#werewolf fact

[maverick-werewolf]

Werewolf Article - (Play As A) Werewolf Video Games

The results of the poll for this month on my Patreon are in, and the winner is an opinionated article on werewolf video games! Apologies in advance if any of my opinions here anger you. I was asked for opinionated, so I went opinionated and did not hold back.

For clarity's sake: this will be a relatively concise list of SOME video games in which you can or do play as a werewolf. It will NOT include every single game in which you can or do play as a werewolf, nor will it include certain kinds of playable werewolves that exist in gaming, for the sake of brevity. You'll notice some missing and then want to be first to tell me I left out [thing], but I assure you I am aware of those too. I am also not going to list games in which you can play as a werewolf but it requires either user-made mods or else playing in a custom campaign/tileset/server (like Neverwinter Nights <3), only games wherein you can play as a werewolf as part of base game or expansion pack mechanics.

This IS a tiered list. It is tiered based on the werewolf gameplay mechanics and elements in the game.

Let's get started. I will begin at #9, go to #1, and then I will close with some words on some other games that didn't make the numbered list.

9. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

Note: your player character will never have torn-up clothing or use his claws like in this artwork/like the enemy worgen do

I'm just going to list Cataclysm here because, frankly, I don't even want to discuss WoW at Shadowlands and beyond... even if discussing the model update will reach into that era of content. Obviously, I don't play WoW anymore and haven't in quite a while, but yeah, I used to really enjoy it. Played it for many, many years. Probably too many.

Cataclysm was a pretty outright bad expansion, but it did add playable worgen (something I obviously wanted from day 1 after seeing the worgen mobs running around), and they can even turn into human form, which is a must for me in terms of actually being a werewolf instead of just a wolf-person, which I wouldn't even roll. That was a nice touch I didn't actually expect from the devs.

Unfortunately, the model update turned them into something far "cuter" and more cuddly than I liked, not to mention adding preposterous fur options like stripes and merle, but the human form customization was nice. Still, the model update drove me toward playing different races, like maining my kul'tiran and night elf instead of the worgen I was always ultimately pretty disappointed in, given his wearing fine armor and wielding giant weapons. Anyway, the entire game took a huge nosedive not long after the model change, so it's a moot point for me regardless.

As for the deeper worgen lore beyond "they are werewolves with a funny name": I hate it with all my heart. I did my best to ignore every scrap of that and how they are just self-parodies, to delete the Gilneas/worgen starting zone quests from my entire brain, and especially to ignore the fact that they were all preposterously British despite England being one of the last places historically to even have many werewolf legends of its own. I have an article about that here if you are interested in the topic. The game made all of these things very difficult, especially how hard they wanted to drive home that the worgen are silly posh British parody dog-people strutting around in waistcoats and tophats instead of being fearsome cursed werewolves. So I won't bother going into all that.

The mechanics are fun except for the fact that you have to wear armor and use weapons, so ultimately you just look like a beast-person instead of a werewolf, especially after the model change making them far more appealing to a certain demographic. If Blizzard had wanted to put in effort, they would have made your gear look tattered and would have made you swap to claws when you turn, but that would've been a lot of work. They could have at least added a specialized class or something and then also given it to some Horde races to make the precious Horde players happy. I don't know. I just think werewolves wearing fine clothes and armor and wielding weapons is immensely silly. They're supposed to be werewolves.

So while they are extremely far from perfect, the worgen are at least relatively fun in that, if nothing else, you can go between werewolf and human forms and run on all fours as fast as the fastest ground mount, and I am deeply surprised they did either. I immensely enjoyed both of those things during my time playing a worgen, and they helped mitigate the great disappointment otherwise in many other regards - though not enough to keep me from maining other races, especially later on. But, in the end, WoW sucks now and it's unrecoverable, and WoW Classic is a joke, so I'll never be playing a worgen again anyway.

8. Diablo II

I'm sure you were looking for this one - the werewolf druid in Diablo II (preemptive sidebar: I am not going to talk about Diablo IV). I love his design and gameplay mechanics. He's fantastic. However, he is of course yet another instance of "the werewolf must be a druid," which I personally find a little tiresome after so much of it. But hey, this was one of the earlier games to do that, so it predated a lot of the craze.

At any rate, the Druid class in Diablo II obviously gets a werewolf form. It also gets a requisite werebear because werewolves can almost never just be werewolves, but at least the werewolf does not completely suck. You can also summon wolves, which is a bonus.

While I'm not really that big on Diablo-type gameplay - I prefer either third-person or else a proper isometric, party-based RPG - so Diablo II didn't really hold my interest a lot, the werewolf druid is very fun and a very cool werewolf, the setting is great, and the werewolf suits the dark Gothic feeling and look of the game that is enjoyable and well conveyed in the first place. The werewolf druid is a great addition that I am glad they added.

