Your Version Meeting Other Versions?
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:31 am
An interesting thought that came to me earlier today- what would happen if the version of werewolves you have designed for yourself were to encounter a completely different creature that could still be called a “werewolf?” In my werewolf story there aren’t a whole lot of other similar creatures for them to compete with, just the occasional werefeline. I don’t like vampires very much so I didn’t add them into the mix.
After reading many books, watching many movies, and hearing about what people have come up with here I have come to the conclusion that my guys are pretty wimpy. No regenerative powers, no turning into a big monster with the strength of ten men, just the ability to change themselves into slightly stronger and faster versions of ordinary animals.
If they were to meet, oh, I guess I’ll use the werewolves from Underworld as an example, I think they would be almost as terrified as your average human. The average wolf of my variety would probably go out of his way to avoid crossing paths with something like that, and it would be similar to how many species of predatory animals can coexist in the same environment if the smaller ones avoid the larger ones. On the other hand some might see it as a challenge. My main villain character Sombra likes to set up tests for himself just to see if he can do stuff, so he would probably look at a bigger, stronger kind of werewolf as a challenge to see how many of them he could kill. On the larger scale of things, it would get more interesting if you start thinking about how whole packs might interact.
The dominant pack in my version often takes a very human approach to problems- recognize if someone is going to be a threat and try to take them out in a pre-emptive strike. Though they can be said to be essentially “good people,” they are usually very paranoid about anything that threatens to reveal their existence to humankind and can be selfish when it comes to guaranteeing their own survival. They never try to eliminate humans because they know humankind outnumbers them so greatly that it is a battle they could never win, but I could see them trying to wipe out a different kind of werewolf if it was viewed to be dangerous. Any kind that can not control itself when it is forced to shift would risk getting the humans to be interested enough that they might eventually find out about other, less dangerous kinds.
I could see the authorities in my pack organizing the Hunters (sort of combined policemen/assassins who are used to control werewolves who behave dangerously and risk exposing everyone to the humans) to gather information about the other group, and planning to eliminate them if they decide they are dangerous. If the other guys were a lot bigger and stronger they would go after them with human weapons (silver or whatever their vulnerability would happen to be) rather than try to take them on in wolf form.
They would have a big advantage if the other werewolves were the kind that only changed during the full moon and had to stay human the rest of the time. With their senses being heightened even while human and being able to shift at will my kind would probably be able to sniff those guys out and eliminate them while they are stuck in human form.
And then of course there would be the chance of an alliance between packs, if ideals could be made to match closely enough. There might also be the added drama of the pack having to answer to “civilian” wolves who have less power than the pack leaders, if they think that the leaders are being too harsh or too easy on the other werewolves. I’ve always had more fun with speculating about the interactions and struggles between the werewolves themselves than between them and outside parties like humans. My packs are often full of drama and leaders who disagree with what the Average Joe wolf might want to do. If the leaders wanted to attack the other guys and the rest of the pack wanted to leave them alone or try to befriend them it could be the makings of some major internal struggles.
Wow, that was long. It would be interesting to see if anyone else has thought of what would happen in this scenario.
After reading many books, watching many movies, and hearing about what people have come up with here I have come to the conclusion that my guys are pretty wimpy. No regenerative powers, no turning into a big monster with the strength of ten men, just the ability to change themselves into slightly stronger and faster versions of ordinary animals.
If they were to meet, oh, I guess I’ll use the werewolves from Underworld as an example, I think they would be almost as terrified as your average human. The average wolf of my variety would probably go out of his way to avoid crossing paths with something like that, and it would be similar to how many species of predatory animals can coexist in the same environment if the smaller ones avoid the larger ones. On the other hand some might see it as a challenge. My main villain character Sombra likes to set up tests for himself just to see if he can do stuff, so he would probably look at a bigger, stronger kind of werewolf as a challenge to see how many of them he could kill. On the larger scale of things, it would get more interesting if you start thinking about how whole packs might interact.
The dominant pack in my version often takes a very human approach to problems- recognize if someone is going to be a threat and try to take them out in a pre-emptive strike. Though they can be said to be essentially “good people,” they are usually very paranoid about anything that threatens to reveal their existence to humankind and can be selfish when it comes to guaranteeing their own survival. They never try to eliminate humans because they know humankind outnumbers them so greatly that it is a battle they could never win, but I could see them trying to wipe out a different kind of werewolf if it was viewed to be dangerous. Any kind that can not control itself when it is forced to shift would risk getting the humans to be interested enough that they might eventually find out about other, less dangerous kinds.
I could see the authorities in my pack organizing the Hunters (sort of combined policemen/assassins who are used to control werewolves who behave dangerously and risk exposing everyone to the humans) to gather information about the other group, and planning to eliminate them if they decide they are dangerous. If the other guys were a lot bigger and stronger they would go after them with human weapons (silver or whatever their vulnerability would happen to be) rather than try to take them on in wolf form.
They would have a big advantage if the other werewolves were the kind that only changed during the full moon and had to stay human the rest of the time. With their senses being heightened even while human and being able to shift at will my kind would probably be able to sniff those guys out and eliminate them while they are stuck in human form.
And then of course there would be the chance of an alliance between packs, if ideals could be made to match closely enough. There might also be the added drama of the pack having to answer to “civilian” wolves who have less power than the pack leaders, if they think that the leaders are being too harsh or too easy on the other werewolves. I’ve always had more fun with speculating about the interactions and struggles between the werewolves themselves than between them and outside parties like humans. My packs are often full of drama and leaders who disagree with what the Average Joe wolf might want to do. If the leaders wanted to attack the other guys and the rest of the pack wanted to leave them alone or try to befriend them it could be the makings of some major internal struggles.
Wow, that was long. It would be interesting to see if anyone else has thought of what would happen in this scenario.