary to pump one up 100 lbs. worth of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and miscellaneous atoms in the right molecular combinations.

Then again, shapeshifting itself is far-fetched. But, I can see it doable as-is with a tremendous amount of engineering work. But, gaining and shedding mass is another trick. Maybe, just maybe, a very obese or extremely stocky human form could pull off a nine foot hybrid animal form. Certainly a physically fit six foot person could become a seven-foot-tall creature of the same weight.

But, if magic is the basis of shapeshifting, then the rules are changed. You can do whatever you want. Similarly, if you start using magic-like science, you free yourself of this problem. Quantum mechanics taken one step further, like the "quantum genetics" proposed for this group, could do it. And, I'll openly admit that in a story concept that may see a nanowrimo novel at the end of the year, I made up a new set of undiscovered physics surrounding the astral plane. All these can provide hidden reservoir for unused mass.

OK, I've got it. Suppose you've got a body that occupies four spatial dimensions. You can shift simply by moving what part of that body is in this 3D spatial field. With that principle, you could disappear altogether or have multiple bodies at the same time, or go from a normal person to a Godzilla-sized monster, to a solid orb with no internal anatomy or appearant source of consciousness but is still able to hold a super-intelligent conversation, and us flatlanders would never know what hit us.

Searif · Post by **Searif** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:15 am

Ok I dont know if this is already been a issue but forgive me if it has

I was just wondering how tall would you say a werewolf would be, im thinking around 6'7 or around there

Shadow Wulf · Post by **Shadow Wulf** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:38 am

Actually, I think whatever height the person is, the werewolf form should be a feet and a half or 2 feet taller than in human form

Searif · Post by **Searif** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:44 am

Shadow Wulf wrote:Actually, I think whatever height the person is, the werewolf form should be a feet and a half or 2 feet taller than in human form

wow *looks at how tall he would be as a werewolf* I would be 7'11 if it was 2 feet taller

Fenrir · Post by **Fenrir** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:47 am

Well if you were six feet tall you would be eight feet tall so the if you a basketball player to begin with you would be freakishly tall.

Shadow Wulf · Post by **Shadow Wulf** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:49 am

Fenrir wrote:Well if you were six feet tall you would be eight feet tall so the if you a basketball player to begin with you would be freakishly tall.

Can you imagine Shaq, he wouldnt have to lift his arm that much to make a dunk

Lupin · Post by **Lupin** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:50 am

Yeah, the werwolf should be a foot or two taller than the human we start out with.

Shadow Wulf · Post by **Shadow Wulf** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:53 am

Lupin wrote:Yeah, the werwolf should be a foot or two taller than the human we start out with.

yeah I was about to change the 1ft 1/2 thing down to just a 1ft or 2

Fenrir · Post by **Fenrir** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:56 am

So we're in agreement about the 1 to 2 foot hight increase.

Lupin · Post by **Lupin** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:00 am

Fenrir wrote:So we're in agreement about the 1 to 2 foot hight increase.

Yep. No one ever got intimitated by a wetewolf that came up to their waist.

Fenrir · Post by **Fenrir** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:02 am

Lol a minime werewolf

Shadow Wulf · Post by **Shadow Wulf** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:05 am

lets see if minime were to turn to a werewolf, he would probaly be up to our chest.(oh yeah you look so scary now,*kicks minime werewolf across the room)

Kzinistzerg · Post by **Kzinistzerg** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:05 am

haha! can you imaging a werwolf one foot tall....

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