7. Baldur's Gate II

Let me make something perfectly clear: Baldur's Gate II is, in my opinion, the best game ever made (only Uncharted 2: Among Thieves also makes this rank for me). Combined with BG1 to create the Baldur's Gate Saga, it is one of the best stories ever told and also my favorite game mechanics-wise, again alongside Uncharted 2 even if yes, I know that those games could almost not be farther apart in terms of mechanics. I absolutely love BG2 beyond words. Please note I am talking about the original Baldur's Gate II, as released in 2000, not the "Enhanced Edition," which is a disgrace to the game, the entire series, and a piece of garbage. It's shamefully difficult to find the original game anymore, but it's worth it over playing the EE; trust me. I'll try to spare you any further ranting on this topic, as the original Baldur's Gate Saga is something very close to my heart.

Anyway, the werewolf in BG2 is - once again - a druid, specifically a druid subclass called Shapeshifter. It doesn't really have any werewolf gameplay mechanics in that you are not treated differently for it, nor do you transform out of your own control. In fact you will be spending the majority of your time in werewolf form, which can get quite tiresome. I'm not the biggest fan of a werewolf holding normal conversations with NPCs, etc. But regardless, it's there, and I love it, and it looks awesome, and that's more than I can say for so many games. Plus, you get cool bonuses and stuff. The power of it varies over time and with the progression of your character. I will not go too deeply into it, as I am actually an insane D&D video game nerd and even today I can spend far too much time building characters and tweaking numbers and doing ridiculous tricks in D&D games to powergame. If you want just one of my credentials I beat BG2 on the hardest difficulty with Ascension and no other gameplay mods. Long story short, the Greater Werewolf is quite powerful, and it shouldn't be a detriment to your party to either be one or bring along Cernd, one of my favorite companions.

So don't listen to the people down on the Shapeshifter in BG2. You can get mods that make them overpowered, anyway. Also don't listen to my complaints about it not feeling werewolfish enough because that's nearly impossible to come by anyway if you're not playing the #1 game on this list. Go try one out. It's fun! Plus, BG2 is the best game ever made.

6. Altered Beast

What are some of Mav's favorite things? Ancient Greece, hoplites, hot men, werewolves, dragons, tigers...

When I found out Altered Beast exists and is a game wherein you play as an awesome hoplite dude and turn into a werewolf, a green dragon, a tiger-man, and ultimately a werewolf is still the most powerful of all his forms, I was ecstatic. I had to play it immediately.

I wasn't disappointed. It's a fun, unforgiving game, because it was made before video games started becoming what I think we're supposed to call accessible today. I don't know what else there is to say about the game if what I've already said hasn't convinced you to play it. The werewolf form is your first transformation, and your most powerful is a golden werewolf. Me being me, I appreciate that a werewolf form is still the best in the end instead of being outshone by other creatures, and even the other forms available are all very cool.

As I said, I really don't know what more one could ask for of this setting and gameplay. I've never been picky about genre; I play a very wide variety of video games and have plenty of fun, and I certainly had fun with this one.

(Note: I'm not going to talk about that 2005 Altered Beast remake, I like to pretend it never happened)

5. Werewolf the Apocalypse: Earthblood

I'll be the first to admit I'm far from the biggest World of Darkness fan ever, as has brought many insults my way already, but I was pleasantly surprised by the mechanics of the werewolf form in Earthblood. I will not call it the "crinos form," as that terminology is so immensely silly that I could no longer take it seriously if I did. So anyway, the gameplay actually lets you feel like a werewolf, and you even get two stances you can swap between for different combat styles instead of anchoring werewolves down to just doing one thing. I'm not going to wax on about the lore, the story, etc. - but man the werewolf mechanics really are fun. It is, of course, the main draw of the whole deal, and they didn't slouch on that element.

It's important to me that a werewolf feel powerful and also violent. Werewolves should not be cuddly, or else they are no longer werewolves. Painting hallways with the blood of my enemies as if I'm recreating the Ninja lead-up in Metal Gear Solid while in werewolf form is cathartic and a good way to give the player a sense of being a werewolf instead of just an animal-headed person. This is a very solid "play as a werewolf" game, and one of the few games that exist with the primary purpose of letting you really play as a werewolf, whether you are a predetermined character or not. Be warned, the game is notoriously janky, but if you're like me, you're enjoying the werewolf mechanics enough that you don't care - or you can be even more like me and not give a toss about "jankiness" in a game in the first place.

4. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

While a significant and crushing downgrade from the werewolves in certain other Elder Scrolls entries - more on that momentarily - at least Skyrim let you become a werewolf in the base game. No waiting for an expansion pack and no waiting forever until you move on (thanks, Oblivion). However, the differences between the mechanics of werewolves in past entries and the Skyrim werewolves are many and tragic. I confess I did not play Skyrim much, partially as a result of these exact elements, and partially because I just don't spend much time playing video games anymore, among other things.

In Skyrim, being a werewolf becomes what is colloquially called an "awesome button," letting you turn into a big, strong, cool werewolf that can eat people to extend your werewolf timer. It's great and enjoyable, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't actually feel as if you are truly cursed with lycanthropy or smelly lupus or whatever silly name Elder Scrolls gave it (yes, I know the name, but that doesn't make it less silly). You have no real disadvantages to being a werewolf, such as having to worry about when you will transform outside your own control - because you never will, which is an immense downgrade in terms of feeling werewolfish and adding appropriate challenge and downside to being a werewolf. You also don't have to worry about being forced to devour a civilized race in order to sate your accursed hunger. Instead, you're doing that on purpose to turn out of werewolf form again, because the more you eat, the longer you stay transformed. Still, the werewolves in Skyrim are good - they just don't compare to previous entries. But I certainly appreciate them and the fact that they are present in the base game.

3. The Sims 3

Trust me, they do look better in game, but I couldn't find any of my own screenshots because it's been a hot minute since I played this.

You probably think I'm trolling you, but the werewolves in The Sims have always been pretty fun; I remember when the ones in 2 first came out, I enjoyed them like crazy. The ones in 3 rocked and were easily the best variant; too bad the game is relatively difficult to get running properly, and many aspects of the werewolves are delicate and easy to glitch, including your entire Sim's werewolf form design. I am not going to talk about those abominations that were added to The Sims 4, because they are some of the worst things I have ever had the misfortune of seeing and are not werewolves by any metric.

Sims 3 changed the aspects of Sims 2 werewolves that I didn't like, such as how being a werewolf altered your sim's entire personality over time and how the werewolf form always looked the same. They made the system much more robust. Frankly, the Sims 3 werewolves are some of the better werewolves in gaming, especially for the kind of game that The Sims is (expect assorted dog jokes, for example, given it's The Sims, yet it still isn't half as bad as it could be). I also love the wolf-man design; it works much better with Sims than something bigger and more wolfish. Certainly far better than whatever the hell is in Sims 4, which again, I will try my best not to talk about.

Anyway, I absolutely recommend Sims 3 if you enjoy Sims games and werewolves and want to have some werewolf fun. I'd probably still be occasionally blowing my finite amount of time on this earth playing it if I had it properly running on my current PC.

2. The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall

Bet you didn't expect to see this one, did you? You thought I was gonna say Skyrim as #2, right? Actually, I bet you thought I was going to say that one as #1.

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall is a game many would consider unapproachable today. I enjoyed it. Obviously, I played it for the playable werewolf, and I had fun! They work similarly to the ones in Bloodmoon, but, in my opinion, they still aren't as fantastic as the Bloodmoon ones. But the game does force you to actually live and behave as a werewolf - I love the werewolf hunter[s] mechanic - which, again... it's almost the only one of its kind other than Bloodmoon. For that, it gets #2 on this list.

And that means you know what makes #1, untouched in its glory, undimmed by time...

1. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - Bloodmoon

Alright. Have I ever talked about how this is the single greatest werewolf game ever made? I think I have, but let's get into it again.

I like Morrowind in the first place. I think it's hands down the best of the Elder Scrolls series and, frankly, the only one really worth dedicating much time to (forgive me). I played it when it first came out, and while I have never been the kind of person to pour hours into any ES or even any other open world game, Morrowind held my attention even as a kid - before I knew about "open world" and before it was such a buzzword - whereas other games before and after it struggled to do so or else failed entirely. Morrowind was groundbreaking for its time in many ways. And then they announced the expansion pack called Bloodmoon that would let you play as a werewolf. I was so excited I could hardly stand it, and even with my extreme werewolf pickiness, I was not disappointed. At all.

This is a game wherein the werewolves are treated as a serious threat, they are insanely rare to encounter in the wild in any capacity (I actually became a werewolf through a random encounter because I ran around on Solstheim obsessively every night rather than just becoming one through the story - it took me many nights, IRL, to encounter one), and when you do run into them, they are likely to destroy you. You are insanely, over the top powerful when you turn into a werewolf, yourself. Some would even call it stupid. I would not. You run at the speed of light and your jump turns into borderline flight. It's basically gliding. You're also preposterously powerful in general. I love it.

