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Tell me what you think?

Two pups tops. First of all, werewolves are still predominantly bipedal, so it would make more sense for the birthing process to more closely resemble that of a human than a werewolf (not to say that there couldn't be some canine elements; just that there would be more human than canine as far as birth is concerned). And second, since lycanthropic shifting has been described as being painful enough to be fatal the first time, it would make sense for werewolves to have more miscarriages than successful pregnancies.

It might be possible for werewolves to have more than one cub at a time if they were smaller than typical human babies upon birth, but I still think with the potential for miscarriage, twins alone would be considered a miracle.

The human aspect would be predominant so they should only have one at a time. I dont know about the miscarriage thing. The anatamy of a werewolf and how it would effect the fetus is just to complicated a subject for me.

I'd say only one at a time, do to the fact that that is how most human births are. On the other hand, the wolf half could make twins or (in even rarer instances) triplets more of a possiblity than it would be in a normal human. But even still, I would think that one at a time would be the norm.

netherwurm wrote:I dont know about the miscarriage thing. The anatamy of a werewolf and how it would effect the fetus is just to complicated a subject for me.

The understanding I had of lycanthropic shifts, especially the first time (or at least in terms of this movie), was that they were painful and, if the regenerative capabilities didn't kick in in time, would be fatal. I also figured that lycanthropy would counteract the symptoms of aging (or at least that werewolves live too long for us to know their average lifespan since humans have a bad habit of killing them), so nature's way of balancing that out would be to apply the "fatal shift" theory to the unborn children. If a shift is too painful for a fully grown human, it'd be safe to say that a developing fetus would be more subject to lycanthropy-related fatalities. The only ones that would survive would be the ones that developed lycanthropic regeneration before lycanthropic mutation.

I voted "two" like the majority did, but I would say they could have just 1 or up to 5 or more like regular humans. I would think that the safety and statistics of childbirth would be the same as humans.

I would also say to follow the human pattern, since it's the more limiting of the two. Unless the pregnant lycanthrope stayed in wolf form through the duration of the pregancy.

But, a human could give birth to multiple puppies if werewolves were born as wolf pups with a two month gestation period. (Wolves go 63 days, while humans go 40 weeks, or, the ubiquitous nine months.)

So, either would be justifiable. It just sort of depends on how one wishes to handle the physiology. Since my werewolves are humans with a genetic modification, they follow human rules. (one kid, nine months, occasional twins, and usually two breasts at a time. But, I've also contradicted myself, depicting werewolf families with multiple children on board alien craft hosting genetic engineering experiments. But, I haven't established yet whether they were born by mating or artificial methods.) Werewolves that are primarily wolf-based, like the ones in Wolf's Rain, I would expect to follow wolf rules (four average with five or six fairly common, 63 days).

There's also the related question of how long it takes to grow up; werewolves who age slowly probably wouldn't follow lupine rules of short gestation and large liters.

It could also depend on what form the werewolf spends most of her time in. One that only shifts once a month would follow a more human pattern, whereas a werewolf that mates in werewolf form and then remains in that form for the full duration of her pregnancy, the process might be more of a blend of the two.

As for the werewolves on space ships performing genetic experiments... Well, as interesting as that sounds, I think we should try to refrain from posting our own individual definitions. I'm writing a book too, but the definition of lycanthropy I'm using is a crapload different from anything the forum particpants have come up with (their photogenic, there are over 20 different species variations, they love gardening... You get the idea).

So it would all depend on whether the werewolves were created through a virul infection/disease (like this movie) or by evolution. If it were evolution then they would have an easier time with birth. But given the circumstances in the movie i would have to agree with the whole miscarriage thing. Well for now anyway, it seems to make more sense.

I like the rules they had for birth in Werewolf:the Apocalypse, but it involves a lot of factors. To start with how many depended on what form the mother took toward the end on the pregnency if human she would have one human child possibly werewolf child, if wolf she would a normal litter of wolf pups with perhaps one as well being a werewolf when it grew up. I don't believe they ever covered the situation of what would happen if a female gave birth in werewolf form, the birthing would certainly be easier but as to how many in that form I would guess probably 1 pup or one human unless it was a metis of course since they were the only ones born as werewolves from birth.

