Werewolfism 101

RaggedWizard · Joined: 05 Apr 2010 Posts: 585 Location: USA - NY

Lately I have seen some people playing various different types of werewolves only to be discouraged because other people might tell them "That doesn't count as a werewolf. That's a shapeshifter." or "That's not a werewolf, that's a lycan" or other new terms.

My intended purpose for this thread is to show people that it's okay to call a variety of different types of "wolf shifters" by the classic term werewolf with folklore to back up the reasons why it's okay to still use the term werewolf for these creatures. This thread is intended to educate about the many different types of werewolves in folklore and fiction that can be adapted and changed or borrowed from for the sake of werewolf based role play.

A depressing thing for me is coming across people on IMVU who insist that if you play a Lycan than you are not werewolves, that they are different because Lycan doesn't mean werewolf... They are wrong.

Also thanks to the likes of Stephenie Meyers there are people who seem to think if a werewolf can change at will that means he is not a werewolf and rather a "shapeshifter." Traditionally in most folklore a shapeshifter must be able to take multiple forms, not just one. And many older werewolf legends do have the werewolf able to change at will. So it is perfectly all right to refer to something that can take wolf form at will by the term werewolf.

Now for the origin of the word Lycan, that sadly many do not know.

In Greek Mythology there was a King called King Lycaon (Spellings vary). In this myth the king served human flesh (in some versions it's the flesh of his own son) to Zeus, the all-powerful King of the Gods. Zeus was so angry at this insult that he punished King Lycaon by turning him into a wolf. Only his eyes remained human.

This became the very first werewolf story by the traditional meaning of the word werewolf. From King Lycaon sprang the word Lycanthrope (Greek for werewolf) and later Lycanthropy which interestingly enough means both the condition of being a werewolf and the psychological condition of thinking one is a werewolf. The reason for the interchangeable terms is that the psychological condition can cause physical manifestations such as inhuman strength and excessive hair growth. A belief in something can be so strong as to have a physical impact on the body. There have been cases of women who want to be pregnant so badly or believe they are pregnant when they are not that their body starts to undergo the change a woman would if she was carrying a child while they really are not.

Words that came from King Lycaon are

Lycanthrope = Werewolf
Lycanthropy = To believe one is a werewolf
Lycanthorphobia = Fear of becoming a werewolf
Lycaon = short of Lycanthrope = Wereweolf

Later pop culture such as tabletop RPGs and popularized by the movie Underworld the word Lycanthrope was shortened into Lycan. But there you go, there is the origin of the name and word. I personally have a pet peeve against the word Lycan. I'm a bit of a traditionalist. What's wrong with saying werewolf? I like the word werewolf. It's classic.

Now for the werewolves that can change at will and retain their human minds while in wolf form. Many mythologies allow a werewolf to change at will and still acknowledge that these are werewolves. In fact the French used to burn supposed werewolves (Loup-Garou in French) at the stake because they believed these people were deliberately turning into wolves to kill people or livestock. Some popular fiction where the werewolves could change at will include The Company of Wolves, Big Wolf on Campus, Wolf Lake, several French and German Folk Tales, the evil werewolf in The Curse, The Alphas in The Dresden Files novels and so on.

So if you're someone who can turn into a wolf at will but nothing else, it's okay to use the term werewolf because most folklore would still consider you a werewolf. A werewolf does not have to be a slave to the phases of the moon or their own moods. (I noticed some people have their werewolves change if excited or angry like the Incredible Hulk, this is fine as well).

EtherialNeko · Joined: 15 Sep 2009 Posts: 1445 Location: United Kingdom

My werewolf changes kind of depending on a mood or need.
Like, she is holding it back everyday, like it's a little thing..but holding it back, gets more and more difficult the more hungry or bothered she is, so then it releases. Kinda like that. xD

Stephanie meyers is annoying x.x

I see people write way better stuff than her all the time!