Most importantly of all, however, is that you are actually forced to roleplay as a werewolf. You will turn each night, and you must consume 1 victim NPC of any of the playable races. Solstheim is full of assorted enemies that will work for this, but when you go back to Vvardenfell, it can be harder to find a nightly meal while avoiding devouring any quest NPCs. Plus, you have to manage your gear before and after transformations, and you have to be sure you are never witnessed transforming. The entire system is in-depth and very awesome, making you actually feel like a cursed being that has to worry when the sun starts to set, forcing you to run far from civilization.

I cannot put into words how much I adore this game's werewolf system. Nothing compares. This is a real werewolf system, instead of "play as a wolf-person" or "hit the awesome button to become a werewolf for a little while with 0 consequences" like basically every other werewolf game out there.

So long story short, if you claim to love werewolves and want to play as one in a video game, and you haven't played Bloodmoon, then you're lying to yourself and the whole world. Shame on you.

And now for things that didn't make the list...

10. Assorted Acknowledgements

This category is for ones I don't even really have a lot to say about, but I figured I would mention them.

Terraria - You can get an item that lets you turn into a werewolf when night falls. It's pretty fun! I like the mechanics of it, plus it has a neat werewolf design, to boot. I dock serious points in this game for straight-up replacing the zombies with hordes of werewolves in hard mode, though. "Werewolf infestations" and werewolves being zombie stand-ins these days is preposterous and overdone. But I had a lot of fun running around as a werewolf and exploring, so it's absolutely top of the non-tiered list especially as far as werewolf mechanics go.

Pillars of Eternity - The "werewolf" in this game is one of several animal-person forms the druid can get, continuing the common theme in gaming of druid werewolves. The wolf is decidedly the worst of the lot, less useful even than the prey animals available. Put bluntly: they are basically terrible, and you're an idiot to ever use this form when there are so many build options available. There are also lots of other RPG options available. As in other games out there in the world. You should play those instead.

Guild Wars 2 - You cannot actually play as a werewolf in Guild Wars 2, but I figured I would mention it because lots of people do. If you want to roll one of the Norn giant race, either as a pretty giant woman who is the mommy stepping on you from some men's dreams or as the ugly tiny-headed cartoon men, you can get an ability to turn into a werewolf for like 30 seconds; it's far from exciting. And like so many werewolf abilities today, it comes with the option to also turn into other humanoid animals with different abilities. I've heard that, of them, only the cat and bear are useful, which is not a shocker as video game logic goes (game devs think wolves straight up suck at everything lol). I didn't play a Norn during my stint with Guild Wars 2 - I played a male human. He's Nolan North, so he's obviously the only choice and also why I played the game as much as I did.

The Elder Scrolls Online - This disgraceful abomination of a "game" is terrible in every way and could not have been a bigger disappointment on the promise of an "Elder Scrolls but MMORPG" concept even from the very beginning. It was never good, it only ever got worse, and I am happy to say I abandoned it long ago (I am not happy to say I was playing it in early closed beta because of the promise of werewolves - and I played it far more than I should have, so I am not coming at this from ignorance). It is a game with designs so ugly and unremarkable that you want to quit and walk through the woods just to remind yourself beauty still exists in the world. ESO clearly had no idea what direction to take itself in from the moment it dropped, and it certainly was never created with the pretense of playing like an Elder Scrolls game but being massively multiplayer. It has no sense of mood or atmosphere whatsoever and possesses writing that will make you long for the riveting tales in other low-rent, low-thought MMORPGs. You can play as a hideous weird sad werewolf model that is absurdly small (most likely smaller than the race you are playing as, which means you actually shrink when you transform) and should have been left in beta, which functions like a worse awesome button werewolf than the ones in Skyrim, because you also suck gameplay-wise especially depending on the dev's mood with the meta. It is terrible, as is everything about the game. ESO also went out of its way to completely wreck all previous Elder Scrolls werewolf lore that was actually really good. Anyway, don't play this. Your time is worth more than that, even if you don't think it is.

That covers some of the best! Requisite apologies if I didn't include your favorite.

( Free Newsletter  — Patreon — Wulfgard — Werewolf Fact Masterlist — Twitter — Vampire Fact Masterlist — Amazon Author page )

#werewolf #werewolves #werewolf fact #werewolf facts #werewolf wednesday #werewolfwednesday #werewolf article #video games #video game #lycanthropy #lycanthropes #wolfmen #lycanthrope #shapeshifting #shapeshifters #popular culture #games #wolf #wolves #playable werewolves #elder scrolls #morrowind #skyrim #daggerfall #the elder scrolls #sims #LONG POST #extremely long post

[xgh0ulx]

If a trans masc tells u it’s “that time of the month” he means this

#Tw period #werewolf #trans wolf #fun fact

[lucky-fy]

For the Laicion nation (aka, me and three other people)

I had this illustration commissioned (a big thank you to @lunehowls) for my werewolf AU Laicion fic (still a WIP).

