Origins

[Silverclaw]

Alrighty, this one is kindof hard. What do you think are the orgins of the werewolf 'virus'? When did it first apper on earth? Much to think about indeed

[Kzinistzerg]

Several ideas, including:

magic.

gift from some god

aliens

spontaneous mutation that's really unlikely

[outwarddoodles]

Magic: Weee! Little Faries! Eat them!!!
Gift from some God: Twrees...
Aleins: Those things! I have some in my ear... (actully its water, but still hasn't been taken care of for some reason. it goes *BEEEEEEEEP* and my its so annoying!)

Spontaneuos Mutation: Highly unlikly, but could happen.

Theres to many answers that it may be to hard to truly agree apon here.

[Scott Gardener]

The origin kind of depends on the genre approach you're taking.

If you're aiming for a pure horror approach, (how original!) then a magic origin is probably the easiest and cheapest method in terms of thinking. It just came about. If you're a good writer, it can get pretty convoluted. If you're a script writer for Howling sequels, however, just say it's the Devil, and you're done. A "curse" is a variant of magic. You can come up with a great and overly complex story about how the first was cursed, in some elaborate "it's what Cain got for slaying Abel" bit. Vampires went that route in a certain role-playing game.

For out-there sci-fi, it's a no-brainer. Aliens. Though you could stretch things a bit and have humans do it through genetic engineering. It would take work explaining how humans got the technology without having other cool stuff already around, however, unless your story is set in the future. In that case, your options are wide open--molecular nanotechnology, biotech and genetic engineering, reverse-engineered alien technology or genetics, and the like. Heck, you could have time travellers from the future crashing in the past and dropping it off by accident.

For plausible sci-fi in the spirit of The X-Files, it takes a bit more work. In my own novel, I again opted for aliens, but took time to make my aliens enigmatic, weird, and hard to figure out. It took me a long while to come up with a reason why they'd feel motivated to mix humans and wolves, designing something that can shift between the two and make others that way, too. Yes, they're experimenting, but what kind of experiment are they running? I can't say too much about my own take without spoiling it for any of you who might want to read it.

For a pure fantasy, set in an outside world, magic is the easy choice. It just doesn't neccessarily have to be a curse. (In the Harry Potter books it was, and in the movies it was compounded by having the afflicted turn not into a wolf but a dorky-looking rat-thing. But, in a lot of other books, it's a "gift" or blessing, sometimes from a benevolent spirit or forest diety.) In the D&D game, currently in its 3 and a halfth edition, druid characters can shape-shift into wolves or other animals as a class ability, and both wizards and sorcerors can use shape-shifting spells. Note that in neither cases are the characters regarded officially by the game rules as werewolves. (D&D does have werewolves as well, but they're cursed and always chaotic evil after embracing what they are. Another reason why the Demiplane of Ravenloft is just not a popular vacation spot for realm-travellers.)

For pure fantasy in a modified version of this world, magic is again the most obvious. That's the method used by the game Werewolf: the Apocalypse. Paradoxically, it's also the most often used explanation of the fiction of many of those who bash that game. Go figure.

More interesting methods:

Astral beings who possess a host,
Astral viruses that modify a person's aura and spirit,
Multidimensional and trans-dimensional phenomena,
Gods, god-like beings, and such playing tricks on humans

[Akugarou]

What do you think are the orgins of the werewolf 'virus'? When did it first apper on earth?

Read this somewhere (I think):

Long ago, when the earth was new, and man was finding his place in the world, Gaia, the spirit of the earth, chose a group of good people, to be guardians of the planet. In order for these people to be strong against the enemies of nature, Gaia gave this group of people the ability to shapeshift into the form of the wolf, surely the most logical choice for the protector of her realm (for obvious reasons).

Not sure how the story goes after that, but I believe these people were given a 'gift' which would enable them to continue their new species. They would be able to reproduce, but in order to shore up their numbers, a way was devised to quickly add new members. Thus the "fluid exchange" method. Werewolf Theology 101.

Or maybe I just dreamt it.

[Mitternacht]

in the only story I've ever written useing Werewolves, it was the other way around. They were wolves tha tlearned to look like Humans in order to survive and like with plants, they developed more than one way ot reproduce their species.

