Werewolf Lore! [Freak of Nature]

Appearance

Werewolves come in a variety of colors. Their fur matches the color of their hair in their human form, but different patterns and other colors can also show up in their wolf form. They are usually large and muscular in stature, the average height ranging from 8-10 ft tall and can weigh up to 800-1,200 lbs. Unlike an actual wolf, their ears remain on the sides of their head instead of on the top. The texture of the werewolf’s fur will be like their hair in their human form. For example, if the werewolf has curly hair in human form, then it’ll have curly fur in werewolf form. Hands, feet, face, inside of the ears, and sometimes parts of the chest are usually hairless.

A werewolf has 42 teeth, growing 10 more teeth than their human form, with fangs that can be 2.5-3 inches long. Claws can grow up to 4-6 inches in length and can either be black, white, or grey. Eye color will be more saturated than the color in their human form and sclera will turn black. Pupils will become vertical or almost invisible to the naked eye. This change in pigment will also cause the eyes to glow in the dark.

BEHAVIOR

Typically, a werewolf’s behavior is unpredictable whether it’s in control or not. They are usually shy and avoid contact with humans, but when they do come across a human, each werewolf is unique and will react differently. It is safer to try steering clear of a werewolf unless one knows the werewolf and fully trusts it.  If one encounters a werewolf, it is advised not to run as this will trigger its hunting instinct and will give chase. Being aggressive towards the werewolf may provoke it, causing the werewolf to become angry and attack. It is best to make loud noises due to a werewolf’s ears being highly sensitive to sound.

Diet

The werewolf will eat just about anything, but heavily prefers meat. Werewolves will typically go after big game such as deer, elk, moose, etc. Werewolves do not actively hunt for humans but may try to eat one if a human crosses its path. A werewolf’s diet will conflict with the human diet, causing nausea and potential vomiting when the werewolf reverts to their human form.

Transformation

The werewolf will fully transform on a full moon. This is due to a biological chemical reaction to the plasma that the moon produces which is most prominent during a full moon, triggering the shift. The transformation from human to werewolf is very intense. At most, it’ll last for nearly or just over a minute. Almost all calories are burned during the transformation causing near starvation for the werewolf. This leads to instinct taking over and the werewolf hunting almost anything it can find. To prevent this from happening werewolves will eat large amounts of food before they transform to avoid losing control. 

While a full transformation can’t happen when there isn’t a full moon, a partial one can. Werewolves have different triggers for their partial transformation to occur such as anger, hunger, excitement, etc. The werewolf may only grow sharp claws, teeth and pointed ears when partially transformed, change in eye pigment may also occur as well as some hair growth. 

Werewolves do not transform when they’re children. The average age range for the first shift is from mid to late teens. The first shift is extreme, leading some to unfortunately not survive their first transformation, though this is uncommon. After the first shift the newly turned werewolf will undoubtedly lose control, as it is nearly impossible to gain control after the first shift. 

Abilities

In both werewolf and human form, injuries will heal rapidly. Small cuts and scars will heal in minutes while more severe injuries may take up to an hour to heal. However, injury inflicted from another werewolf or supernatural creature will take up to a few days or weeks to completely heal. Since werewolves are large creatures, they don’t have much stamina. However, their speed more than makes up for this. Like greyhounds, they can run up to 45 mph. A wolf’s bite is about 1,500 pounds of pressure per square inch; a werewolf’s is almost double that amount, easily being able to tear through bone and meat. With their superhuman strength, they can lift up to 2-3 tons. 

Weaknesses

Silver itself will not do anything against a werewolf. A silver knife or bullet will do damage, however. With the combination of the antibacterial properties of silver and the piercing abilities of the weapons, this will cause injury to the werewolf. However, it’ll take a few bullets to take down a fully mature werewolf, while a stab through the heart or head will do the trick with a knife if one can get close enough. Werewolves are also prone to getting injured by fire due to hair being very flammable.

INFECTION

The DNA of a werewolf must enter the bloodstream of a victim to get infected. Being bitten will cause infection due to saliva being transmitted. Being scratched will not cause infection due to no DNA being transmitted. Having a werewolf’s organ or blood being transplanted into a human victim will cause infection. Lastly, having a werewolf parent(s) or relatives may cause the werewolf gene to be passed down, causing infection.

Species

Depending on the werewolf the victim gets infected by, they will turn into one of two werewolf species:

STANDARD WEREWOLF

The standard werewolf is bipedal, standing on its hind legs and using all fours to walk or run. These werewolves usually have a mesomorph body type, appearing large and muscular. However, since they are so big, they are more reliant on their strength since their body type doesn’t allow for much stamina.

QUADRUPED WEREWOLF

Similar in appearance to the standard werewolf, but with longer and lankier limbs. As one can tell by its name, this werewolf walks and runs on all fours and can only stand up on their hind legs, which is used to observe their surroundings. Their long limbs make climbing and swinging easy, and with less muscle mass and longer limbs, they are faster than the standard werewolf, but weaker when it comes to strength.