The general pitch is as follows :

AU in which Laios never got to meet his sister again, putting his life on a whole other path, a more desperate one. A military deserter with barely a coin to his name, Laios hitches a ride on a boat to one of the elven continents, where he learns about magical tattoos that binds one’s soul to a wolf’s, effectively making them artificial werewolves. Illegal magic be damned, this feels like the answer to… everything.

In the process, he learns about the existence of an illegal fighting ring in one of the elven cities, where beastmen gladiators gather. Freshly tattooed and without anywhere else to go to, Laios decides to head there, where he meets Lycion, an elf and artificial werewolf gladiator. If they first bond over a simple shared meal, by spending time together (sharing the same room in the barracks, maybe the same bed? gasp) they find that they have a lot in common, notably a shared distaste for the body they were born in, a dysphoria partially remedied by becoming a werewolf.

They bond :)

#dungeon meshi #laios touden #lycion #laicion #I'm heads deep in research regarding Ancient Rome gladiators... and loving it. Really fascinating stuff. #I bemoan the fact that most papers are locked behind a paywall (though I found one that gives a free pdf access) #(and no. Sci-hub is not an option. It's blocked in my country) #I'm also re-reading DunMeshi and taking notes to get a better grasp of Laios and Lycion as characters. Character studies if you will #and I still need to fully outline the fic #I know where I'm starting (struggling to choose a POV for that first chapter LOL) and where I'm ending so there's that #and a bunch of disconnected scenes (as we all do ahaha) #anyway. Doing all of this while studying for veterinary school. It's hard. I feel guilty whenever I'm not studying... #let's just say I don't expect the prep work for the fic to be ready before this summer (+ I need to finish the Kuro cosplay for Japan Expo) #hopefully; once it's done; I'll be able to set a schedule and write smoothly #werewolf #werewolf laios #rarepair

[toxooz]

the gym bros tryin to get Ollie to be their spotter like 🥺👉👈💐💐🙏

#ollie #yes thats one of pontis shirts he forgot his clean one at home will make a shitpost comic abt it later #my ass rlly all ''oh boy i finally finished drawing the same 4 ocs over and over again ''🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️ draws the same oc yet again #IMMEDIATELY #i ahve to draw sweaty ass men to cope with the fact that im sweating my ass off everyday fuck summer man i hate this shit #if i dont sexualize it i will rip my skin off like a werewolf in a fit of uncomfortable rage #oc #original character #my art #monster boy #monster #monster oc #orc #half orc #demon #half demon #tiefling #muscle #pecs #gym #terato #exophilia #monster bf

[gayasswerewoofer]

Happy Valentines Day!💕❤️

Have a lovely one out there, from a woofer of love~ 💘💝

#moonhowler_art #art #gay #gay artist #my art #furry artist #werewolf #anthro #valentines day #happy valentines #gay furry #fursona art #wolf furry #based on a 'what would you be the deity of' uquiz that i got love&beauty for and it turned the wheels a turnin #as oomf called him: sort-of cupid del #fun fact took pose ref from a statue of aphrodiote :3 #digital art #fursona

[literalite]

balderas!

#retcons in a younger sister for avie sorry the fact that all the main cast were only children was bugging me PLUS #alyssa balderas is an actual werewolf townie u can get in the gallery and i didnt remember until just now.... so younger sister it is #ts4 #the collective xtras #lorna balderas #jorge balderas #avelina balderas #alyssa balderas #literally both girls took after their mama so hard #seph.txt

[probablybadrpgideas]

Werewolf who just stays in wolf form all the time so you think they're a normal wolf stalking you through the woods, waiting to strike.

Actually, they're waiting until you make a maths mistake to grow a human head and correct you.

#rpg #roleplaying games #werewolf the apocalypse #horror #character idea #fun fact 'werewolf the wild west' was a previously used tag #but 'werewolf the apocalypse' wasn't #how did this happen?

[vampyre-lesbian]

my favorite fun fact about An American Werewolf in London is that, even though the main character spends most of the film naked, they went to great lengths to avoid actually showing any full-frontal nudity because David Kessler is Jewish, but the actor playing him was not, and the director feared that the sight of his uncircumcised penis might detract from the realism of his werewolf movie.

#alice rambles #an american werewolf in london #aawil #fun facts #david kessler #david naughton

[maverick-werewolf]

Werewolf Fact #72 - Returning to Human Form

Time for Werewolf Fact #72! Wow, that's a lot. And that's not counting all the books and articles and ask responses and other things I've done over the years. It's been a fun ride.

But for now, let's turn our attention to something a patron pointed out I've never actually discussed... what makes a werewolf return to human form?