But they don't get noticed even partially as much as she does. x.x

RaggedWizard · Joined: 05 Apr 2010 Posts: 585 Location: USA - NY

EtherialNeko · Joined: 15 Sep 2009 Posts: 1445 Location: United Kingdom

-Sigh-

WHat is really saddening?

Somedya in the future, someone will be writing WORSE stuff that stephanie meyers. (somehow))

And the kids of today, will be saying in the future.

"That's not what vampires are like!! Stephanie meyers books write that..."

.....Yeaaah.

RaggedWizard · Joined: 05 Apr 2010 Posts: 585 Location: USA - NY

RaggedWizard · Joined: 05 Apr 2010 Posts: 585 Location: USA - NY

Okay, class, today's lesson is shapeshifter.

Stephenie Meyer has popularized an idea that if a werewolf changes at will and can retain his mind that he's not a werewolf but a shapeshifter "Because real werewolves only change on the full moon." And that her creatures are "Shapeshifters."

Meyer is not a folklorist and admits to not knowing a great deal about the supernatural. She did not research her creatures because she wanted to be original. And what she described can and does count as a type of werewolf despite what she may think.

In many classic German and French werewolf folklore the Loup-Garou (French for werewolf) could change at will (often into the form of a full wolf) and retained his or her mind while in the form of a wolf.

The idea of a werewolf only changing with the full moon was popularized in The Wolf-Man by writer Curt Siodmak, a German imogrent who combined German folklore with some of his own ideas. Including HIS poem

"Even a man who is pure of heart
And says his prayers by night
May become a wolf
When the wolfbane blooms
And the autumn moon is bright."

(Later variations turning "wolf" into 'werewolf" and "autumn moon" into "full moon".)

Contrary to popular belief that's not a folk rhyme. It was written in 1941 by Curt Siodmak.

Also Shapeshifter classically means a being that can take MANY different forms, not just from man to wolf. Werewolf, as I have already said came from were meaning man and wolf. It meant a man who turns into a wolf. It never had full moons as a prerequisite.

RaggedWizard · Joined: 05 Apr 2010 Posts: 585 Location: USA - NY

Skinwalkers:

Though some fictions and movies have popularized the idea that a skinwalker is a werewolf in traditional folklore it usually is not...

The Skinwalker, traditionally, can take the form of any animal and even human form but often can only take the form of a person they've killed / skinned. They are things of nightmares, the Native American Boogie Man. They are not generic shapeshifters or werewolves. They are terrible, evil beings that feed on suffering.

I actually wince a little every time someone tries to say a creature that can take wolf form at will is a skinwalker. I'm like... Really!? When and where in ANY Native American folklore does it say that without omitting certain very important points?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin-walker

A skinwalker tortures Harry Dresden in the Dresden Files TV show episode Birds of a Feather and a skinwalker tortures Thomas Raith to the point of causing PTS in The Dresden Files novel Turn Coat by Jim Butcher.

In Birds of a Feather the Skinwalker skinnned a school teacher, took her form, to try to capture a little boy with magical potential. The Skinwalker was acting as a goon for someone else. In the Dresden Files the Skinwalker feeds on suffering and magical energy. The skinwalker blackmailed and then skinned a witch to do the skinwalker's bidding.

At one point the Skinwalker captured and tortured Harry Dresden, tying him up by his wrists and threatened to slowly skin him to find out where the boy was. Eventually Dresden had to trick the skinwalker with a box filled with dark magical energy and cause it to explode once the skinwalker was alone with it.

In the novel Turn Coat the skinwalker captured the incubus Thomas Raith, who had been living as a hair dresser and taking tiny sips of life energy from his customers. The skinwalker hung Thomas up by his ankles and for days pealed off sections of his flesh and Thomas could heal from this but his hunger for life energy would become so intense as to drive him nearly mad. The skinwalker would bring him a young teenage girl to feed on to the point of killing and then repeat this process over and over again while taunting him for trying to live like a human until Thomas virtually snapped and for several pages of the book acted like a feral animal.