[Aki]

Perhaps, like the common cold, the virus has always existed.

Of course, not as virulent as aforementioned virus. If it were that common...well...

[Figarou]

Alrighty, this one is kindof hard. What do you think are the orgins of the werewolf 'virus'? When did it first apper on earth? Much to think about indeed

A)It was a free prize from a cereal. (Fruit Brute)

B) A wolf sneezed at a human sending wolf DNA and green colored mucas.

C) Someone stepped in something.

D) None of the above.

[Bete]

Alrighty, this one is kindof hard. What do you think are the orgins of the werewolf 'virus'? When did it first apper on earth? Much to think about indeed

A)It was a free prize from a cereal. (Fruit Brute)

B) A wolf sneezed at a human sending wolf DNA and green colored mucas.

C) Someone stepped in something.

D) None of the above.

I'll go with "D" (but I like "A" ha, ha).

[Terastas]

Personally, this is one of those questions that I think would be better defined and a better plot element as one of life's great mysteries. The thing about werewolves is that they have been feared, hunted and persecuted for centuries, from the medival times to this very freakin' day. There could have been an answer to that question, but all the werewolves that could have known the answer are all dead.

[Figarou]

Personally, this is one of those questions that I think would be better defined and a better plot element as one of life's great mysteries. The thing about werewolves is that they have been feared, hunted and persecuted for centuries, from the medival times to this very freakin' day. There could have been an answer to that question, but all the werewolves that could have known the answer are all dead.

Yup, life's great mysteries. I'm still trying to figure out why only one sock comes out of the dryer when you know you placed a pair inside.

*Sees Shadowblaze chewing on sock*

"Hey!! Give that back!!"

[ABrownrigg]

Yup, thats the way we're keeping it. One of life's great mysteries. In the scriptt one chracter asks another who is a were, where werewolves came from. The answer is.

(shrug) It didn't really come with an instruction manual, so I cant tell you. Sure we all have our theories, and I can buy some more than others. But ultimately I like to think it doesnt matter where we came from as long as we know where we're going. "
- Jack

[ABrownrigg]

I'm staying far away from Gaia and and the protectors of earth which is copyright White Wolf material. Even though they've changed the rules, I'd rather not make it a Werewolf the Apocalypse game type film.

[Figarou]

Yup, thats the way we're keeping it. One of life's great mysteries. In the scriptt one chracter asks another who is a were, where werewolves came from. The answer is.

(shrug) It didn't really come with an instruction manual, so I cant tell you. Sure we all have our theories, and I can buy some more than others. But ultimately I like to think it doesnt matter where we came from as long as we know where we're going. "
- Jack

More spoilers!!

[Silverclaw]

Yeah!!!

At the least, I'd think that the werewolf 'virus' has been in exsistance for a long, long time. At the earliest ancient greek days. Most likely longer than that though

[Figarou]

I'm staying far away from Gaia and and the protectors of earth which is copyright White Wolf material. Even though they've changed the rules, I'd rather not make it a Werewolf the Apocalypse game type film.

I'll be so suprized if they say something even though you stayed away from thier material.

[Kzinistzerg]

Perhaps, like the common cold, the virus has always existed.

Of course, not as virulent as aforementioned virus. If it were that common...well...

Actuakly, the common cold didn't exist untill humans invented herding and or farming and existed in enough nucmbers in tight enough communities.

[Akugarou]

I'm staying far away from Gaia and and the protectors of earth which is copyright White Wolf material. Even though they've changed the rules, I'd rather not make it a Werewolf the Apocalypse game type film.

Intellectual properies aside, It's an interesting take on the werewolf mythos. Since I've never played any of the White Wolf games, I must have gotten my information from buzzing around the 'net, or in a bookstore looking up werewolf stuff. I've been getting my WW info in small doses, prior to joining the Pack.

I'm going to back-pedal some from my earlier post. Since joining this forum my interest in werewolves, and werewolf folklore has been growing by leaps and bounds, turning me into a certifiable WW nut! Anywho, I have been reading from a book that I picked up shortly after The Howling hit theaters: Werewolves by Nancy Garden. Why it has taken so long for me to actually pick the thing up, and read it is anyone's guess.