I'll be honest: popular culture has taken much more of an interest in laying out the details about returning to the human form than did folklore, overall. In folklore, the act of changing to and from was certainly the centerpiece of the horror, but popular culture and its emphasis on werewolf characters led into a deeper evaluation of such an experience. Folklore also generally discussed the transformation into a monster much more than out of it, at least in more laborious and horrific detail (see Lykaon, Niceros, etc).

We see painful transformations to the werewolf form in folklore quite a bit, as I've discussed before. In fact, the prime example is one of the earliest surviving recorded werewolf legends. And yet even turning into the bestial form was occasionally painless in folklore, involving donning a magic skin or performing a simple ritual to suddenly become a wolf. As for the werewolf returning to the human form, as far as folklore is concerned, that often seems almost or entirely effortless.

Obviously, in popular culture, it's much more common to have the dramatic to or from in either form. I'm personally a big fan of this, as you'd know if you've read any of my fiction (be sure to check that out at my website!), but if you really want to get down and dirty with werewolves being true to folklore, frankly it is overall common for neither transformation to be painful. And certainly it is even less common for the return to human form to be a particularly traumatic or jarring event. That doesn't make for a super dramatic story, though, so we see - especially in past werewolf stories, ones that emphasized horror more - the traumatic tos and froms.

With that out of the way, here are some methods of returning to the human form in folklore...

End of certain timeframe - The most common of triggers to return to the human form, many werewolves will reassume the human form after a certain amount of time has passed. For instance, werewolves in Greek myths like those of Arcadia could return to their human form after seven or ten years, if they hadn't devoured any human flesh. Likewise, other werewolves would return after a certain number of days or even weeks had passed, with or without other circumstances.

At will - There are cases of the werewolf returning to human form at will throughout folklore, or else it is unspecified if there are any other required circumstances or acts.

Removing the magic skin/item - This can vary from being difficult (such as with Sigmund and Sinfjotli) to being as easy as "peeling back the wolf skin," such as in the tale of the werewolves of Ossory. There are many other examples as well, with varying degrees of difficulty or triggers.

Using a salve - In some stories, a salve is rubbed on the body to reassume the human form. This is also the case with assuming the wolf form. This is more common in the Renaissance/Early Modern period, overall, often with Satanic werewolf or even witches-rebranded-as-werewolves-by-modern-scholars, though there are a few cases otherwise.

Putting on your clothes again - In some stories, a werewolf who sheds his clothes turns into the wolf form, and in order to don the human form once more, he must return to his clothing. Sometimes, the clothes turn to stone in the meantime, until he returns to put them back on. Or, such as with Bisclavret, the clothes may be hidden, trapping the werewolf in bestial form.

Curse removal - In some stories, whoever cursed the werewolf must lift the curse in order to return the werewolf to human form. This is the case in tales wherein the werewolf doesn't go back and forth at all but is someone cursed to become a wolf and stay that way until said curse is lifted, less like a traditional werewolf.

Daybreak - Some werewolves returned to the human form at daybreak. While this didn't appear in stories directly very often, it is mentioned in assorted sourcebooks, such as Baring-Gould and Summers discussing werewolves and how "the desire comes upon them at night." It can also be speculated based on events in stories, such as Niceros's Tale, but the circumstances there were never explicitly stated. So this one may be slightly more questionable than the others if you want direct story sources, but I'd say there are plenty of sources around enough to justify it being on this list.

I am not including those funky ones you see all across the internet that weirdos bandy about in their clickbait list articles, like "tossing iron over the werewolf's head" or whatever, because I need a lot more cross-referenced actual examples of those to include them in a list such as this, as opposed to unfounded Google results that D&D players then like to grab and turn into le silleh memes.

Note that this list, as always, doesn't cover every single possibility seen in folklore. I'm not even going to pretend I'm trying to do that here. That will be in the future Werewolf Facts book that I'm publishing in a few years (yes, I am working on that).

And that just about covers the general overview! Hope you enjoyed the post. Be sure to check out the links below. Until next time!

( If you like my blog, be sure to follow me here and elsewhere for more folklore and fiction, including books, especially on werewolves! You can also sign up for my free newsletter for monthly werewolf/vampire/folklore facts, a free story, and book previews.

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#werewolf #werewolves #werewolf fact #werewolf facts #werewolf wednesday #werewolfwednesday #folklore #folklore facts #mythology #wolf #wolves #lycanthrope #lycanthropes #lycanthropy #shapeshifting #shapeshifters #resources #popular culture

[natelia-aldelliz]

more werewolves au !

Ghost is being a responsible adult and grooming this poor weird pup he found, Price is being a thoughtful pack leader and is trying to inform Ghost that the puppy is not happy, and Gaz is trying to get the puppy to play with him to cheer him up.