I don't know why it's been popularized to think a skinwalker is just a person who can willingly take wolf form but it's really disturbing when you look at the actual legends. Most Native Americans don't even like to talk about Skinwalkers because like The Devil simply to speak of one might summon it. Skinwalkers can read minds and enjoy fear and pain like a food.

If something only takes wolf form, even if it's by will, that is a werewolf, no matter what you might choose to call it.

If something looks like your dead brother who was found skinned in the woods and then a mountain lion or Grizzly Bear and taunts you with the most horrible emotions you have ever felt in your life and seems to be enjoying it as it's pealing your skin off very slowly, that's a skinwalker.

SaranAsamenthShadow · Joined: 10 Nov 2008 Posts: 112 Location: Ireland

RaggedWizard · Joined: 05 Apr 2010 Posts: 585 Location: USA - NY

TonberryShuffle · Joined: 26 Jul 2010 Posts: 260 Location: USA - WA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1glNuQiE77E

Since this thread also touched on Twilight I'm spreading the love here too.

Also, I dont think I need to elaborate on my thoughts on the topics brought up here. They're kind of well known now.
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CountVladDracula · Joined: 07 Oct 2010 Posts: 8151 Location: USA - NY

CountVladDracula · Joined: 07 Oct 2010 Posts: 8151 Location: USA - NY

I'm bumping this forward since we are talking about it on another thread.

Another useful tip is for those who play the traditional folklore werewolf or French werewolf (Loup-Garou) in which the werewolf looks like an actual wild wolf all you have to do is get yourself an invisible avatar and a pet like this.

http://www.imvu.com/shop/product.php?products_id=11437517

Most invisible avatars will let you load a pet with it but try it in the dressing room first. Now if only I could find a decent bat form that doesn't look like a lump of coal with wings...

CountVladDracula · Joined: 07 Oct 2010 Posts: 8151 Location: USA - NY

The official Dresden Files RPG allows for five or six breeds of werewolf.

Classic Werewolf - A man who can turn into a full natural looking wolf at will. (That's my personal favorite. In some folklore they are immortal, in some they are not).

Loup-Garou - A man that changes into a humanoid wolf-like creature on the full moon and has no memory of what he does on the full moon.

Hexenwolf - A werewolf that changes to a man-wolf or wolf form with the aide of magical belt, pelt, or other charm.

Lycanthrope - Someone who channels he spirit of a wolf or an entity of rage into themselves and turns them beast like.

wolf-were - A wolf that can take human form.

Keep in mind these are not the typical definitions for these terms. In fact technically the terms werewolf, Loup-garou, and Lycanthrope should mean the same thing.

Worlds of Darkness even have their own Garou, a term derived from Loup-Garou which is just directly werewolf in French. Louisiana has it's own North American variation of the term Loup-garou but really it's just French for werewolf.

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The immortality of a werewolf.

Depending on which folklore you follow a werewolf could have a mortal's life expectancy, extended life, or immortality. In the original Wolfman movies starring Lon Chaney Jr. The wolfman was actually immortal. Even if he was killed by silver if you removed the cause of death he could be resurrected. Lawrence did not age.

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Silver as a weapon:

You can choose to heed or ignore if silver will harm your werewolf. Many think this was something invented for the film The Wolfman but in actuality silver used as a weapon against werewolf can be found in eighteenth century German folklore.

Sometimes iron would even work against a werewolf in some older folklore as cold iron works against faeries and other beings that can change their form.

Some werewolves are simply burned by the touch of silver, others might grow weak around it, some can only be hurt by it if it's used as a weapon, and some might be completely immune.

Now me, I'd play it safe and use a weapon that is iron plated in silver just in case.

badboy · Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 7:29 am Post subject:

Why is it that some people believe that they can establish "canon" for the rest?

Why not a "shapeshifter" wolf/man hybrid of some sort?

I can see if it's a part of your particular roleplay that certain "canon rules" apply, and are specified, but unless it's agreed to by the entire group - why is any one myth better or more "right" than another?
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CountVladDracula · Joined: 07 Oct 2010 Posts: 8151 Location: USA - NY