Culling the young

Fenrir · Post by **Fenrir** » Mon May 15, 2006 5:10 am

Would a werewolf parent kill it's child if it were Retarded or had some kind of mental problem just to keep the secret safe, and for the good of those who it might kill or hurt. The spartans did it. How many times would this happen is it a rare occasion or frequent? The forum says that they protect the secret at all costs but would they go this far.

Figarou · Post by **Figarou** » Mon May 15, 2006 5:36 am

I didn't know werewolves can have imperfections.

Do you think a werewolf will have time to take care of something that can't take care of itself? In the animal world, only the strong survives. If werewolves live by that rule, then that mentally ill child will not live a long life.

Fenrir · Post by **Fenrir** » Mon May 15, 2006 7:57 am

hey nothings perfect so everything has imperfections

Terastas · Post by **Terastas** » Mon May 15, 2006 8:45 am

I imagine, except in the most militant of packs, the process of kulling the weak would be frowned upon. However somebody that was retarded might not either be able to control when and where he shifts, or even understand the importance of control.

I don't think they'd kill anyone with just any disability like a speech impediment, but if it was one that seriously impaired their judgement, I think they would.

Fenrir · Post by **Fenrir** » Mon May 15, 2006 8:56 am

That's what I thought too

TakeWalker · Post by **TakeWalker** » Mon May 15, 2006 9:20 am

I dunno. I'm all about culling the weak, but I daresay human compassion would win that over. Again, however, it would probably depend on the case. I'm sure a werewolf with a mental defect that prevented it from controlling its shifting would be considered more a threat than, say, a werewolf with MS. Though Fig does bring up a good point...

From where I stand, it's honestly hard to say.

Terastas · Post by **Terastas** » Mon May 15, 2006 12:39 pm

I figure there's two things that would encourage a werewolf to care for a sick or handicapped werewolf: human compassion, and human society.

Human compassion is easy enough to understand. The other thing they would need to worry about is that we, as human beings, live in a law-governed society. Someone would inevitably had to have seen or found out through the grapevine that she was pregnant, so they couldn't just make the baby disappear and everyone will forget about it.

If their baby turns up dead, the first thing that happens is they become suspects for murder. And which would you rather have? A retarded werewolf? Or Joe Fontana and Ed Green following you around?

The only alternative I could think of how to take care of a retarded werewolf, would only be if they had two things available: The first would be a stretch of wildlife in which there is a wolf population, or a wolf park/sanctuary with at least one staff member on friendly terms with the pack. The other would be if you believed the arguments in favor of a werewolf being Trapped In Form. If they could coax the handicapped werewolf into assuming a full wolf form and do something to leave him trapped in that form, he could be brushed off by the authorities as a runaway and introduced to the pack as an authentic wolf, which theoretically might be ideal since his level of intelligence, while low for a human, could be on par with that of the pack he is introduced to.

But that's only if there is a way to be stuck in form which they could enforce, and only if there was a place where they could safely release him. If that wasn't an option, I think they really would have to put him down.

Set · Post by **Set** » Mon May 15, 2006 2:09 pm

Most humans are uncomfortable with death and even more so with the thought of having to kill something. I've known people who can't kill rats, much less one of their young. Only the most extreme of defects would have the pack thinking of putting one of their own down.

I can see a werewolf pack as having an executioner of sorts. One werewolf who will do the job so the others don't have to. Whether they like the idea or not, at some point, they'd need him.

Scott Gardener · Post by **Scott Gardener** » Mon May 15, 2006 4:15 pm

So far, all of this assumes that:

1. Werewolves have an organized society, which is a storyline-dependent assumption that may be true.

2. Werewolves share the human notion that nature believes in actively killing those not well adapted, as opposed to simply making it hard for such beings to live. There's a difference. But, werewolves are part human and thus very likely to buy into human assumptions about nature.

3. People with various physical or mental disorders are indeed somehow inherantly weaker. This assumption ignores the occasional savant, who may be mentally retarded in many respects but very genius at doing one thing. It also ignores those with physical deficits who none-the-less are exceptionally powerful individuals. We've all seen martial arts movies about the blind grand master. (And, I'm sure by now Professor Stephen Hawking is sick and tired of being brought up as an example, having to remind people that he only acquired ALS later in life.) But, this assumption does agree with the legitimately observable pattern that people with various disorders do have certain problems from day to day, some pretty severe.

4. Werewolf society seeks to emulate feral wolf society, roughness and all, rejecting the conveniences of human society. This is only a partial assumption, as your postulates do factor in survival within human society, in particular the threat to secrecy.

In any event, the question does lend well to plot devices, and one could launch a number of stories based on this dilemma.

I oppose the use of lycanthropy itself as an instant miracle cure for everything. While I'm guilty myself of making it in my stories a potential cure for a lot of things, it doesn't just either kill or cure every disorder. OK, so I fudged like everyone else and made my diabetic werewolves no longer dependant on insulin. But, my werewolves still wear glasses. It lowers seizure threshold--that is, epileptics who get lycanthropy are more prone to seizing--and it won't make a mentally retarded person "normal." It will cause a personality change, though mostly because of the psychology of the experience rather than anything biological. It does generate in the brain more serotonin and norepinepherine, relieving chronic depression. But, it also causes depression in a big way through disrupting one's sense of normalcy.

Anyhow, that's my $3.65 worth. (That's two cents worth, but from the perspective of the oil industry.)

Darth Canis · Post by **Darth Canis** » Tue May 16, 2006 10:01 pm

Good question... I would think the circumstances would dictate what would happen to the pup. I also think the it would range from pack to pack. More militant packs this would probably occur more often, more family oriented packs this would not be a common occurence. However with that being said, it would ultimately the alpha's decision not the particular parents. If they were a danger in anyway of exposing or jepordizing the saftey of the pack they would unfourtunately be killed i think.

mielikkishunt · Post by **mielikkishunt** » Sat May 20, 2006 8:12 am

It would depend on the culture, and if the were was a born were, or a made were. .made weres are going to be more sentimental towards their babies, than a born were who was born into the lifestyle.

I have two 'lineages' of weres I've created. In the one, those who are not 'normal' are not allowed off the 'reservation' (can't think of a better term. . its not known by humans, they've pulled themselves awy and created a community away from humans), the other I haven't touched on it at all. . hmmm.