Terastas:

I think we should try to refrain from posting our own individual definitions. I'm writing a book too, but the definition of lycanthropy I'm using is a crapload different from anything the forum particpants have come up with...

True, but my imagination is my best point of reference, since folklore on the subject is minimal and no real werewolves have surfaced to set the record straight. I'm assuming that most people aren't going to use my crackpot plot ideas. In fact, I'm counting on it!

Blade-of-the-Moon:

I like the rules they had for birth in Werewolf: the Apocalypse, but it involves a lot of factors....

The game setting was a bit complicated. For one thing, the werewolves themselves had three different forms of heritage--those who are wolves turned human ("lupus"), traditional humans turned wolves ("homid"), and werewolves born from other werewolves ("metis"). The first were born as wolf pups, the second as human babies, and the third born in a monstrous mid-form. Each gained the ability to shapeshift in adulescence. Since metis werewolves tended to have weird birth defects, combined with their creaturely forms, they were kind of screwed as far as interacting with either human or wolf society.

Scott Gardener wrote:Terastas:

I think we should try to refrain from posting our own individual definitions. I'm writing a book too, but the definition of lycanthropy I'm using is a crapload different from anything the forum particpants have come up with...

True, but my imagination is my best point of reference, since folklore on the subject is minimal and no real werewolves have surfaced to set the record straight. I'm assuming that most people aren't going to use my crackpot plot ideas. In fact, I'm counting on it!

Blade-of-the-Moon:

I like the rules they had for birth in Werewolf: the Apocalypse, but it involves a lot of factors....

The game setting was a bit complicated. For one thing, the werewolves themselves had three different forms of heritage--those who are wolves turned human ("lupus"), traditional humans turned wolves ("homid"), and werewolves born from other werewolves ("metis"). The first were born as wolf pups, the second as human babies, and the third born in a monstrous mid-form. Each gained the ability to shapeshift in adulescence. Since metis werewolves tended to have weird birth defects, combined with their creaturely forms, they were kind of screwed as far as interacting with either human or wolf society.

Yes is was rather complicated, but by adding all those details you never left any questions unanswered. We need to hammer out as many details of the werewolves we want in this film as possible . We need to work on compiling the data we are getting. So we can say wel if they can do this then they may or may not be able to do this. Also some things may have to change for the script to work anyway. Until then all we are posting are individual ideas and concepts nothing concrete.

Blade-of-the-Moon wrote:Until then all we are posting are individual ideas and concepts nothing concrete.

The only way to get information thats solid and concrete is to ask a real werewolf.

If we can find any that exist, that is.

Figarou wrote:

Blade-of-the-Moon wrote:Until then all we are posting are individual ideas and concepts nothing concrete.

The only way to get information thats solid and concrete is to ask a real werewolf.

If we can find any that exist, that is.

If I find one I'll ask her.....at the same time I ask her to bite me of course.....

What I meant was concrete for this film. We need to put everything we are agreeing on ( assuming there is anything ) in a seperate topic so we can use it for reference on future topics.

Exactly... the more things were have solidly defined for our fictional "universe" we're spawning for this film (and comic book, RPG, videogame, breakfast cereal, etc.) the easier it will be to avoid plotholes and such.

If we already decide ahead of time that A plus B equals C, but not D or E, then we can catch any possible slip-ups that might crop up in the script before a scene is filmed.

Blade-of-the-Moon wrote:
If I find one I'll ask her.....at the same time I ask her to bite me of course.....

Heh, she might throw you a punch instead!!

Blade-of-the-Moon wrote:What I meant was concrete for this film. We need to put everything we are agreeing on ( assuming there is anything ) in a seperate topic so we can use it for reference on future topics.

Oh, ok. DUH!!

I don't think thats necessary. I think these guys are taking notes.

Yeah, but if we aren't then we could be making errors ourselves.....there are a lot of ideas being tossed around here.......

Blade-of-the-Moon wrote:Yeah, but if we aren't then we could be making errors ourselves.....there are a lot of ideas being tossed around here.......

Yup, I'll be highly surprised if the ideas from here ends up in another werewolf film. I'm not talking about Lycan Rising. Maybe something else down the road from another film company.

Perhaps, we are getting a lot of attention on this site.