This is the same Soap who will bring half of a mouse to Ghost's, Price's and Gaz's doors for them to discover in the morning. Or step on it if they weren't fully awake. And then refuses to admit to himself that it's probably him doing it and not a random stray cat. Even if he would have smelled a stray cat being on his territory. The three of them are convinced that Soap is hiding a cat somewhere because it smells like him.

#cod mw2 #john soap mactavish #simon ghost riley #captain john price #kyle gaz garrick #ghostsoap #soapghost #werewolf 141 & cat soap au #i wanted to make soap a scottish fold but i looked it up and it's a very recent breed and it didn't fit my idea that soap's family were #always able to change into a certain cat breed #and there's also the fact that it's a pretty inhumane breed #so here he and his family are european wildcats #guys i had this weird idea of colouring it so obviously i did a half arsed job because i hate colouring and i gave up #but my brain was happy anyway so i win #i'm better at drawing cats than at drawing canines lmao #let's also not pay too close attention to ghost pls i know his face looks like a bear #trust me it was way worse without the colours

[codacheetah]

Aha ummmm sad old woman hours anyone? (context under cut)

This is drawn in the context of an Odile Looping AU where Odile has decided she needs to save some time between loops. The first few times, Odile asks Siffrin to borrow his dagger for a moment, bc her weapon won't do. They're a bit bemused, but hey why not? Until a few loops of this and Odile's expression has changed. She's forceful and scary and not really asking anymore. So I like to imagine Siffrin gets worried and refuses, and Odile has an awful sense of realization creep up her gut when she recalls how Loop begged her not to go through with it. She resigns, but maybe too little too late.

#codacheetah #my art #in stars and time #isat #isat odile #isat siffrin #isat loop #isat au #odile looping au #odile loops au #suicide cw #act 6 spoilers #isat act 6 spoilers #SAD OLD WOMAN TIME!!!!! #(RIPS OFF SHIRT AND REVEALS MY WEREWOLF FUR) #odile looping au fuckin rules this is the first comic i ever drew and it was for that... #so if this is hard to read or the layout sucks ummm sorry gomen teehee #there's also been a very devious idea that odile 'gets over her fear of heights' so to speak but well i didnt draw that #(TAGS EDITED: FORGET THE FACT THAT THERE'S A TEAR IN THIS ROOM I WANTED IT TO BE DRAMATIC SOZ)

[odd-chips]

I've been meaning to make some quick reference sheets of my main three groups of characters you'll see in rotation, because I wanted an easy way for people to get to know them quick! (It's also a nice little landing page to redirect new followers to as well)

In any case, our groups are:

🌟 [Star and Moonboy] 🌜

🐺 [The Night of Our Lives] 🌕

🔍 [Tim] and [Ratman] 🐀

Enjoy! (Or don't, it's still gonna be posted, I dunno what to tell you, man!)

#artists on tumblr #werewolf oc #werewolf #wererat #wererat oc #original characters #oc #star and moonboy #tnol #jesse tag #amanda tag #tim tag #ratman tag #my draws #sfw #I made Tim look so short in this hioLKJFD (Blasts him with the Wario Beam) #to be fair Wario is a blorbo of mine. No influence on Tim but just a fun fact about myself. #anyways seeing them all together has me like 'where's the werewolf brainrot for star and moonboy?' but then I forgot that there is a vague #non-committal concept with star floating around in my google docs that's mostly a gag but it DOES checkmark off the brainrot #will it ever be fulfilled? probably not. it is a season 3 idea for a show concept that I'd only want 2 seasons out of. #it's a 'just in case we were able to do more than 2 seasons in this imaginary scenario it became a show' idea

[rainbow-wolf120]

Rayman if he was EMO!!1!11

Obviously, I'm joking. So, like, you know how Rayman is mostly Lums and stuff? Y'know how he gets health via Red Lums?

What if he gets spooked enough, his Red Lums turn into Black Lums???

The issue is that you need to scare him BAD. And I mean bad. Like, shit his pants punching hold through monitor scared.

Also, this form is extremely unstable. Rayman is built on light, so when it turns into dark, he becomes extremely fragile and shaky.

Also, Rayman doesn't remember anything while in this form. And he's in it like, 5min max. It's always in short burst, so it's a blink or you'll miss it sorta deal.

When Rayman is in this form, he either fights or flights (he freezes when he's scared normally)

When he flees, you won't see him for like, a day or 2 then Rayman would come back all willy nilly.

If he fights, well some part of you is getting ripped off <33

He's also super fast, so this creature sorta became an urban legend. Something to scare the kiddies from going out into the jungle alone.