As it turns out, transmitting the werewolf 'virus' through the means of a non-fatal bite or scratch is pure Hollywood (maybe this was covered elsewhere in another discussion, but it's news to me). Most WW fans go with the flow because it's the only thing they've ever known.

The process of changing man into wolf, in folklore, is as complicated as there is the number of cultures that have werewolf legends, so I'll leave the details for another time (or if they have been covered somewhere in the forum before, somebody please let me know).

[ABrownrigg]

True true, bites and scratches are purely hollywood. But theres one very important reason for still addressing it. Since its the only thing many folks know about. Introducing them to something outside that realm brings the criticisms that go along with it.

"dude this movie sucks,.. first of all, oooo they don't infect folks with biting or scratching.. duh, boy did they get werewolves wrong".

while this is a rather unkowledgable and biased opinion, it is still the prevailing one, and in my opinion must be addressed. Besides, I like the idea of someone who has to learn to cope with a change in their lives that they didn't have to before. Its a natural protagonist.

But you are correct, there are so many other stories back in the middle ages, to today, and even all the way back to King Lycian himself. (sp).

This film isnt about where werewolves came from, its about who the people are that happen to be part of it. Its a character driven storyline, more than a forumla plot driven storyline.

[outwarddoodles]

True true, bites and scratches are purely hollywood. But theres one very important reason for still addressing it. Since its the only thing many folks know about. Introducing them to something outside that realm brings the criticisms that go along with it.

"dude this movie sucks,.. first of all, oooo they don't infect folks with biting or scratching.. duh, boy did they get werewolves wrong".

True. Most people don't sit down thinking what werewolves should be or on forums like this. Also it is historymtradition, and folk lore. It just makes them special to know and understand our past fears and superstitions. Though we know they are stupid, they are still fun to keep alive.

[Terastas]

But ultimately I like to think it doesnt matter where we came from as long as we know where we're going. "
- Jack

Man, that'd be a great quote for a teaser trailer.

And yeah, I think I'm with the majority in that it doesn't matter that the whole lycanthrope-by-biting thing was first done by Hollywood. First and foremost, it would be unrealistic to assume that werewolves as a species could have survived the countless plagues, wars and witch hunts that Europe has suffered through in the last thousand years, but not so much if they could pass the virus on to others better accustomed to the day and age. And lycanthropy via magic... *cringes* I hate to say it, but save that for the Forgotten Realms.

And yeah, something tells me there will be more moviegoers than folklore experts in the audience.

[Wolfhanyou]

As for myself, the werewolves I picture originated from a gift from some god, or just some magic that either went wrong for the user, or someone wanted to be able to change into a half wolf half man creature and succeded. Some kinda magic that was similar to a Druid's basiclly.

Than again there's all that folklore out there about making a deal with the devil, drinking water from a wolf's pawprint, rubbing one's-self with ointment and donning the pelt of a wolf before doing a ritual, and etc.

Yup, thats the way we're keeping it. One of life's great mysteries.

Or we can just keep like that. Let people draw their own conclusions.

[Akugarou]

I like the idea of someone who has to learn to cope with a change in their lives that they didn't have to before. Its a natural protagonist.

I quite agree! It's a much more engaging story when a character must deal with an sudden, unexpected change.

From what I've read, Almost all the people who were werewolves, sought out the means to shapeshift into a wolf. No accidents. No trageties. No indecision. Dull, in a storytellers view.

(BTW: I just started reading a chapter King Lycaon of Arcadia features in.)

[Dingo]

Alrighty, this one is kindof hard. What do you think are the orgins of the werewolf 'virus'? When did it first apper on earth? Much to think about indeed

.

C) Someone stepped in something.

*in a forest*
"Dude I totally saw the duck go this way*squish* aaaaw man!!! What'd I step in...eh whatever....hmm my hair is longer...
"uh....Mike....you've been bald for 6 years"

[Figarou]

Alrighty, this one is kindof hard. What do you think are the orgins of the werewolf 'virus'? When did it first apper on earth? Much to think about indeed

.

C) Someone stepped in something.

*in a forest*
"Dude I totally saw the duck go this way*squish* aaaaw man!!! What'd I step in...eh whatever....hmm my hair is longer...
"uh....Mike....you've been bald for 6 years"