(Globox and Rayman probably went hunting for it once or twice)

#fun fact. his fur feels like fiberglass #the more you know <3 #but sorry for my rambling #i like this idea very much #i dont actually have a name for this form #sorta just called it Hoodlum Ray or Hood Ray atm #so im open for ideas #rayman #fanart #digital art #rayman fanart #rayman origins #rayman legends #rayman 3 #hoodlum #lums #werewolf sorta not really??? #the transformation is never consistent #Hoodlum Rayman #< gonna tag this as that until i find a better name #globox #doodles #rayman globox #rayman games #i must confess but i feel like a monster core

[ventiswampwater]

Griffin Dunne as Jack Goodman in An American Werewolf in London (1981)

#baby angel babyBABY loml.png #this is MY hellblog and I WILL be making 48737432874 individual posts about this man!!!! #we are past the point of no return!!!! FAR PAST IT!!!!! lmao #an american werewolf in london #jack goodman #griffin dunne #gore #body horror #<-all simulated fx body horror/gore #mine #real canon fact: his horrific wounds aren't actually from being mauled by a weeeirhheeerewolf #they're from the sheer force and whiplash of me hoovering him down. dyson vaccum vroom vroom whirr whirr style on sight #to SHREDS!!!!! you say!!!!! #anyways!! wow incredible!! can't believe i wrote those last three tags in invisible ink!!! #u know when people are like. my fave fictional guy did nothing wrong!!! #and they are talkin about a man who breaks the geneva conventions every other nanosecond #and is guilty of 734298439 crimes against humanity and good taste #which like no harm no foul. that's 37847382734 of my favorite characters. but this guy??? #he TRULY did nothing wrong and I'm kissing him always for that #he's like. the most guy of guys every. just a Guy. literally just a dude. just a Human Male™. #and he's my favorite!!!!! tysm for asking!!!!!!

[flowersandbigteeth]

Awww I just read part of Ruston. Can u write some hc about him?

I got some little domestic headcanons about him for you! ^_^

W: mention of nsfw and breeding

Cooking

Ruston loves to cook for you. Nothing makes him happier than seeing you munching on something he made. 

He’s been cataloging all your favorite foods over the years and from sneaking into your house he knows what you eat regularly, so he’s sure to stock what you like 

Even though he is busy he is a pack creature and likes to have a sit down dinner at the table when he can. Sometimes he has members of his pack over, but he really cherishes the dinners the two of you have.

He’s SO excited for dinners with his family when the two of you have pups. 

As a firefighter, he can’t be home every night but he’s gotten used to food prepping and his house always smells like something is in his crockpot, so there is always something warm to eat at home. 

What drives him crazy is tasting food off of you! Even if it is just licking a bit of syrup off of your skin after you’ve had his pancakes. The flavor of you, mixed with food is maddening and usually ends up with both of you naked. 

Hobbies

As a pack leader he’s a bit of a caretaker at heart and is happiest when he can be nurturing you in some way 

He's really busy so most of his leisure time is spent with you or with the pack hanging out. He's very social and likes being surrounded by his pack and pups playing games or just relaxing and talking, watching the pups play

He likes teaching you new skills if you are interested in learning and is always giving suggestions. One of his flaws is that he tends to mansplain if you let him go on, but it’s always with good intentions and he usually catches himself. 

He likes seeing you interacting with his pack, especially the children. While you are first starting out he encourages the moms to leave their pups with you sometimes when he can’t be home and they need a break so you aren’t lonely and to help you integrate into the pack. 

Of course, he’s a little jealous that they aren’t his pups, yet, but pack pups are pretty close. It’s just a little preview of what your life will be like in a few short years when he’s successfully bred you. 

Sitting around a bonfire talking with his pack with you in his lap and his little pups playing in the background is exactly how he pictures his future

When you are sick

When you are sick, Ruston is lighting up the stove and researching nutrient rich human stews to nurse you back to health.

He lets you ball up in his warm fur when you are cold with the chills and puts cold packs on your head. 

He is jumpy when it comes to the doctor and has to be convinced not to take you in immediately, since humans are so much more delicate than wolves. Even when you try to convince him humans get sick occasionally and it’s not a big deal he’s prepped with all of the statistics about how many people the common flu kills every year. 

When he finally does get his way and takes you in he practically terrorizes the whole staff with his intense hovering. 

They end up having to move an entire shelf and a whole bunch of equipment out of your hospital room to give him space to fit his big body in the corner so he can loom.

Finally, they end up having to treat you from his lap where he’s pulled you because you look too frail and delicate in the hospital bed and he needs to hold you

Of course, no one wants to argue with the 500 lb wolf baring his teeth at the staff so the nurses give in and you end up receiving care from his lap

#monster headcanons #yandere headcanons #yandere headcanon #headcanon #monster boyfriend #monster romance #werewolf #werewolf facts